University courses feel like a completely different experience when I compare it to high school classes. At university, you are responsible for getting help and being ready. You also have the choice of deciding whether or not you wish to attend lectures. Overall, I was mostly prepared for this change due to the fact that in my senior year in high school, I attended classes at a community college. Both UMD is a much bigger campus and it still feels like a very big leap. Some of my classes are very tough like physics 3, and I have to spend a lot of time out of class in order to understand whats happening. Something I did not expect was how far away some buildings are. Overall, the classes are fairly nice with a syllabus telling each topic, often outlining what gets covered each week. For this course, I didn not know what it was about at all. I thought that it would mostly involve writing papers about various different topics and having to present. The actual class is actually pretty big with many other students. For the out of class activities, I thought they would be boring and tedious, but they were actually pretty fun. It was nice heading out to DC and being with my group and traveling to different places and museums. In the lectures, we covered a variety of topics such as climate change, different eras on earth, extinctions, and also space nazis. When I was a high school student, I did not really have a vision for college back then. When my senior year came, I started to really think more about college and where I really wanted to go. I decided to go to UMD because it has a good engineering program and because it is also in-state, as well as the fact I know many people that are also going here. Right now, I havent joined any clubs that have particularly excited me but some have been fun such as badminton. I have gotten to know so much more people and they are the reason why I enjoy some hard classes. Living on campus has been better than I originally thought. I am located in Chestertown which, to be frank, kinda sucks. It doesnt have any elevators, air conditioning, and only 2 washers and dryer for the whole building. Surprisingly, it is not actually that bad and you get used to it. The dining hall food is pretty good although you may get bored of it; you certainly wont dislike it. For any future students, I recommend trying to meet as many new people as you can. I also recommend trying to join many different clubs and see which ones appeal to you the most and stick with those. You should try and do this the 1st week you arrive on campus but any time is fine. Dont stress too much about this class; many of your future friends may probably be in this class, the class is fairly easy, and your instructors and TAs are amazing. There are many different trips as well that you can attend and is a great way to kick off your college experience. I would also recommend studying for your classes early. In the beginning, they may seem easy or a tad challenging but after the semester is halfway done things will start getting a lot harder. This is my experience as an electrical engineering student and most other STEM-related majors. At first, it is hard trying to balance my social life, school life, and family life. You need to try and organize your life so that you can handle university but also just enjoy university. It may be hard trying to meet new people and learning new topics at first but once you get used to it, things will also get a whole lot easier. Some highlights of mine were forming unexpected friendships with diverse individuals as well as discovering fun things on campus through those friends. My time at UMD has given me a chance to grow, embrace new challenges and opportunities, and to feel like a completely new person.