Michael Tran's "Expectations vs. Reality" Reflection Essay

← Back

First of all, I am very grateful to be where I’m at right now. I can’t really start a reflection paper without actually acknowledging how lucky I am to be in the position I am right now. So many factors including my choice of school (especially coming all the way across the country from California) and the people I’ve met through random events have led to the present where I am as happy (and busy) as ever.

With regards to academics, I am quite busy and find myself consumed with schoolwork quite often. This is especially true at the time of writing this assignment, when I have many other reflective essays for other classes due and finals alongside an important interview looming on the horizon. However, I am more than happy with how my academic experience has been coming along. I feel like my high school, while extremely strenuous, was very adept at preparing me for an academically rigorous program, especially within the high-achieving computer science program here at the University of Maryland. For my computer science classes, the take home project assignments and problem sets were extremely similar to the types of assignments I would receive in my high school computer science classes. For my two humanities courses, the assignments were also similar. Group projects and essays were a common staple for assignments in my high school humanities classes, too. The types of essays that I have had to write for ENGL 101 are very different from the literary analysis papers I am used to, but the pacing and large assignment load is nothing new. I would say the largest academic change that I have faced coming into college would be the large amount of weight placed onto single assignments. This rings true especially for midterms. While I was used to a final worth 10-20% of my grade throughout high school, having three exams that make up 60% of the total course grade seems very daunting and is a change that I have simultaneously adapted to and remained uncomfortable with. Overall, the nature of my courses is a step up from high school, but a lot of the experiences I had in the four years prior have prepared me extremely well for what I’m going through now.

A couple things that we have covered in class that I did not expect had to do specifically with pseudoscience as well as school-specific topics like the honor code. The title of the program, Science and Global Change, was pretty much all I was basing my expectations on when coming into the semester, so I expected almost everything to be related to evolution, major events from the past, and climate change and any appropriate solutions. While I agree that learning about pseudoscience and conspiracy theories is extremely useful in learning about today’s culture, it was definitely not something I was expecting to be lectured on this semester. The same applies for smaller topics. I most definitely did not expect to be learning about the intricacies of the school academic integrity policy, let alone doing an in-class activity simulating the handing out of punishments. Similar to the pseudoscience topic, I believe that it was very interesting and useful, but it was just not something I expected to be learning. While I expected there to be a bit more focus on current events and the current state of the world as it relates to science, I definitely don't feel let down as I expect more of that content to pop up in the coming semesters.

The outside-of-classroom activities have been extremely fun and engaging, and definitely the best part of Scholars in my opinion. Service day was a great bonding experience even though I didn’t expect to be doing so much manual labor. Furthermore, my involvement in two excursions allowed me to experience a more adventurous side of SGC that I thought was the most enjoyable. The trips presented themselves as the perfect mix of informative and fun. I had heard about the New York City trip coming into the semester and am extremely glad that I got myself up at 5 AM that day to go on that trip. It was one of my best memories of the semester!

University life so far has been extremely fun. Part of the reason I came so far to attend college was because I felt like I needed the space and freedom to thrive on my own away from parents. I’m glad that I’m able to experience that now. The extra responsibility is eye-opening though. Finding (or making) the time to take care of myself every day is a lot more difficult than I expected. It definitely makes you realize how convenient and structured the life of a high schooler is. For example, my eating schedule has moved to two meals a day because I no longer have time for breakfast before my classes. The convenience of taking a few steps to the kitchen to prepare breakfast in a mere matter of a couple minutes was something I definitely took for granted. Despite these drawbacks, I feel like I have been coming along nicely. The school has a lot of things that I was looking for including a beautiful campus and a big school environment which significantly contrasts my small private high school. Currently, I am in a very good place having surrounded myself with excellent people who I am lucky to have met. I am thriving academically and socially, and I couldn’t be more grateful for it.

I would say despite being in a comfortable position now, it definitely wasn’t always that way. The most challenging part in the beginning for me was finding true friends. I feel like I had this expectation of Scholars being a living learning community where you were guaranteed to meet your closest friends, and after about a month or two in, when I still had not found my core group of people, I was extremely discouraged, lost, and disappointed. That’s where my biggest piece of advice to other Scholars and SGC students would be. If you can make your closest bonds with your floormates or classmates in Scholars, I would congratulate you. But if not, take the opportunity to join other organizations and don’t stop searching until you find the people right for you. In a school of 40,000, there’s definitely someone willing to be friends. For me, it was in some of the Asian student organizations as well as just meeting people in classes. You’d be surprised where you can find the most amazing people.

This semester has been a rollercoaster of emotions. The highs and lows of academics and my social life has taught me one thing: resilience is key. Being able to weather the storm and enjoy the sunshine on the other side with people that I absolutely love has been the most rewarding experience of my life so far. I look forward to continuing this in the years to come!

Last modified: 11 December 2022