This past year, I had a really wonderful time adjusting to university life. Though my expectation regarding courses was to be stuck with tedious Gen Ed’s for the first two semesters, the complete opposite ended up happening. I have begun to notice that almost every class UMD has to offer is exciting, or related to a topic that really matters in the world. All of my chosen courses for this year piqued my interest in ways I never thought a class could, and allowed me to discover a whole world of knowledge and topics that I had previously never been exposed to. I took a wide range of classes from astronomy, to modern slavery, to zooarchaeology, but my favorite overall, and the one I found to be most surprising was my English class.
Though it may sound silly that out of all of these fascinating classes, my favorite was a simple core class, there was so much more to it than I ever could have imagined. I have always had an interest in writing but never found myself fully engaging with the content of my past English or literature classes. As a result, I decided to really push myself by taking my first college English course on science fiction and technology. Had this course been on any other subject, I am not sure how enjoyable it would have been, but because it was related to my favorite genre I decided to give it a try. To my surprise, it became one of the most rewarding classes I have ever taken. I felt such a strong sense of creative liberty and passion with every essay assignment we received. This effort was very easy to put in given the fantastic novels that we were reading as well. We read classics such as Frankenstein, and The Time Machine, and even got to watch several films including The Terminator. The best part about engaging with all of this fun content was the way it actually connected to the course and deepened my understanding of the scope and variety of science fiction.
Overall, if you are an incoming student who is looking for a course that will truly speak to your personal interests and enhance your skill set, I highly recommend circling back to your past interests. Maybe you have a love for math but didn’t have the best experience with it in high school for whatever reason. Scroll through the professor ratings and course topics under math on the Testudo class schedule website, and you might be surprised by what you find.
I also found myself developing strong relationships with faculty members and TA’s in my favorite classes. Once again, in my English class, I often put my best foot forward and that has allowed me to build a very strong relationship with the teacher who has noticed this effort. When you put in the work to get a good grade and are consistently participating and showing up, the teachers will notice. By simply being an active member of your classes and being willing to collaborate with those around you, you can increase your chances of gaining recognition and growing long-lasting relationships. Going to office hours for individual support is also a great way to show them that you're passionate about the course content, and to potentially develop a mentoring relationship.
As great as my class experiences have been thus far with professors and faculty, it is essential to note that these experiences were shaped by the friends I made along the way. Coming into school not knowing anything is scary, but also a shared experience. After growing up with a high school class smaller than 100 students, I felt completely unprepared to face the student body at UMD. What I have realized after talking to other freshmen, however, is that UMD is only as big or small as you make it. Here, you are truly never alone and after reaching out to my neighbors on my floor, students in my classes, and members of the clubs I am in, I have been able to familiarize myself with the people here in a way that makes it feel more like home.