My Experience In College

Working your way through college can be a daunting journey to say the least. There have been a myriad of challenges to overcome, both foreseen and unexpected. A year and half ago I decided to follow my dream of moving to California and obtaining a degree in engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. The decision to follow my passion for science invoked both fear and excitement within myself. I didn’t have the support of many friends and family, as I am originally from the East Coast, many of them seen my moving to California as an unrealistic and unnecessary goal. Despite my own self-doubts and the discouragement of my family I made the decision to relocate to California. That decision manifested the most significant chapter in my life to date. In an extremely short period of time I had to find an apartment, in the Bay Area, one of the most competitive and costly rental markets in the country as well as enroll in school, apply for aid and secure stable

Welcome to the “playground of unregulated freedom” (Delbanco, 19) that is college. These institutions all have a purpose in forming an individual. Some take their years in college to discover who they are, to gain independence, or to simply complete their degree. My personal experience thus far during my collegiate career has been to focus on following my passion. I have taken my love of athletics, and interest in the human body as a way to motivate myself through school with the end goal of receiving a doctoral degree. Given that my first year of college was full of hardships that caused questions as to whether an education was truly worthwhile, I am here as a sophomore stepping out of my comfort zone daily to pursue my passion.

I wasn’t as anxious and my nerves were finally calming down. I commenced to doing my school work, but I was still a little confused. I couldn’t quite figure out where to begin and what class I should work on first. There was a lot to do by Sunday. That night, I decided to start working on one of my microcomputer assignments. The assignment walked me through e-Campus and showed me the basics. I would have been lost without this assignment. There is a lot to learn on e-Campus and it took the time to explain where I find my assignments, how to submit them, how to use the e-Campus email, how to post to the discussions forums, and how to check my grades. By the fourth day, I had a few assignments completed and submitted. Feeling less overwhelmed, I started to get myself set into a little routine. I decided, it would be best to split my time between all my classes. I would work on one class a night and whatever I don’t get completed by the fourth day, I would work on throughout the rest of the week and

During the first semester of my college experience, I believe taking Composition 1 greatly improved my skills as a writer. The confidence I have in my writing ability has soared, my time and stress management has improved when taking on an assignment, and I have learned several techniques and tools that will carry on in my future writings. From the beginning of the semester I underestimated the depth topic exploration, drafting, and revision had on the success of a final essay. However, I believe I have successfully organized my thoughts to coherently write each essay from early on. I took every process assignment seriously to help determine what techniques work for me, and I stuck with what worked through the remainder of the semester.

“Welcome Class to Composition one.” Those words were voiced by my professor, Mrs. Robinson, on the first day of school. Initially, I thought to myself, do I even belong in this college course class. Before school had even begun, the stress over the summer about my English skills was eating me alive. Why? Well, in my past English classes I received A’s on all of my essays, but this college class did not seem so easy. Also, I was always fascinated by all the arts and sciences, but English never struck interest in me. I never thought that I could write any decent essays. The reason I insecure about my writing skills was because of the ACT. Since the ACT is the talk about how smart an individual is, my ACT score was not very high. As the course continued, the first essay approached quickly. I remember being stressed about this essay because of my writing insecurities. Although I managed to acquire a decent grade, I promised myself to strive to make myself a better writer. I started to read Norton Field Guide to Writing handbook also known as the yellow book, and slowly but surely started to develop knowledge of good writing skills and tips to improve my essays. This allowed me to grow as a writer and slowly my insecurities started to dwindle, and I began to gain confidence in myself. I never would've thought that the next time I took the ACT that my English score would be my highest. When getting my score back and realizing that I had improved so much, I began to wonder how I

I started a new life when I stepped foot on the North Carolina Central University campus on August 10th. I came here as a wide-eyed freshman who was excited to see the world and to see what else there is to offer. I never could have prepared myself for the things I would come to learn and realize about people, school, and myself. Sadly, when I first got here I was very naive to how other people move and operate. I expected people to be different, however, deep down I still expected everyone to be the same as the people from my hometown. Nevertheless, now that I have grown accustomed to the people here I have grown a love for my new community. I have learned to find beauty in every person I come in contact with and I am open to new things.

As a student, I can tell why some of the frustrations occur when the conscientious seldom does not pay off adequate. No wonder thirty percent of first-year college students drop out. Every second of college life feels intimated since the future of student mostly rely on how they manipulate the time. I wonder if I can keep myself into college, or will I be counted as one in those thirty percent of first-year college students. I don’t want to be that statistic; I won’t be. The present that I hold highlights my past, where life granted me one last chance to change my destiny.

I stumble, missing a step. A little lightheaded is all. Maybe I should’ve eaten more for breakfast. I walked up the steps and attempted to push open the door even though the sign clearly read pull. I murmured to myself, “Why do I have a math class at 7:45am?” This was a routine for me during my years of high school and I often felt miserable as a result. Although I felt as if I was in hell every morning high school has been a captivating experience for me. It has certainly had its positives and negatives and many confusing experiences in between. Overall, I feel as though I have been suited for not only college, but also life as a whole. High school has taught me many things, both academically and subjectively. It has revealed my true colors, both good and bad, and as a result, has built many aspects of my character as well as define my success as I enter my first year of college. My experiences at A.C.L.A have shaped me into the person that I am today.

During my first week as a freshman in college, I was still wondering if I had made the right choice for myself. Intrigued if the major I had chosen was right for me, I decided to attend a workshop strictly for product design students. I wanted to meet people in my major and also get a taste of what I had gotten myself into. On my way to the event, I ran into a girl with short curly hair that seemed lost and looking for a specific classroom. I asked her if she was a freshman and, relieved, she replied that she was, wondering if it was my first time in that maze of a building too. The URBN Center is the building where all the design classes are, and accordingly, it has an intricate system of half floors that is eye-pleasing yet confusing to get around.

