Now that I have attended the University of Maryland for a semester, I can confidently say that college is, in fact, different from high school. I wasn’t sure what college would be like, so my only expectation was that it would be different than anything I had done before. Going into this first semester, I knew that the classes would be harder but with more real-world applications, I’d be able to join more clubs, and my friends had made me well aware of what dorm bathrooms would be like. I didn’t really have many expectations beyond that, but what really defined this semester was everything that was unexpected.
The classes that I took this semester all moved faster than most of my classes in high school, but the topics were interesting and didn’t feel as drawn out like they had previously been. I have enjoyed getting to take classes with professors who you can tell that they are genuinely interested in teaching the subject, and I found that these classes are so much more interesting to pay attention to and complete the work for as well. I wasn’t able to take many college level classes before, but the classes that I took this semester were all very helpful and supportive so that I could learn what is to be expected when writing an essay or working on a project in a university class. This semester I took ENES100 and ENAE100, where the majority of the class was based on a project. I have done group projects throughout all of my academic career, but getting to design and build an over terrain vehicle for ENES and working with a professor to learn about how to use a machine learning algorithm to identify astronomical structures in images for ENAE was an incredible experience. I have been able to take on challenging tasks and gain knowledge in subjects that are both interesting and relevant to me, which I have never had the opportunity to do before.
In CPSG100, we have covered a lot of very interesting topics throughout the course of the semester. I didn’t expect to learn about misinformation and conspiracy theories, but looking back on how it was all tied to the curriculum, I can see how this subject is very important for this class. I hope that this class will explore some of the proposed solutions for issues like climate change and what is currently being done. Outside of the classroom, CPSG100 has had more activities and field trips this semester than I had in entire years, which was very fun and engaging as we got to see applications of what we learned in other settings. When I have had classes that had trips and out-of-school activities, we weren’t able to do much self-exploration and it was mainly guided work, but during the D.C. Scavenger Hunt and the excursion trip we were encouraged to learn on our own and walk freely. I expected these activities to be more lecture based with a rigid schedule and structure, but the ability to freely move about the museums was a much better experience than most of the trips that I’ve previously been on.
I am fortunate to be able to live on campus and get the experience of being independent and being surrounded by other students who are similar to myself. I went to a small high school where there wasn’t much going on in or around school, but at the University of Maryland, there is always something happening on campus. There are so many clubs to join and activities to attend, and that has shown me that having a lively campus is more important than I had previously thought a year ago when I was exploring colleges.
One piece of advice that I would give to future SGC students is to put yourself out there and make friends. It’s hard starting fresh in a new environment, and feeling lonely in a giant school is only going to make it feel harder. As someone who is terrified of embarrassment and is scared to talk to new people, I didn’t realize how much better school and life overall is when you have other people to spend time with. All it takes is one friend who you can talk to and spend time with (even if it’s just searching for an open seat at a dining hall with them) will make the stresses of being a freshman exponentially better.
Although it feels like a lot of this semester has just been going to classes and doing homework, I have still been able to have some fun times with both old and new friends. I’ve been learning how to balance working on weekends with my new college schedule while also going on fun adventures. It has been hard being sick a lot and missing a lot of classes, but this first semester is all about living and learning with the many unexpected events that come with starting college.