It’s May 3, 2024, and I am about a week out from completing my freshman year here at UMD and it’s really been something I can say that much. University life has really been much different than all my other years of schooling from K-12. Looking back at last August when I had to live without my parents for the first time in my life is when I knew university was going to be different from anything I had ever experienced before. The first semester and first midterm season of my life is when I realized that college math was really difficult for me or atleast a class that required more effort than I had ever probably given any class before in my life. For me this college math class was Math 140 or Calculus I. My computer science class of CMSC 131 or Object Oriented Programming I also required a lot of effort as well but it just had a different type of feel as compared to math. Anyways though, I realized I needed to adapt quickly and the library and frequent studying even when midterms were not around is how I was able to improve my grades and just feel better about the courses I was taking and the feel I had for myself being here. Now moving on to a social aspect, UMD is a big school and coming from a High School with about 1600-1700 kids, it was a big change. I thought it would be easier to make friends but I guess it proved to be more difficult than I thought it would be as when you have such a big school, you get caught up in it all. Luckily I was able to make some great friends, mostly from my dorm but then also from making friends from my existing friends and those connections. However when it comes to faculty, as there's so many kids, having a personal relationship with them can prove to be very difficult and daunting. I managed to foster good relationships with my Math TA’s and some of my professors who I had for smaller class sizes. Yet, I wish I could foster more relationships especially with the professors related to my major of Computer Science but it’s just that the class sizes are so huge that it’s very difficult to pull it all together. My first semester was definitely an eye-opening experience for me, but this semester has felt better in part due to me learning from my first semester experiences. I found out that the Hornbake Library 3rd floor is probably the greatest place on campus for me to study and that reviewing everyday for my major classes is very effective in preparing me for exams and doing well on them. It’s been because of this that I have felt better about my current classes of Calculus II and CMSC132 as compared to their predecessors from last semester. My advice to future students would be to find their spot to study and frequently review as well to do well. From a social aspect I would advise trying to make friends right away in the first few weeks trying to start from people in your dorm to the rest of UMD and always being social. Overall this freshman year has given me a lot of emotions but it’s made me mentally stronger, grow academically, and also helped me learn so much not only about me but about the world around me as well. To any potential future freshman reading this, do not worry about what's to come, just know this is all a great learning experience for life. Do not be afraid to put yourself out there to your fellow peers and staff and faculty as it's better to try and fail rather than just be full of regret later. Make sure you guys work hard but most importantly enjoy yourself as well and live life. I feel like at times I did not do that but once you learn from your mistakes it feels a whole lot better. But anyways freshman year here at UMD really opened my eyes and made me grow a lot as a person and hopefully it will do the same for you guys as well!