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Karthik's "Expectations vs. Reality" Reflection Essay

As someone who was planning on majoring in Computer Science, when I was in high-school, I pretty much assumed that all of my college classes would be related to CS, with maybe a couple of math classes. However, I found that UMD focuses on many other areas beyond the core major requirements. I am taking classes in communications and astronomy to fulfill my gen-eds. I realized it would actually be very overwhelming if I had 5 times the computer science work I currently do. Along with this, I actually felt that my communications class was helpful in improving my speaking skills and the astronomy class was a very interesting and thought-provoking class. The style of having a lecture and “lab ”(or discussion) felt very strange at first, but it makes a lot of sense. Because many of our lectures can have hundreds of students learning at the same time, the discussion provides an opportunity to have a smaller, more interactive learning experience with a TA. The grading was different from the convenience I was used to in high school. At our school, all our teachers had to follow standard rules for grading weighting. Furthermore, they all had to post grades on the same website in the same manner with the same deadlines. This meant there was a very standard expectation for where assignments, resources, grades, and submissions can be found. In my college classes, while some professors used canvas for all these features, others only used some and had parts on gradescope, while others literally didn ’t use Canvas at all. This meant I had to learn the style and format of different college classes and make sure I didn ’t miss any assignments and information that was posted. Although this was initially a bit confusing, as long as you read the class syllabus, most professors clearly dictate how the structure of the class and the assignments will work.

For my SGC class, when I signed up for UMD I did not think much about it. After I joined however, I found it to be a very fun and interesting experience. The scholars events and mentor-mentee program we had made it easy to make new friends and meet other people when we were new to the campus. The service day assignment was very fun, visiting a swamp and physically putting in the work to clean out weeds from a swamp. Overall, my biggest concern going in was that SGC might be a difficult class. However, other than a couple assignments here and there, the class itself is not that academically overwhelming. During the colloquium, we covered many topics related to the history of the Earth itself and how the environment and climate changed in the past. I assumed, by the name “global change ”that we would be focusing on human-caused climate change. However, focusing on the past and learning about previous climate changes set the modern day climate-change into a different perspective.

In High School, I took a computer science class at my local University of Delaware. Because of this, I assumed that I had some “college experience.”However, going to UMD was completely different. While the class itself did help me learn some stuff on Java, it didn ’t necessarily prepare me for college itself. The biggest change moving from high school to college is living in a dorm. This was my first experience living away from my parents. When I first got here, I spent a couple days just trying to figure out my own schedule, which was a bit of trial-and-error. I focused on making sure I went for a run and went to the gym every day to work on my physical health.I also worked on balancing the amount of time I spend with friends and the amount of time I spent focused on studying and working for my classes. Especially after all the mess last year however, I am just happy to have been able to go back to in-person classes. I was already nearly a senior when our high school went online, so I didn ’t feel like I missed too much from going virtual. However, other than having to wear masks, I am grateful that we are able to go back to the regular pre-pandemic way of life.

To any new SGC or any new student in general joining college, I recommend taking the first couple weeks, when you might have less assignments in your classes, to try and explore as many options and opportunities around campus as you can. While you can still access these later, joining clubs and other groups early in your college experience will make it easier to meet other people and find things you would be interested in. Within SGC itself, there are a couple requirements where you have many options, one main one being the excursion report. Because of the great flexibility for what covers the excursion report, you should try to find that genuinely interests you.

Last modified: 07 December 2021