Closing off my freshman year, I feel a mixture of excitement for the coming semesters and bittersweet for what I’m leaving behind. I believe that this year is one that I will never forget for all of the memories that I hold so dear to my heart, good and bad. All the mistakes and experiences of this year were lessons that I hope to pass onto future Terps that come to Maryland nervous of what's to come.

Unlike high school where you’re limited to the same style of courses year after year, one class in mathematics, one in English, one in history, and so on, in college you get to customize your semester to your taste. Don’t be afraid to explore outside of your major and take a class in something different. Go through the Schedule of Classes on Testudo until a course name catches your eye. That’s how I found BSCI151- Beyond Race: Human Biological Diversity which combined biological evolution with sociology to discuss the difference between race and biological diversity in humans. Taking this course made me realize an interest in Biology that has taken me to declare a second major in Biological Science. While your relationship with the course doesn't have to be as dramatic as my experience, take the time to see what the university provides that could expand your knowledge. Try a comparative literature course (CMLT270) to learn about the lives of others or an introduction class to a topic that seems useful like COMM107C (Oral Communication for Science Majors) that can still cover a gen-ed requirement.

Regardless of what your major is, most of your class sizes are much larger than what you’re used to from high school. This can be quite intimidating for some; however, you should never be afraid to reach out to TAs and especially not your professors. Connections are half of the college experience. A simple “hello” or “good morning” every class can help you be recognized by your professors. But I would suggest actually having conversations with your professors. Attend their office hours, introduce yourself, ask questions, and just show that you’re engaged and dedicated to your studies. Our faculty members are humans as well that enjoy meeting people that are interested in the same subjects or have similar interests. Personally, I reach out to every computer science professor that I’ve had, asking them about their experience in the field, discussing concepts, and even getting a one-on-one interview preparation session. Reaching out to others is an important part of growing up that no amount of fear should prevent you from.

The ability to connect with others extends beyond getting to know your professors. Making as many friends as you can be one of the best ways you can cope with adjusting to college. Talk to your floormates, the person sitting next to you in discussion or lecture, or a member of a club you’re in. For me the strangest place I became friends with someone was in the dining hall when they sat down next to me and started talking. These are invaluable connections, whether it be lifelong friendships or a colleague that you can work with to make your college experience less stressful and lonely. Having this network with you is also an essential part of college as the peers we have in our classes end up being our peers in the workplace that you can learn from and spend time with. This is the life part of work-life balance that is often so difficult when we live on such an expansive campus.

But there are always things that are unpredictable when you get to college. You can’t foresee the conflicts in relationships that you form and how they impact your mental health. It's a difficult balance of communication and compromise that you may not have closure of. Recognizing that you don’t have control over every situation and moving past it with the help of the support system of the friends and faculty that you have around campus is essential. Also don’t dwell on failures whether it be in your academic or personal life. Understand what went wrong, reflect, and learn from them. As someone who is extremely emotional and an overthinker, this was the hardest for me to overcome and even now I’m still working on improving.

During the spring semester I was failing to balance the different relationships I had that conflicted each other which then reflected poorly on my coursework which then further strained my ability to maintain a social life. This cycle of mishaps only continued until I took a step back and reevaluated each situation. Changing how I focused my attention helped me break from the cycle. Instead of stressing about everything in my life, I tried to work through things that I had control over like my grades then slowly worked towards the more complex problems of miscommunication. Life doesn’t stop just because something bad happened, there are so many other opportunities to look forward and act upon things that won’t happen if you can’t bring yourself to move past the failures.

Freshman year is the toughest in terms of finding who you are. Be fearlessly persistent and learn whenever you can. Go on as many adventures as you can with the people that you want to have in your life. But most of all, have fun.

Last modified: 9 May 2024