The change from high school into college is one that is highly anticipated by most students. Some look upon the new opportunity as exciting while others find it intimidating. As a senior in high school, I was mostly the first. I looked on college as an experience that would give me a much greater degree of freedom than high school. Throughout my experience as a teenager in secondary school, I felt the path was laid out for me. We had very limited options in what classes we could take. I was required to take mathematics, science, history, english, and a world language class every school year. We did have some elective opportunities but the choices were very limited. Most of them provided limited opportunities to develop skills. It was a delicate balance between high achievement and personal interest: most of the classes deemed "fun" (including speech and debate, photography, and geoscience) were non-honors and thus, would damage my GPA. Moreover, the club options were scarce. The path for me was mostly set in high school and I looked forward to the college experience with more freedom.
As I reached college, this desire for freedom was definitely met, if not exceeded. I felt that there is a paralyzing amount of choices for us each day. Firstly, the class catalogue is absolutely massive and the amount of courses taught at a high level here are extremely diverse. The credit limit provides a generous range for the amount of classes one can take. Even after registration, the freedom in decision making is a shocking difference. Classes are no longer consecutive and are distributed sparingly throughout the day. Attendance is lenient and going to lectures is almost entirely optional for certain classes. Without the administrative pressure of going to class, it is sometimes difficult to find the motivation to get out of bed. Assignments in class are challenging to a certain degree but so far, it doesn’t feel much worse than high school. Perhaps this is just the ease-in and I am ready for classes to get progressively more difficult in the future.
Living away from home is also a completely different experience. The dorm room is much smaller and restricting than my home but campus is a much better environment than back at home. Growing up in suburban Pennsylvania, the concentration of buildings and the amount of walking is a step up (pun intended). Centreville hall has great accommodations and provides a fantastic test of my lifesmarts. The proximity to the dining hall is also great for me to get food at a short notice. Speaking of which, meals are much easier to skip now that my parents aren't here to take care of me. Nutrition is very easy to lack, now that I have to remain conscious of everything I eat on my own.
SGC colloquium has discussed a lot of topics that I have expected so far. Types of rocks and their formations are all things that I foresaw learning based on the course description and professors. Moreover, climate change and its effects are also things that I would have expected from the course. The colloquium each week is a fair system to maintain a one credit class. The amount of effort I had to put in was slightly more than I would have anticipated, however, the work feels legitimate rather than just busy work. The HTML CSS portfolio website is also a useful and practical skill to have and provides good experience for future reference. The service day was a fantastic activity and really helped me bond with my peers. The work was difficult but it felt rewarding at the same time. Putting on waders was a unique and fun experience. It really is a great tradition that I hope will continue. In the future, I hope to learn more about how science can be used to combat climate change and hopefully have a practical use for my experience in my computer science major. So far, I feel that most of the work I have done is mostly niche and do not yet have any practical applications. I hope scholars can help provide me with that experience.
For future SGC students, my best advice is to not underestimate the class. The workload is reasonable but can catch some students off guard. Do the readings and participate in class. Don't slack off on the service day and make a good impression. As for general advice, just make sure to have the proactivity and discipline to go to class and do the activities you want. The walk is always going to be worth it and your body will thank you for every meal you eat. But also make sure to pack enough ramen in case you get too lazy to go to the dining halls. That's all.