Kenneth Vasquez Chicas' "Freshman Time Capsule" Reflection Essay ○
Coming into Maryland can often be daunting, especially transitioning from a high school life to a college lifestyle. One tends to overthink so many things right before coming in, trying to paint out every scenario in their head when they’re not even on campus yet. But with a little guidance and a “go with the flow mindset,” college should be a breeze as long as you know how to use the many resources around.
Now I’m a mechanical engineering and sustainability student and I’ve definitely gone through everything possible in how my peers will be, how will my professors be, how hard are my classes going to be, how different will they be than my high school classes, and how can I prepare the best. But overthinking doesn’t help because then you’re afraid to mess up. But don’t be afraid to mess up, if you prepare yourself mentally and go with the flow, you should be sure that you don't mess up.
For example, adjusting to college life is way different than high school because you literally eat, sleep, breathe, etc., right where you study. There is little distinction between your so-called “work-life” and your home-life because your home for the time being is on campus. But if you can use your peers to your advantage, adjusting to college and living on campus should be a breeze. First of all, make as many friends and connections as possible. Don’t ignore people and don’t be too scared to talk to someone because you may never know when they could be your classmates, your gym partner, your floor buddies, etc. Because the more connections you have, the easier it’ll be to get through your classes through studying. And more connections means more opportunities to split work from play, where you can do more stuff outside of school to just relax. Because with little friends, you might be stuck with boredom and a hate for college. Having plenty of friends makes or breaks your experience, so make the most of it and make the most friends and connections you can.
Now faculty also helps you to adjust to college life in the academic sense of things. If you can even introduce yourself to your professor during office hours, you’ll have a reliable source of information and help and maybe even a reference letter. I unfortunately haven’t taken advantage of these opportunities for help just because I haven’t been able to attend office hours for many of my professors. However, research has provided me an opportunity to be guided and mentored almost in what I want to do. Working in the Combustion lab on campus, I’ve had the opportunity to work with many post-grad researchers and professors that have given knowledge in the field I’m interested in, energy, and have given me insight into life after college. And working with the main supervisor/professor, I’ve had a better academic relationship with him than any other professors in my classes. So looking for opportunities outside of classes that allow you to be closer to professors with their work will do you good in the long run and even lead to better references than professors who just know you as a student in one of their classes.
One of the classes that came as a big shock to me was ENME272, Intro to CAD for Mechanical Engineers. From the name of it, I thought it would be my easiest class this semester since it’s basically just making shapes right. I mean I had experience with CAD software before and thought it would be easy, but I was definitely very very wrong. It was in fact my hardest class, taking hours for one homework assignment, and requiring the most attention out of any of my classes just because of the final group project. And it's not exactly a class you can study for or work with others for because you have to create your own parts and depend on others to do their work for group projects. This class taught me patience, especially with others in group projects. Because even with the most trust, you know that your grade is on the line and that everyone's work quality and ethic will affect your performance in the class. So honestly patience is key to making it through such a tedious class like ENME272.
Finally, the one aspect of college that I was least prepared for was definitely organizations. I wanted to be a part of everything in my Fall semester but found myself barely balancing my class work with organizations. So this Spring semester I only devoted myself to my classes and research, which was a bad idea. If you’re able to play a role on campus, do it. Because you’ll find valuable connections within these organizations that may serve you good for job opportunities, references, and generally social life down the line.
All in all, overpreparing for college can be bad because you'd expect the worst and act like the worst will happen. But don’t be afraid of anything, and jump on every opportunity you get because you’ll never know if you succeed or not until you actually try. So remember, just go with the flow.
