Adjusting to the university lifestyle was not easy, especially with the Covid-19 pandemic. For the purposes of this essay however, I would not like to focus on the situation with regards to covid, since hopefully this was a once in a century event. Throughout this reflection I will be focusing on building relationships with fellow students to help you with your transition to university life. For me it helped since I knew a lot of people from high school who were going to the university. I was very fortunate in this regard. However, for many people this might not be the case. For these people I would recommend that you find other people in classes that you like to use as resources. Create group chats and get their contact information that you can use to talk about the classes and work that you may need help on. I found him especially helpful for more difficult classes such as Calculus and Physics. Staying in contact with classmates was not only helpful but made the whole experience more enjoyable. Within those groups you can learn more about people that are possibly in your major or in an area you think you might want to major in. These people are very helpful to learn about their personal connection to the subject, what got them into it, as well as their experience with it so far. They can help clear up misconceptions and give you lots of information on classes, clubs, and opportunities available to you on campus. Scholars were also a very helpful resource.
Within Science and Global Change you have a lot of diverse people from different states, majors, interests, etc. Being able to rely on this cohort for academic and personal support is very helpful. To help you build relationships with this group there are lots of group projects that are done within scholars, so not only will you have a wide range of support from everyone in scholars but you will also have some people within that cohort that you can have more detailed discussions with. Having that balance with knowing a lot of people but also knowing some of them very well is very helpful to exposing yourself to many resources and setting yourself up is a very good way to be successful in college. The last thing that I want to touch on in terms of adjusting to university life is how you use these resources. The biggest you can make is not using them. If you need help, that is exactly why you made these relationships in the first place. Talk to people, arrange study groups, use them to benefit yourself and make your college life less stressful. After your first taste of burnout at the end of the first semester you will know why it is so much easier to use these resources instead of ignoring them. Overall transitioning to university life can be difficult but it can also be fun. So, make sure to use all your resources to ensure that your college life is enjoyable.