I think throughout my first year, each class I took came with its own meaningful and sometimes unexpected revelation, whether that was discovering that Calculus 2 was not nearly as difficult as people often make it seem or realizing that physics required far more time, patience, and consistent effort than I initially anticipated. Sit in the front, ask questions, and reach out to your professors. Everyone says this, and it can sound generic at first, but it truly makes a real difference in how you experience your classes. During my first semester, I didn’t feel the need to go above and beyond to connect with my professors and assumed that simply attending class and being physically present would be enough for them to know me. However, by the end of the semester, when I began looking for professors to write me letters of recommendation for summer internships, I realized that I had not built any meaningful personal connections with them, which made the process much more challenging than I expected.
Coming into my spring semester, I made a very intentional and consistent effort to change my approach. I started emailing professors more frequently, staying after class to ask questions, attending office hours regularly, participating more actively during lectures, and making a genuine effort to be engaged, visible, and present in my courses. Over time, this shift made a significant and very noticeable difference. I was able to build strong and meaningful relationships with my professors, and because of that, I am now able to seek their guidance, mentorship, and advice with confidence. Unlike high school, where it is much easier to remain in the background without much consequence, college requires you to actively put yourself out there, take initiative, and consistently engage in order to be seen and recognized in a constantly busy academic environment.
In addition, building relationships with my fellow classmates has played an incredibly important role in helping me adjust to university life. It has given me people I can rely on beyond just study partners and lunch companions. Friendships become especially important in college, where it is still very possible to feel lonely even while surrounded by hundreds of students in a dorm setting. Having a strong sense of community makes a huge difference because those people become your support system, individuals you can talk to about stressful or difficult classes, share experiences with, and rely on for encouragement, advice, motivation, and new perspectives that help you stay grounded and keep pushing forward.
I also wasn’t fully prepared for the difficulty of exams and the overall academic workload. As a straight-A student for most of my life, I was surprised when I was not performing at the same level I was used to, and I quickly realized that I had significantly underestimated how much time studying, reviewing material, and completing assignments would actually require in college. What helped me adjust was learning to start early and making a conscious decision to never fall behind. Even missing a single lecture or delaying one assignment can quickly snowball into a much larger workload that becomes overwhelming. Staying consistent, managing time effectively, and keeping up with coursework from the very beginning has been essential in helping me stay on track, reduce stress, and succeed in this new academic environment.