In this essay I will be reflecting back on what I expected life as a college student was going to be like compared to what actually occurred. Overall, I didn’t expect the transition of coming into the university to be so hard. Since I live fairly close to UMD, around a thirty five minute drive, I thought I wouldn’t be as homesick. Turns out that was not the case and I found myself missing home more than ever. I live in a single dorm and to be honest, it comes with its pros and cons. I love the privacy and the ability to do what I want but there comes times where I get feelings of loneliness and seclusion. Another aspect that I enjoy is not getting bothered while doing work or studying, but there comes a time where a nice conversation or interaction would be nice to have. I am an only child as well so it was just always me and my parents as a unit. It is challenging being away from them but I think it is also necessary for me to grow out of the protective shell they’ve placed over me and learn how to fly on my own.
Life compared to my highschool vision of college, is similar in ways and different in others. From what I heard of college through shows and movies, I believed that it was just parties all the time and that was the only way people had fun. I realized that, while yes there are a lot of parties, it wasn’t my scene and idea of fun. In all reality, I don’t know what my idea of fun is yet while being on campus. I enjoy going to sporting events and being with friends, but on my own, I want to figure out what my type of fun is. Living in a dormitory is definitely interesting. I live in a co-ed hall so being around boys has been a new level of adjustment for me. The communal bathrooms are what I expected but neither good nor bad. I believe that Centreville, overall, is a good dorm and I am glad to have been able to stay here.
As I think about academics, the structure of my classes and the required coursework, are what I pretty much expected. I didn’t quite so much expect the amount of work I would need to put in outside of the classroom though. This has come as quite an adjustment as I have had to try to figure out a way to balance all of my classes. When it comes to SGC, I didn’t expect that we would be talking so much about things like fallacies or ways to write a scientific report. I more so assumed we’d just stick to the science facts and not how they are written out or portrayed to the public. Once we actually started discussing climate change and how it's been affecting the globe after all this time, you covered most of what I expected. The outside of the classroom activities have been the highlight of this class for me and everything I expected. As I was able to take the trip to New York, I really appreciated the opportunity to be able to visit that amazing museum, with the added bonus of taking in the Big Apple! I hope to embark on similar trips/excursions in the future with the program.