Starting off as a freshmen I was very quiet, I was scared of the teachers and classmates. Everyday was a struggle to get into the classrooms my body would shake, my hands would sweat, and my voice would tremble. Each and everyday felt like the first day of school. I hated the way I acted and looked at school as if it were a challenge. Being social became like solving a binary code. I could not figure out how to talk to people everyone made it seem so easy to connect to one another. I felt like a foreigner who did not know how to speak English. For the rest of the year I let myself be in isolation only speaking to my friends I have meet in middle school. As the new year came around I felt compelled to break the habit of being preserved. I went in with the intention of making at least four new friends. I knew it was something I needed to come out of if, I wanted to succeed in the near future and interacting was definitely needed for internships or job applications. Being very serious about wanting to grow as an individual I tried out for our school cheer. As I waited in line for a number to try out I was ready to just drop it and leave. My friend told me it was gonna be fine and I remained in line. As tryouts went on I felt so confident I was surprised myself. While learning the motions and dance I felt relieved. For the first time I was alive interacting with everyone who was trying out it was truly the time of my life. Two days later time to tryout came. I was me again.

I expect this year to be difficult. I come from a small town and UNCC is huge in comparison, and not just in terms of population. The space between my dorm in Witherspoon and the Student Union is about the length of my hometown’s main street. To say I am experiencing culture shock is an understatement. I want this year to be fun, be enjoyable, but I know it is going to be hard, especially during the first semester. There is a steep learning curve to even being here, not even considering classes, just being here, just getting here, it has been and will continue to be a challenge. I have never been away from home for more than two weeks at a time and this past Friday marked my first two weeks here. I have never felt more homesick. My family is trying to help, but I am a first-generation college student and we are all in the dark as to how I am supposed to scale this mountain. I am only here because of the generosity of others and hours of hard work. I spent middle school and high school with my nose pressed into books, understanding that I would never be talented enough for an athletic scholarship. In my spare time I worked, worked because my family did not have enough money to send me anywhere. I earned scholarships and I got here and I knew that college was going to be hard academically, and that I would have to work, but even before the real work has begun I have been slapped in the face by something much worse, loneliness.

Now to recount my college chapter I would have to say that it didn’t end so successfully. I began as a freshman at the University of Washington-Bothell (UWB) campus. There I followed the general path all freshmen went through; completing their prerequisites and adjusting to college life. I was like many students, still unsure of what I wanted to pursue in college but a key factor of college is exploration. However, as the year went by I slowly started to notice that the vision I had of attending this college was not what I expected. I felt that the courses laid out to freshman weren’t beneficial as they combined the essential disciplines of say math, history, English, and science into one class they like to call ‘Discovery Core’. Of course, you are selected to choose a pre-major of your choice where you would be taking the classes you’ll need to complete the set of requirements for that major. At the time I was thinking about going into the STEM field as it was something I enjoyed doing during high school. I took the beginning series of Computer Science and going into the class it wasn’t a problem it was the end of the quarter that caught me off guard; the finals.

Last weekend, as my final task in this 27-day journal reflection, my mother had given me on the hardest task that surprising made me rethink everything I've come to known. She had asked me to send in my university applications. At first, when she told me that she wanted to get it done before Monday, I thought I was going to need another task to write about in my reflection on Wednesday, I already knew what programs I want to go into. I had no doubts about what I wanted to do, what schools offered the best program, where I live on campus, how much everything cost... I had done all my research since grade 11. I was physically ready to submit my applications. But I wasn't prepared psychologically and emotionally. Not even close. As I sat there looking at my laptop screen, I questioned everything that I thought I knew and I had let my insecurities come to surface to make my decisions. I end up switching back and forward between doing nursing and not becoming an OBGYN but do prenatal/neonatal nursing or sticking with doing health science and probably move out of Canada to go to medical school (a lot easier overseas than here). I even thought about changing majors completely and go into women studies and not pursue a career in science at all. I had seemed to lose all self-confidence that had for two years, in a matter of ten minutes. I rationing to do is to talk to others who are in university right now-- which I did. I ending up calling my aunt, my two brothers, my uncle, my

n the second grade, after a fun weekend of watching football, I decided to go to my parents if I could start playing football. They decided to get me to play soccer first and see if I enjoyed that, and being the stubborn little kid that I was. So after a year of soccer, my parents asked if I liked it and I told them no. That fall I signed up for the Little Devils, a little league football team. My football career started out great. I was a starter for my first four years at the Little Devils. Quarterback which was my favorite position to play. In my last year as a starter, my team went undefeated and won the championship with me at quarterback. The next season everyone had grown a lot more than I did. I was very short and the head coach decided to not let me start at quarterback and instead moved our running back at quarterback. The next year was my 8th-grade year I started the first game, but I struggled and eventually lost the job. I also broke my left arm ending my little league career.

Not being able to graduate has affected my life, a bunch. Not graduating, made effects difficult for me, however, made effects bigger, however, on the other hand, made them even worse for what I had been under, stress and pressure. The one person putting greater pressure on me, was none other than me, still my family puts pieces of the stress on me too. Not being able to walk from Ridge community and graduate from High school and be a graduate, had been already humiliating enough for me, how I brainwashed myself, and continued thinking of my future, had yet to hold for me, it enduring setting off all those stress factors those lasting was a suffering for a long time. These thoughts that were racing constantly, "what should I identify now?" The stressful tension had been already too much to handle, but having a few of my family put me down was even worse, I struggled with my ACT, and worried around passing my classes at Ridge, and competing my requirements.