As my first semester at the University of Maryland as a Science and Global Change scholar comes to a close, I am able to take the time to look back and reflect on this first semester. The first semester at college is a notorious turning point in an individual's life, it is a time where one is supposed to mature, grow, and venture out into the world on their own. While overall I would say that my experience at the University of Maryland has been wonderful, this doesn't mean that I haven't experienced setbacks and unforeseen events along the way.
Coming into my first year of college, there were certain aspects of university courses that I expected to see. Because I was attending a large university, I expected my courses to be all large lectures scattered throughout the day. Then, I would have assignments and tests online or occasionally in person. I also expected the coursework and grading to be more difficult than it was done in high school. I was worried that coming into college I wouldn't be prepared for my classes, especially the ones specific to my major. Since I have gotten here, I have found that my courses are scattered throughout the day, but they aren't all lectures filled with hundreds of students. Only a few of my classes are large lectures, but I also have smaller discussion groups where we dive deeper into the information that is taught during the lectures. This is one aspect of college that has really helped me adapt to college coursework. I've also found that most of the assignments given are online, and they are graded relatively fairly, similar to high school. Additionally, the work that I am given isn't much more difficult than the level of work I was given in high school, and everyone is just as prepared as me as we are introduced to our major's coursework. However, since it is only my first semester, I do expect this to change as I get deeper into my major.
Regarding my Science and Global change scholar’s colloquium, I really had no prior consensus on what to expect coming into my first semester. I didn't know many people who had gone through the scholar’s program at UMD, and I wasn't sure what it would entail. Just from the name, Science and Global Change, I was able to gather that we would learn about climate change and our environment which I have always found to be interesting and important topics to learn about. This much was shown to be true, during our colloquiums once a week we usually go through a presentation about how our environment has evolved over time. However, I was expecting to complete small projects or come up with solutions from the student's perspective that could be implemented into our daily lives to help improve the environment. But we haven't yet been able to do so in this first semester. Coming into the program I also didn’t know that we would be participating in excursions outside of the classroom and even university. This was a surprise to me, but I thoroughly enjoyed the trips to D.C. and the wetlands. Not only was it a chance to experience something different from my daily life at UMD, but it also became a way to meet people in the program.
Another aspect of college that I had envisioned before I arrived here was the everyday life of living on a campus. What I had envisioned about living in the Centreville dorms was pretty much as expected. This was mainly because I had older siblings and friends in college who would explain to me what living at a university is like. I knew going into college that it was going to be difficult to share such a small space with another person, but I also knew that living in a dorm can be some of the best times of your life since you are surrounded by your friends and other people in similar situations. In addition, I knew that living on campus would require a lot of walking to get to everyday places such as dining halls, classes, and the gym instead of driving like I did in high school. This was one aspect of college life that I was a little nervous about, but it turned out to be one of my favorite parts. In all, I knew that living on campus would be very different from my life in high school, forcing me to be on my own and take care of myself. While my expectations turned out to be true, I didn't expect to enjoy and adapt to it as easily as I have been able to.
Overall, my anticipations before stepping into the University of Maryland have mostly mirrored what I have encountered so far. College life hasn't diverged significantly from my initial expectations, while it did take me some time to adapt and get used to this new life. To future SGC students, I would tell them to embrace the change that college brings because it is for the best. I would also advise them to seize every opportunity that this university and especially this program offers. This program truly helped me to adjust to my college transition by giving me a sense of community and creating connections with people who became my closest friends. By fully engaging in this program, future students will be able to have a seamless transition into their first semester of college and learn about themselves and the world around them in the process.