So, my first semester here at UMD is nearly ending. I have to say, I did not expect things to go sour so fast. Truth be told, I have been fooled about the whole college experience through the media. I knew that college students faced different challenges, but it did not come to mind what those challenges were. If you find yourself confused or baffled about what I am saying then lemme explain. I think we can all agree that ever since we were in high school, we always visioned ourselves being independent and parents not telling us what to do. What better place to do that than college. It is a utopia, it is a dream, it is a… business? Yes, college is a school, but also a business. Do not get me wrong, I love the idea that I can choose my own classes, and discover who I truly am as a person here at UMD. I guess what I am trying to say is that the transition from my local high school where all I had to worry about was not being late to class and doing the homework to the adulting and professional college was not easy.
I did however learned to enjoy what the school offered me. Not everyone gets to be in the Scholars program so I am grateful for that. It was even weird to find myself winning a Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament on Move-in Day. In addition, I get to live in Centreville, which thankfully has A/C. Being in college also helped me connect with people who were different than me, yet shared similar interests. Besides social life, classes have their ups and downs of course. For me, I had to wake up at 7 am every school week for Math class, which at times was irritating. One thing that is different about my SGC class is that there is more interaction with my peers. In addition, CPSG 100 is different compared to my other classes because it is a class that also involves outdoor learning including exploring different parts of the nation. Just recently, I traveled to both Washington D.C. and New York City for interesting assignments. My professors love to expand my peers’ and my knowledge about science and life. One thing that I thought we would explore more in our class was more about plants. We covered a little bit about their fossils and significance towards the Earth, but not necessarily their functions.
So, finally, I think that I can now give advice to a future SGC student here at UMD. The one advice that a future SGC student needs is to have fun in the program. The program is only as entertaining as you make it. I learned that for sure, even though Science and Global Change was not my first choice. Now, I definitely do not regret being in SGC. At the end of the semester, it is rough, but it is definitely worth the time and energy to explore yourself as a person and learn more about the Earth and its history.