Reflecting on my first semester at the University of Maryland as a member of the Science and Global Change Scholars' Program (SGC), I’ve come to realize that college life has been both more challenging and more rewarding than I expected. The transition into University has been full of surprises, especially as I adjust to the academic rigor of my major in Chemistry and take part in extracurriculars. Below, I’ll explore how my expectations differed from the reality of my college experience thus far, focusing on the nature of my classes, the CPSG100 course, and life as a University student, and ending with any advice I would give to incoming SGC students.
Outside of CPSG100, my classes are very different from what I expected. Before coming to the University of Maryland, I expected my courses to be similar to high school, with regular assignments, quizzes, and tests. However, I quickly learned that college courses offer much more independence and require proactive time management. I found that most of my classes relied on major projects, exams, and presentations, with fewer frequent assignments. This meant that I had to take more responsibility for staying organized, and it also caused a lot of stress, as even one assignment can end up greatly affecting your grade. However, I had also expected there to be little to no interaction between the professors and students, which I quickly realized was far from the truth. While it is relatively harder to meet with teachers for assistance outside of class, they do their best to be as accessible as possible to their students, scheduling regular office hours and quickly responding to questions in their emails.
CPSG100 was similar to my other classes but had some unexpected elements. I initially thought the course would focus heavily on climate change, based on the name of the Scholar's program. While we did touch on climate change, the class spent much more time exploring critical and analytical thinking in science. Through our weekly readings, we learned about how science isn’t just about facts, but also about questioning assumptions and evaluating evidence. This approach to the content was eye-opening, and not what I had expected at all.
University life has also been different than I anticipated. The dorms were about the size I expected but turned out to be cozier and more comfortable than I imagined. I also thought sharing a bathroom with an entire floor would be more inconvenient, but it’s been much easier than I expected. The bathroom situation isn’t chaotic, and I’ve gotten used to it without too many issues. Similarly, I was worried about doing my laundry in a shared space, but it’s been simple and stress-free. Overall, my college experience has been a mix of surprises, but in many ways, it's been better than I anticipated.
If I were to give some advice to incoming SGC students to ease them into college life I would tell them that organization is key, whether it comes to notes in class, or scheduling your time outside of class, it's important to maintain a rhythm in which academics is reasonably balanced with your social life. It's also important to go to class regularly, even if said class feels boring and unimportant, it's good to go anyway to practice discipline and maintain a good work ethic. The last piece of advice I have to give is to get involved on campus early, there's never a better time to join clubs or extracurriculars than the beginning of the semester, so it's important to get out of your comfort zone early and try everything you have even a slight bit of interest in.
I would not give advice that I myself wouldn't follow, and because of this, both inside and outside my academic life, I have found great success. I have maintained a satisfactory scholastic record while having a flourishing social life and joining multiple clubs. I was worried about making friends at first, but after joining board games and rushing Alpha Chi Sigma, the professional Chemistry fraternity, I quickly met with people who shared similar interests and views as I did, and making friends came faster than I could have hoped for after that. Overall, in reality, my college experience has been both similar and different to my expectations, however I wouldn't want it any other way.