First off, it's unbelievable to me that my first semester of college is about to be done. It seems almost surreal, as college had always seemed like something so distant and now I have only seven semesters left. To be frank, I did not know what to expect coming into college. I expected hard classes, fun times, and lots of new faces, and those definitely have been the reality of college, but there was also so much more to it that I didn't see coming. For starters, I completely neglected the amount of independence needed in college. In almost all my classes, although there was a lot I learned during the lectures and discussions, there was also a ton that I had to learn on my own time. This required a lot of self-motivation and has made me grow as a person already. Additionally, throughout my life in school I have never had such a bad grade on a test and still received a B due to a curve (specifically getting a 57% that became a B). Chemistry 135 is a class where I learned that you don't have to do good, you just have to do better than the average (just kidding). The courses all seem to move a lot faster than I expected. Going through AP courses in high school, I thought I knew how the pace of the classes would be, but they definitely exceeded my initial presumptions. Pertaining to the scholars class specifically, I did not expect to learn about things such as rock formations and things such as the law of superposition or cross-cutting relations (something I more expected to learn in my Planetary Geology class, which turned out to be one of if not my most interesting class, shoutout Dr. Merck). I definitely expected to learn about our environment and concepts of global warming/climate change, which I truly enjoyed learning about as that is the field I want to pursue (Civil and Environmental Engineering). I did not anticipate doing out of classroom activities, but the excursions were very informative and somewhat fun. Going to the Philip Merrill Environmental Center and learning about the CBF's mission was an eye opening experience. I did not know much about the need for action to save the Bay that I grew up so close to, but now I am intrigued and want to help out with the foundation's goals in some way. Although, I'm not sure what I learned from being knee deep in a pond cleaning it of an invasive plant species, but nonetheless it was a fun experience and brought me closer to people in my Scholars group. My life at UMD is also something I could have never anticipated, especially coming from Montgomery County. I thought I would only see people I knew and it would suck because that is all anyone at home ever talked about when the University of Maryland came up in conversation. That hasn't been the case at all. I've met so many new, amazing people and made a great friend group. And I don't see any problem with being around so many people I know from home anymore, because seeing people I know has become somewhat comforting to me in a place with so many new faces. Also, going from seeing your family everyday to only hanging out with friends was something so weird to me, yet it has been so much fun. It has really made my bonds with friends much deeper, and it already feels as if I've known them all my life. In addition, living in a dorm has been an experience I will definitely remember, especially since the mold problems in Centreville are something I don't think I'll ever get used to. I also think I have walked more in these past four months than I had done over the whole quarantine, which is kind of sad but it's something. Finally, some advice I would give a future SGC student is to be open to everything and take every opportunity that comes up, as you never know where they will lead you. I would tell them so many things that I wish I was told before college: to not be afraid of the workload as it's up to them to be on top of it; to not stress too much though some stress is good and keeps you connected to reality; to go out and meet new people as that will truly make their college experience something to remember. I would let them know to engage themselves in their classes, and to work hard because this is it. This is the last four years of us being a student, and we need to take advantage of that. School will always come first, but having fun with friends is a very, very close second. And lastly, be kind and outgoing, You never know who you might meet and where you may end up with them.