Due Date: December 12, 2022
Life as a college student is definitely different than being a student in high school. You have more independence and responsibility since you are living away from home so you have the opportunity to make more decisions on your own. The change was drastic but after time you start to get into the rhythm of things and figure out your schedule. Adjusting to everything wasn’t too difficult for me since I expected things would be different and I had great friends that made the transition go smoothly. I’m a Computer Science major so I had to take computer science and math courses along with geology and health for my general education requirements. I expected my major courses to be more difficult and challenging than my gen-ed courses, so this helped me get into a mindset of studying extra hard and being more disciplined with my assignments and projects. I was definitely surprised when I came into college to see finals have a huge effect on your grade since they are the most weighted in my classes. This did cause me some stress since there was pressure to do good on the final in order to get a good grade in the course. I was also surprised at the number of projects I had to complete for my major classes, but they definitely helped me understand the concepts better and it was good practice to apply the knowledge I learned. I expected courses at UMD would be difficult and different from high school courses since they have a completely different outline so I was mentally prepared. However, since I took AP classes in high school I have some experience with college courses so I wasn't completely unprepared. In the scholar's colloquium, I didn’t expect that we would learn details about scientific thinking and go into depth about logical fallacies. I think this is so important though because due to media pseudoscience has been increasing and people being to believe in scientific concepts that aren't real. So I think it’s so cool that we got to cover this concept and even read a book about it to go into depth about this issue. I also really enjoyed how we got to go on field trips to bond with our scholar's group like service day and the Washington D.C scavenger hunt. I definitely wasn't expecting this since I thought this class would be more of a lecture but it’s really nice that we have outside classroom activities to apply the knowledge we learned. Since we are in the science and global change scholars program I thought we would just be learning about climate change across the globe and how we can develop solutions to combat climate change in the most effective way. My university life is different from high school but there are still similarities. In high school, I always envisioned myself in college being busy but also getting to hang out with friends and being social, and having a good balance between school and my social life. I think this semester I achieved that well because I have been able to be focused on my academics but not completely burn myself out by going out with friends or just taking days off to rest. The biggest difference is that I’m on my own and I can't rely on my family as much as I used to. I’ve had to be more independent and responsible with my time and decide what actions will benefit me the most. I also have to hold myself accountable to get tasks done like my assignments, or even just cleaning my room. This is pretty easy for me since even in high school I’ve always been pretty good with managing my time and work and getting my priorities done. For future SGC students when you go into college don’t force yourself to go with a certain plan you made in high school. Life is unexpected so just go with the flow and be happy that you’re here. College is a once-in-a-lifetime experience so enjoy it and don't be stressed out if things aren't going a particular way. College classes are harder than high school but don't be too worried about your grades as long as you try your best that's all that matters. Go to your T’A if you need help with an assignment or if you just have questions about certain concepts, they are great resources for you as a student. Also you can form study groups so that you guys can all work together and hold each other accountable to study and do well in the course. Also, remember everyone is different so if you find a certain class harder than everyone else does it's okay don't be discouraged just try your best. To ease into college don’t put too much pressure on yourself and hold high expectations just remember to have fun and ease into everything and always reach out if you need help or have any questions.