The single greatest surprise was ENES 100 for me. It is the only class required for every single engineering major, and suffice to say, it is the full package. Looking at it from a logistical perspective, it is a three-credit 100 level class where almost every student gets an A. However, I genuinely believe that nothing could have prepared me for this class, where I regularly spent 15+ hours each week working overtime in the lab to finish my team's vehicle. It gave me insight on the crunch that engineers frequently experience, which is not something I thought a class could emulate. The class was most certainly fun in retrospect, but was an absolute nightmare to actually work through. It's not a class that I can recommend because a student would either be required to take it, or would be prohibited from taking it, but it was a good experience to have gone through regardless.
Office hours are a cheat code to developing a relationship with professors and UTF students. In most classes, I show up to lecture, drift between paying attention and being distracted, and then leave the lecture. Oftentimes, that is enough, because the class is neither interesting nor challenging. It is just a requirement for my major. However, in ENEE 205, this was absolutely not the case. Each homework assignment was challenging enough to where I would visit either the professor or a TA multiple times a week. By the middle of the semester, I was expected by the teaching staff to show up. By the end of the semester, they all knew me by name. The professor now calls on me in class extremely frequently, and my grade has improved tremendously. My 205 professor is the only professor that I am confident in asking for recommendations for internships and on campus opportunities.
My friends have been the most important part of adjusting to college life. I have many friends in my building and in my classes who I can rely on for help. In high school, I worked by myself for almost every class, and rarely relied on help from anyone. In college, this simply cannot happen. My class difficulty has forced me to ironically become more social in order to get help from other students. Oftentimes I'm the most prepared student out of my study group, but having small reminders and help on the questions that I don't fully understand is still nice.
In retrospect, I was completely prepared for the workload, but I was not prepared for the work distribution and schedule. In high school, the schedule is static for the most part. In college, I have to make my own schedule, and balance my time independently. I really struggle with having too many commitments, and UMD did not make my struggles any less prevalent. There is so much on offer at UMD that I often have work days that start at 8 am and end at 8 pm. It is definitely a personal issue that I need to work on, but everything seems so exciting at UMD.
Last modified: May 8, 2024