My Experience In College

For those who attended college will say that their best years of their lives were in college, while others say otherwise. So far, my SU experience has been a blast so far, but with four years still coming ahead, there is a myriad of matters that I want to do before I graduate. As noted by Barack Obama Howard University commencement speech “Change is the effort of committed citizens who hitch their wagons to something bigger than themselves and fight for every day.” (Obama, 6), I will make use of my time for the purpose of changing the world for the better. Some of these topics that I want to do are participating in classes or majoring in another topic, traveling abroad to possibly a developing country, working at a major or a little company as an intern, finding myself and developing my people/leadership skills, and growing my skills of cooking. Hopefully, my college years will be the best moments of my life and during these times I would develop these lifelong skills for the future.

“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

College is a great place to grow as a person, but you have to plan out what you will do in order to have the greatest experience possible. Without having a plan you will not be able to go forward with great confidence that you have made all of the right choices in college. This means you should not party and make bad decisions that will ruin your chances at making a great career out of your time and money that is going in for your education. I believe that you should not be part of the crowd that is only at school to party and to has fun, I believe that you should join a group that will help with your education and that you can still have a good time with. You should also have great relationships with your professors in order for you to go to them and talk about problems or issues that you are having with the classes you are taking and maybe they can give you advice on how you could improve in the class that you are struggling in, or maybe they can just be a person to talk to. Professors are great tools for you to use to start doing the best you can possibly do with the help and guidance that only professors can give.

My first year as a Higher Education Student in NUC had different experiences. I would describe some as exciting and life giving. Similarly, other experiences were challenging and disappointing. It was difficult to adapt in a new academic environment. I found it tough but life was not devoid of fun too. Meeting friends with different personalities made it possible for me to face academic life at NUC.

People say once you graduate college to prepare yourself for the real world ahead of you. Going to college was the real world I was eager to experience after high school. The ability to be more independent and give the courage I already have to others surrounded around me. Attending Montclair State University has helped me recognize both my strengths and weaknesses throughout my college experience. Without those setbacks, I wouldn’t have been able to learn different approaches in order to be successful. These top ten lessons focused on preparation skills, communication, and passion.

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.

There have been a few places where I been uncomfortable and have noticed many people’s mindsets such as being a growth or fixed mindset. The two places I will talk about where I have been the most uncomfortable are college and on the city bus. I will talk about what I’ve heard and I what I learned about how people think and how that can affect what others think about that person.

Throughout the semester, I have grown tremendously. Coming into this semester, I was nervous, but excited for college. I had expectations of how it would go, and nothing went how I planned. I had to grow up and realize I was on my own now. Everything was up to me; I can decide my bed time, I can decide to go to class, and I can decide what to make of my time here. Time management has been the biggest adjustment in college. Last year, I took 7 courses, two of those AP level, worked 30 hours a week, and still managed to have time for an hour gym session every day. In college, however, I struggled to have the motivation to even go to my 10 a.m. classes. Reality hit after the first week, and I realized I needed to stay focused and motivated to stay on track with my class work.

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.

Going into English 111 in August, I had no idea what to expect. This was my first experience of college classes, and walking into the classroom on the first Tuesday of the semester, all I knew was it was going to be different. As the class period went on, however, we were introduced to Moodle and then the seven student learning outcomes. These made the goals of the class clearer to me.

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

My first semester at the University of Evansville has been some of the best, yet hardest, days of my life. I have made many new friends, joined clubs, attended events on campus, and worked out at the gym, but along with all this fun came a lot of stress, hard work, and restless nights. Although I had some rough times, I believe that taking ID 106 provided with me all the information I need to cope when put into these situations and taught me how to avoid being put into stressful situations.

After I graduated High School, I moved to Logan, Utah to pursue my Bachelors at Utah State University. This move was actually quite easy. My mom drove down with me to help me move into my apartment and all of my belongings easily fit between our two cars. About halfway through the semester, everything kind of fell apart. I hated my program, I didn’t like the atmosphere of the university and I wanted out. It was not anything like I was hoping, and I decided I was definitely not going to stay. However, I wanted to finish out the semester and tie up all my loose ends before I transferred. After a couple weeks of heavy research, hours on the phone, and lots and lots of emails, I was set to transfer to Boise State University located in Boise, Idaho.

My first semester of college was in January I had just graduated high school in December and decided to attend Rappahannock community college for nursing. The road to the college I was attending was named route seventeen. Seventeen is a long stretch of windy, woodsy road that is known to be populated by deer. On the particular day of my accident It was pouring rain, the roads were slick with water so instead of taking my beetle convertible I decided to take my father's SUV. My boyfriend decided to accompany me to the college that day even though my parents did not know I had a boyfriend and I was not allowed to ride others in the car with me at the time.

I feel that I have grown exponentially my first semester at UMD. Reading the letter I wrote to myself at the beginning of the semester, I realized that I didn’t have anything extraordinary to say to myself. The person I have evolved into over the past months is a lot more aware of the future and how the actions I make truly do affect those around me. Also, academically, I have learned about the educational system, the life around us, and how to relieve stress in my life. I can apply this knowledge my life and teach others about what I have learned. I am so blessed to have received an outstanding education.