Yassmin's "Expectations vs. Reality" Reflection Essay

People always talk about college and about all the great and horrible things that come with it. Taking the time to fully process that I was leaving home and making the famous life changing switch from high school to living at college was something I wanted to avoid. Of course, college comes with so much freedom that any teenager who has ever felt suffocated from their life at home would be absolutely ecstatic about, but that much freedom was daunting. Being thrown into an atmosphere completely different from the one I grew up in was not something I looked forward to. Once I got to college park, it was a lot happening at once especially with service day so I didn't really get the opportunity to sit and think about all that's about to shift in my life. As classes and everything really started, the shift wasn't as difficult as I was initially anticipating since I had a lot to do and didn't really dwell on what I missed from home. Overall, college has been different from what I was expecting in high school but I'm glad it is because the adjustment wasn't as painful as I thought it would be.

A lot of things about courses in college were a lot different from what I was initially expecting. As an engineering major, I knew it wasn't going to be easy and require a lot more work to do well in, especially in comparison to the classes I took in highschool. This expectation was definitely met as I typically sit and do work or study everyday for at least four hours a day after my classes. The reality of how much work college is only somewhat set in recently when I was thinking about how little work I did during my senior year of highschool in comparison to how much work I do on a daily basis now. Something I was not expecting was the amount of midterms classes had. I always thought that midterms meant that there was only one exam in the middle of the semester and then of course a final. This is not true. For all of the classes needed for my major, I had three midterms in addition to the final exam. Something else I did not think about prior was how big of an impact your professor has on your performance in a class. The way you're taught, it's effectiveness, the homework, the difficulties of exams, and how they're graded all depend on the professor so if you get stuck with a professor who is mad at the world, it is likely going to be a horrible class, even if the material is supposedly relatively simple.

CPSG100 was not fully what I was expecting. When joining the Science and Global change program I mainly focused on the global change aspect and not the science part. The class has had a heavy gear towards the science part but not in the way I typically think of science like physics and chemistry but instead scientific thinking. There was, of course, lectures on global change and how it is making an undeniable change upon our Earth. I expected more lectures on the matter of how we can use science to better the current state of our climate. I thought we would perhaps learn more on things like different sources of renewable energy and get more into the specifics as to how they work and maybe think of new ways science can be developed in order to ameliorate our current situation. I have found the outside excursions to be quite enjoyable especially since we're given the oppurtunity to make friends in a setting that is outside the classroom.

Something I did not expect to enjoy as much was living with a roommate. I have always liked to have my alone time in my room especially after sharing a room with my sister for the longest time so I thought having a roommate would be annoying at times since I could never truly be alone but it's actually the opposite. Me and my roommate get along amazingly and our late night conversations are a lot more entertaining than scrolling aimlessly through instagram and tiktok.

For future SGC students, there are a few pieces of advice I would tell them that I wish I knew prior to starting college. First, would be that planet terp is your best friend when registering. It helps you prepare yourself for what you're getting into as well as makes sure you don't choose the worst professor for that course. Next I would recommend, if possible, finding a roommate that has a major similar to yours as well as someone who has the same goals. This makes it a lot easier to remain motivated and on the right path. I would also tell future SGC students to not be afraid to talk to people in their classes, especially on the first few days. Pretty much everyone wants someone to be able to talk to in class and having someone to ask for help on homework or to study with is massively helpful. Finally, I would tell them to make sure they're having fun and if there's something on campus they want to do, they should set aside the time to do it!

Last modified: 2 December 2022