My freshman year I took five total classes: CPSG101, CHEM135, ENES100, CMSC131, and ENGL101. CHEM135 was a pleasant class, as Dr.Schech was such a nice professor who was so accommodating to our needs, posting many different informational announcements and even permitting 5 by 6 notecards that we can use on all exams(even the final exam next Monday :)). It’s Dr.Schech’s first time teaching CHEM135, as she usually teaches CHEM131, but I think her experience in CHEM131 not only reveals itself in regards to the knowledge but also a more steady pace compared to other more vigorous and aggressive CHEM135 teachers. There is a homework assignment every week with follow-up assignments accompanying each homework assignment, all of which are super helpful for not only the obvious practice but also review problems for exams. I thought CHEM135 would’ve been more tough, but I’m very happy with my choice as a teacher as it’s been advantageous in all aspects. ENES100 is an engineering class that takes teams of students from absolutely complete scratch to a functional robot powered by an Arduino. The teacher, Dr.Blanton, is a really nice teacher, providing us with thorough lessons on the principles of engineering the first few weeks of school. The only thing I despise is the pummeling of assignments due almost every 2 days. The only compensation is the fact that engineering robots is currently my passion of choice. CMSC131 is an introductory computer science class on all beginner concepts of Java. Nelson Padua-Perez is an absolute legend, keeping everyone engaged through fun gripes at students as well as jokes that are surprisingly not cringe and actually funny and relevant. His project deadlines are very generous, even extending the deadlines according to feedback from in-person lectures and online classrooms known as Piazza. ENGL101 has been a pleasant experience, especially as this is a scholars exclusive class with students who cannot be described as anything less than super nice social butterflies. The teacher, Dr.Bayly, has been such an accommodating presence, facilitating not only progressive writing but lively discussion in the classroom regarding controversial and contemporary topics. Assignments have been paced relatively well, the only thing being the weekly discussions that take up a considerable amount of time in the middle of the week. It was more helpful than I had expected, as I was able to think more in-depth in regards to the audience analysis of writing English papers.

In regards to CPSG100, we covered a lot of things that I had heard of, but had never dove into. I think the most interesting lecture was the lecture that included the involvement of aliens, as I’ve heard some stories of exposure to schools of children, but I had never really been educated on the grander history. I had known of logical fallacies, and I was actually curious about them around the same time we had the lecture. It’s really interesting to connect statements made on social media directly to logical fallacies. I was only expecting to cover content on climate change, which we covered in these last few weeks, so I wasn't really expecting anymore than what we covered weeks 14 and 15. The outside activities were so fun actually, as they really connected me with my classmates in the CPSG scholars early on. I wasn’t able to make any of the in-person excursions for my excursion report, but I hope and am determined to seek out opportunities in and outside the program to connect with more students from UMD.

College life is so much more exciting than I thought. In high school, I was so stressed about the trivial things, mainly living outside of home and sharing bathrooms with other people. Courses weren’t as hard or as time-consuming as I’d thought they’d be either, as I’ve actually had an easier time in college than in high school thus far, mainly due to the dramatic increase in time I’m able to study and still take care of my everyday basic needs. I never expected to have a lively time, originally completely neglecting the fact that I know around 50 people from the state of Maryland going to the same university that I'm at right now.

For any incoming CPSG students, and honestly any incoming students to the University of Maryland, take advantage of all the resources people have available on campus. There are so many amazing clubs and new facilities at your disposal that it should be practically impossible for you not to take advantage of. The only regret I have is holding my grades above taking advantage of the access to facilities and so many different people on this campus. I’ve become more aware of my lackluster life outside of obsessive studying, making plenty more trips to the gym, out eating with people I care about, and plans to actually make it out to club meetings. Next semester, I’m determined to continue working towards a healthy balance of studying, fun, and advocating for myself in many different areas of life outside of just academics.