After wrapping up my first semester at the University of Maryland, I realized that college is much different than what I thought it would be. I believed that every class would have the same grading scales and that classes would have at most 50 people. However, when first attending some of my classes such as chemistry and math, there seemed to be over 100 people in one class with one professor. This surprised me since I was not used to being surrounded by this many people back in high school. In addition, each class has their own grading system which was a bit confusing for me and I needed to read the syllabus of each individual class to understand how the grading system worked. For most of my classes, I would not know my grade until the end of the semester since the curves and grade adjustments would not be inputted into ELMS until then. This is a lot different than high school as I got feedback and my grades quickly which allowed me to know where I stood in class. In high school, everyone had seven periods at specific times and a set lunch time. However, in college I like how we are able to make our own schedule, manage our own time, and have lunch whenever we can. This makes it easier to make better use of my time; although, the transition from having a fixed schedule to having to make your own schedule and plan out your days is a bit stressful because it is something I am not used to doing. In CPSG, we covered making our own websites using HTML code which I thought was quite interesting because it was something I did not expect to learn in this class. This allowed me to design my own website through coding and I surprisingly found myself having fun with it as I was able to express my creative side. The outside-of-classroom activities were more enjoyable than what I thought it would be and I especially loved going to New York and the American Museum of Natural History with my friends. At first, I didn’t expect any class activities to take me that far away, so this trip was a pleasant surprise. We were given the freedom to explore New York on our own after the museum visit which was what made it more enjoyable. I thought it was the perfect balance between guided learning and personal exploration. The museum itself was also very cool, filled with exhibits that ranged from dinosaur fossils to outer space. However, the time we had afterward to walk around the city with friends made the experience even more memorable. I liked how it gave us a day to explore New York by ourselves and have a nice time out of the classroom environment. During the very beginning of the semester, I was not expecting to go to Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens for Service Day and clear out the ponds, but I surprisingly enjoyed it and it was a day to remember. I made a lot of new friends and had a relaxing day out of campus in nature. This experience made me appreciate the unique opportunities that come with being part of the Scholars Program. At first, I didn’t quite know what to expect, and I was unsure whether I would enjoy it, but it turned out to be a very refreshing and thrilling experience overall. Transitioning from high school life to college life was a bit of a challenge. Advice I have for future SGC students would be to plan out your week using a calendar, reminders app, or simply write it down to remind yourself of what you need to get done everyday. It is important to have good time management skills in order to set yourself up for success. In addition, I would make sure you are taking classes that you can handle and choosing your professors wisely. This is essential to your academic success and making sure you can keep up with things. It was somewhat difficult to find a balance between my academic life and social life. However, I made sure to make time for my friends and family whenever possible. Some weeks can get pretty busy and you may have a considerable amount of work that can sometimes be overwhelming. However, it is important to take a step back sometimes and de-stress whether that is by taking a walk, listening to music, or doing something you enjoy for a little bit. I found this important in order to destress and relax for a little while. Then, after that you can be productive again and continue the work you have to complete. In high school, there were a lot of small homework assignments everyday; however, in college we do not get that many small assignments which I found made it difficult to learn and reinforce the material in my head. I found the small homework assignments I had to complete everyday helpful in my learning process back in high school, but not getting that many to refer back to and study in college makes it difficult to learn in my opinion. Therefore, it is very important to make your own good study habits and find your own way that you learn best.