My classes this year were very similar to what I was expecting them to be. In my classes, the lectures followed by discussions made it easy for me to learn and retain the content taught to us. However, I was not expecting so much of my learning to take place outside of lectures, on my own, through reading textbooks and completing assignments. In high school, I was taught that my classes in University would be mostly graded upon a few large exams with some minor assignments thrown in. This is very accurate to what I've experienced this semester, but I wasn't expecting to be studying for these exams so often. Also, with the classes I have chosen for myself this semester, the workload I often deal with is quite large. This requires me to spend hours each day, and many late nights, working on assignments and studying to an extent I didn't expect myself to be this early in my college career.
In class, we covered more about the history of global warming than I thought we were going to. I expected this class to focus mainly on the current state of global warming and what we can do to stop it. In reality, we have discussed briefly the current state of our world's climate, but have mainly focused on the history of climate change, including the different mass extinctions, how animals have evolved through periods of global change, and how humans came about studying these processes. The outside-of-classroom activities are far different than what I expected. I did not anticipate all of the HTML and career-building activities we were tasked with. I am thankful for these assignments, however, as they have taught me some valuable skills I otherwise would not have improved in other classes. I didn't like, however, all of the reading we were assigned for this course. Since we were assigned so much, the reading felt like busy work rather than something to enjoy.
My life at University is very comparable to what I envisioned it to be in high school. With my declared major, I anticipated my classes to be difficult in both content and workload. This has been very evident in my first semester, as I am required to study for many hours each day to stay on top of all the new assignments and content. Before coming to University, I wondered if it would be challenging to meet a new group of friends. This, however, came very naturally after I first got here since everyone is kind and looking for new friends, and I lived in a living-learning community with other freshman Scholars like myself. One thing I am disappointed by in University is my involvement in extracurricular activities. Although there are many clubs to get started with as a freshman, I decided to not pursue any of these organizations because of the time commitment I make to study for my classes and hang out with my friends. I look forward to joining some of these organizations next year. Finally, I thought that I would be far more homesick than I had been this first semester. I found a new home at the University of Maryland, one full of friends and new experiences that kept me company these last couple of months.
The most important advice I could give to someone entering University is to be personable and introduce yourself to many people when you first get to school. The connections you make will be incredibly important for success in your first semester. You never know who is going to be in your different classes, clubs/organizations, or even a long-term friend. It is always good practice to be personable, but it is especially in this period right when you arrive at school since everyone is looking to meet new people as well. This goes for relationships with your mentors and professors as well. Building early, strong relationships will benefit you greatly. Another piece of advice I have is to plan your time efficiently in college. The workload for your classes in college is going to be a lot heavier than that of your high school classes, yet you will have much more free time in college than in high school. This requires you to be disciplined with your free time and use your free hours to complete assignments and study as needed. If you do not use your time well, important assignments will pile up and you will find yourself behind in your classes.