Yilin Lu's "Expectations vs. Reality" Reflection Essay

I have heard and thought about college since elementary school, I have worried about getting into college throughout my high school years, and I was frustrated that I won't get into a good college during my application process. It was until I received my admission letter from the University of Maryland, I could finally feel relieved. As I went through my summer before my college life, I was excited but also anxious the first day of my college experience. Those anxieties came from living in form, about my classes, for social life, and for my dining. After a few weeks though, I was comfortable about my college life. I got to know the schedule and location of all my classes everyday, got to know my classmates and my professors. With great adjustion, I quickly understand my teachers' teaching styles and relationship with my classmates. My grades went well for the start and I maintained it throughout the semester. Now as my first semester is coming to an end, I’m satisfied with the materials I learned and how my grades are looking. I expected to have an easier first semester for myself to fit into the University of Maryland and lead to future harder classes, and I think I have successfully achieved my expectations class wise. The only class that was outside my expectation was the CPSG class, and it is mainly caused by the materials I learned. It was a huge surprise for me to see that the topics we learned were all unique while also interesting. They are related to science and global change, but in a way I never thought of. Topics including the null thesis, sagan'ps toolbox, pseudoscience ideas and others were all the first time introduction to me, and I found them extremely fun to learn. With the great teaching styles of my professors and TAs, along with many group discussions and activities, I enjoyed a great learning atmosphere while having a lot of fun. Lastly, the terp connect site we are making brought a lot of surprise to me. At first, I thought it was frustrating and a lot of work, but with some work and along with the videos Dr. Murk recorded, I actually finished my site in a speedy manner. Along the way, I learned about the html coding and was delighted to see my site becoming customized from my work. Overall, the course of CPSG has brought me many delightful moments and I loved this course a lot. I don't prefer living with anyone, and luckily I got a single dorm in centreville hall. In my house, I have my own living room, and my goal for my dorm on campus is to make it comfortable and full of life. I expect the experience for my dorm wouldn't be so different compared to how I live in my home. It would be my personal place where I could study, where I could play games and where I could chill and where I could rest. It would be my home on campus, just like how I lived in my house. While I don't have any roommates, I did worry about relationships with my floormates and my RA. It turned out that my RA is extremely helpful and friendly and my floormates are great. Now at the end of the semester, I had a great relationship with my RA and other floormates, and most importantly I finished decorating my dorm. I have my own design, filling in with items and decorations I like with posters on walls. I even have a galaxy projector for myself to enjoy at night. I have successfully made my dorm like a home on campus that I love to stay in most of the time. As a SGC student going through nearly one semester in college life, I have a lot of advice. As a new student, if you prefer to live in a dorm with roommates, make sure to wisely choose a roommate you want to reduce conflicts, and you have a chance to switch rooms during the semester. Next, utilize all the help you need. There are a ton of resources you could use on campus for living on campus, academically, activities and clubs and other opportunities. Next, I suggest taking easier classes in the first semester. This way you could ease your way into everything in college and you would have some time to adjust. Easier courses should mean that you will have a higher GPA, which you could drop a little in the future resulting from the harder courses. Lastly, enjoy all the opportunities that you could experience. There are tons of activities especially for freshmen to understand the campus and meet new people, and most importantly, you could have a lot of fun. But if you are someone who doesn't enjoy socializing like me, it's totally fine. Most of the activities are optional and you could always relax in your dorm to do your own work. After all, all the activities are meant for you to understand the campus better and to enjoy your college experience better. Overall, I have been adjusting to college life very well. I am doing great in my academics and am now living comfortably. I have made some friends and am enjoying my life on campus. As the semester has come to an end, I want to maintain my grade and manage my time well to lead to a flourishingly ending to my first semester in UMD.

Last modified: 10 December 2022