MacKenzie's "Expectations vs. Reality" Reflection Essay

The Topic:
As you finish up your first semester at the University (and in SGC), it is a time to reflect on the difference between what you expected this to be like and how this experience actually played out. In what ways was life as a college student different than you expected?

When I first came to the University of Maryland I fully expected this to be like every college movie known to man, and to some extent it was in the social aspect. But also academically, UMD is a research heavy institution with classes that can be very challenging, with that being said there are times where I see myself wondering "Woah can this get any harder?" (p.s. it can). But it is easy to let things like this discourage you especially when this is a place you truly want to be.

The way college courses are set up, it does somewhat resemble high school but the grading criteria varies by each professor. Some of them open every assignment at the beginning of the semester, some professors grade slowly, others do not require as much effort. It is honestly something you learn immediately. Another thing is that college is a lot more relaxed than we assume, obviously it is faster paced but our professors are not emailing us reminders of when things are due or asking us to resubmit an assignment we made a mistake on. Sometimes they genuinely do not care because they have so many other students to grade that it can be pointless to do that for each student. I would say accountability is a big lesson many Freshman learn during their 1st semester or 1st year and it can be a small lesson or a tricky one but when you learn to overcome it, you'll be okay.

Something that I was not expecting during this class was discussing a lot of theories, I truly just expected a lot of discussions of climate change and things that relate to such. But it was a pleasant surprise, I really enjoyed learning it. I also knew I would like NYC but I enjoyed it so much I want to basically live there.

Being in University, more specifically living in Centreville, I really like living in the dorms but at first I was nervous since I have never lived away from home for so long. So it was a big adjustment emotionally, I knew I would love college because I always loved the UMD environment, but actually being on campus with my parents leaving and simply being on my own I was scared. Like super scared, I did notice that as I stayed busy I didn't feel as sad so the first month of school was great. I love it here so much that I get upset when it's time to go on break, I'm really dreading winter break because it's literally so long...

Some advice that I would give to future SGC students would be have accountability, put yourself first, and please use the resources UMD has (food, tutoring, seminars, etc.) I think these are the holy grail to UMD but also makes your college experience a true experience for yourself! It's important to have positivity within so it can relay to your outside surroundings.

But YAYYYYYY 1st semester done!!! Go Terps eek!

Last modified: 8 December 2023