As the temperature drops and more people book up rooms at McKeldin Library, it reveals it is the end of a semester. Especially for me it is the end of my first semester of college. As a college freshman I have had a lot of opportunities to grow and learn throughout my first semester. Life as a college student was definitely different from high school for both social and educational reasons. Both of which have benefits and drawbacks.
The classes I have taken this semester are Urban Agriculture: Designing and Assessing Edible Landscapes (LARC151), Academic Writing (ENGL101), Calculus I (MATH140), College Park Scholars: Science and Global Change (CPSG100), Bits and Bytes of Computer and Information Sciences (CMSC100), and Oral Communication: Principles and Practices (COMM107). The nature of these classes are all different because some required quizzes and textbook readings, while others emphasized the importance of group work and exams, and finally others focused on papers. I expected my University courses to be much more work instead of what it felt like, which was busy work. I thought that the courses that I took this semester felt like it was an ordinary semester in high school. As well as that I felt like lectures were much more different than in high school because in high school, if we were on our phones or were distracted since it was a smaller environment, we were reprimanded for not listening to the teacher. However, I prefer the format of lectures in that I am not called on during class because I experienced a lot of anxiety regarding that during high school. The required graded items are very different because sometimes the items are graded solely on completion, while at other times, the items can be graded on accuracy. Although it is explicitly stated in the syllabus, it can be a little tricky to remember for every class.
Overall I do enjoy university life, however the impact that Coronavirus has had on it changes it a little. Although I can be seen doing work most of the time, I still enjoy the highlights when it comes to hanging out with friends and being able to enjoy the quality downtime with them when I do catch a break.