I remember the very day I opened the acceptance letter from UMD. All my friends had been telling me not to worry, and that I would definitely get in. I discarded what they told me, I felt like you could never be too sure. I called my mom as soon as I saw the email. With my phone out, filming my screen, I opened it. The video is a blur now. I watch it back every now and then, and just think "Oh yeah, I remember then". There aren't any emotions associated with it anymore now that I am here. At the bottom of the email, while still numb with relief, I read "You have been accepted into the scholars program." I knew I had been hoping for Honors, as I got into the honors college at Virginia Tech. Most of my other friends got honors too, and I was a little bit envious.
Nevertheless, life went on. I procrastinated the next steps for a couple of weeks, until I got an email telling me to choose my scholars program. I wanted something with science, engineering, and technology, which is what my interests focus around. I found that after STS, SGC was the next best thing. I was hoping for something that would talk about how our world is changing and ways to save it and nurture it. That was what I was expecting from scholars. A focus on the future.
I actually wasn't too nervous going into moving day. I would say I was prepared for the next step. What I wasn't prepared for was service day on the second day I was at university. I had heard a lot about scholars being about building community, and that is more or less what I did. Service day was good. Despite the labor, it set a tempo of helping our planet.
Everybody told me that if I thought high school work was bad, university work would be far worse. I found that this focussed far too much on the negatives and not on the positives. Nobody told me that classes would take up only about 16 hours per week, roughly a third of what high school classes took up. I found that I had an excellent schedule and more than enough time to do all my work. My senior year in high school was far harder. I also found that my lectures were smaller and closer than I had been expecting, partially because I was in scholars. Professors were more laid back than I thought too. With quite a few of them I had conversations really often. One thing people said was to talk to as many people as you can, especially as on the first few days everyone is so open to making friends on the first few days. I went by this rule really hard, talking to any single person I was walking with or that I had the opportunity to talk to. I am actually sad that it isn't still like this. I met so many people, many of whom I am still friends with.
I was expecting my college life to be split between friends and school, which more or less has been the case. As all my high school friends were or had already moved away, I was most excited for the people I was going to meet. I went through hanging out with many groups of people until I found some people I found accessible who also wanted to hang out with me. I think I had a harder time finding a group I really liked than most other people. I had high expectations too, the people I knew in high school were excellent friends and really good people. I also needed to learn to be resourceful and initiate friendships. I found people often wouldn't initiate seeing you if it wasn't convenient. I had to do it instead, and it worked with a few people whom I hang out with regularly today.
SGC has definitely been completely different from what I expected. I was expecting for us to talk about the future, not the past. Instead of how to fix our world, we talk about why it is failing. Geology was the last thing I expected, and if I knew it would be such a big topic, I probably wouldn't have signed up for SGC. On the other hand, critical thinking, scientific methods, falsifiability, and logical fallacies were things I didn't expect but am happy we reviewed. I think they have great value in our world for anyone trying to be at all intellectual. I also really like how SGC has become its own little community. I had heard people talk about this, and it is the main reason I took scholars.
To the next generation: If you are like me and struggle to do things you don't enjoy, and you don't have an interest in Geology, SGC may not be for you. Sure, it teaches valuable things, but it is best suited to someone who has an interest in the topics in my opinion. If you do have an interest in the field, you will flourish. And keep in mind, Scholars as a whole is fantastic if you want to feel like you're in a small school while at a school as big as UMD. SGC itself isn't too hard, just show up to the colloquiums and do the assignments and you will be fine.
Don't stress about college too much. You will get along fine. Any challenges you face will only make you stronger in the face of adversity. Don't forget, you are in the same boat as every other freshman at UMD. You will find your people as long as you go out and talk to people. Just make sure to try, and you'll be fine. In the end, college will be a blur and you will wish it lasted longer. So congrats on your acceptance, and welcome to being a terp.