My first semester at the University of Maryland has been an interesting one, to say the least.
As far as academics go, my transition from high school to college hasn't been that hard, or at least not as difficult as I thought it may be for me. I'm doing well in all of my classes, and my GPA's looking really good. I guess it's mostly due to the fact that I had some type of prior background with the subject material of some of my classes, specifically STAT400 and CMSC132 since I took AP courses last year that covered some material that we went over in those classes. One thing that did take a while to adjust to was all the walking. I probably should have prepared myself for that part more, but it took me some time to be able to consistently walk everywhere without being tired. Otherwise, things have been chill. I made my schedule so that I got Tuesday mornings and most of Friday to relax, so that has helped me to manage my workload and my stress. The content has been pretty much what I've expected, save for my HIST132 and CCJS105 classes. The history course details American slavery and the process towards its abolishment, and the content has really piqued my interest. The criminology class surprised me as far as all the theory that goes into it.
Colloquium has also been very interesting. Firstly, even though we eventually started discussing climate change, I didn't think we would talk so much about the scientific method or logical fallacies. The coding part wasn't that shocking, seeing that we eventually had to make this website. I didn't expect the lecture about academic honesty, though. That lecture helped me understand that process better than the online courses the university made us take in the summer. I really enjoy how varied in subject matter the class was. The stuff about climate change is also pretty interesting, as there are things that happened in human history, such as the Black Death, that I didn't necessarily associate with climate change. The class has helped me to recognize how interconnected these things are and have to be in order for events such as that to take place.
My life right now is way more consumed with stuff than I had imagined it while in high school. In high school I thought it would be work but much more fun and parties and all that good stuff. Right now, I live a life filled with weekly CS projects, history readings from before the 20th century (meaning it's almost unreadable), stat quizzes, etc. That being said, I still make out time for myself. I've joined clubs and organizations, gotten an on-campus job, play 2K, and just go and enjoy myself. It's all a balancing act I'm still trying to get a hang of.
The only advice I have for future SGC students would be to learn how to manage your time, don't schedule yourself into oblivion, STUDY, and more importantly, RELAAAX. Time is honestly everything, and the way you use it matters, because you'll never get it back. EVER. So when you do use it, make sure it leads to some sort of productivity, whether it's academic, social, mental, spiritual, or whatever it is. That way, you're just cooling for the entire semester instead of putting yourself through hell.