One of the courses that I have taken at the University of Maryland was BIOE120. It really opened my eyes to the world of biology and the world of engineering. There is so much you can do with engineering and making the world a better place. Another course I took was ENES100. It was a very long course that required a lot of work. I learned how to work in a team and I thought the course was just drawing up designs. It was far from that. We got to build our own over terrain vehicle and code it ourselves so that it was autonomous. It was a huge surprise and I discover skill sets that I never had before. I would recommend incoming students to take courses outside of their major so that they can become more well-rounded and maybe learn something new.
My greatest success in developing strong relationships with faculty is getting invited to review a project and shadow the professors on a project related to my major. It is a really cool opportunity and I am very excited about it. A professor also wrote a recommendation for me when I was applying for internships. That recommendation was really helpful in the application process. I would recommend to incoming students reach out to their professors, ask questions, and ask for opportunities that they may offer. It doesn’t hurt to ask.
Along with forming relationships with faculty, it can be important to form relationships with fellow students. I made great relationships with fellow students in my major. We have formed study groups and we also hang out outside a school setting. Through those friends, I was able to make even more friends outside of my major which introduced me to new ideas. It can be hard to talk to new people. I was a huge introvert coming into college, and I eventually came out of my shell. Get it! For incoming students, it would be best to reach out to students in your classes. People are very friendly at the University of Maryland, Just go for it and you might end up making a new best friend. Although I sound like I have it together I don’t. When I came to college I wasn’t prepared to be alone and remember to do my own assignments. The workload can be a lot as well and I wasn’t prepared for it. I also wasn’t prepared for the type of exams I got. They were longer in length and were worth a lot more points than in high school. I would recommend prospective and incoming freshmen to plan when they are going to do their work and make sure that they do not stay up late catching up on assignments or studying for an exam. I found a method that works for me and now I have weekends free even though I have a ton of work. College can be scary but is one of the best times of your life. You are going to learn a lot of new things and new doors are going to be open for you.