My Experience In College

As Dan West has stated every story has a beginning, middle and an end to it. I can tell you all sorts of stories from the past two years. Some of the events I have experienced are like none other and can be only described as a college experience. No matter how the story goes, or the content of the story, a constant theme of learning and growth is present throughout everyone. Throughout these past two years, I have learned several bits of information about myself. College can be described as a learning experience, and that is exactly what I would describe my college experience.

At the beginning of semester, I was not sure if the course was going to be enjoyable. There were some classes where I thought I had already learned some of the lectures in High School. I asked myself many times, “Why is this course required?” However, as the semester went by, I sort of started to understand the reason for the course. I had never attended college before, and I didn’t really know what certain things were,for example, Financial Aid. The topic time management was also influential across the semester. Learning a little more about my personality was also something that was influential across 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

College is often called the best time of your lives but it is also the first time you are left alone with new experiences. Some of these experiences are good ones you will keep for life and others are one that teach you valuable lessons. These experiences often can either make or break people depending on their level of responsibility and accountability.

College, from what I heard from people say, is a time that you would not forget. From coming from such a far away place I did not really know what to expect. I was expecting some changes, but not the changes that I experienced over the past semester. I have changed as a person with greater openness of others’ ideas and topics. I have changed with more independent from my parents and I have changed with more knowing of determining who I want to be, and I have changed by being more understanding that a person has to ask questions or otherwise, when in doubt people will not communicate with you. This past semester has been a time of self growth, which in turn has caused me to be a much different person that I had started out with.

Friday nights are a busy time especially when you get home after a day of serving and making sandwiches, salads and soups. My dad had just got home and he sat straight down looking tired complaining about his feet and how they were hurting. He was always so open about his college experience because he thinks it is a good lesson we should all learn about because he didn’t have a straight road to go on. He enjoys telling people about it because he feels that others can learn from him. Jeff Anderer is a German Irish American who grew up in multiple cities, such as Hackensack NJ, Goshen NY, Charleston SC and San Francisco. He only lived in those city for about three year each but moved schools frequently because of natural disasters or closures. He had an unusual college experience but never the less was excited to share his experience.

Learning about your strengths while in college is beneficial to learning and knowing yourself as a person. Two of my strengths were discipline and includer which both can be achieved through college life. To be discipline means to be productive to get a task done and not to procrastinate which means getting things done using a schedule and sticking to the plan. Anyone that is an includer does not let anyone feel left out of a group and wants everyone to feel welcomed to a new space or group. These special strengths is what makes up my DNA or who I am as a person. Both of theses things can be applied and even further developed during the next years while growing as a person. I plan to grow in these strengths by doing homework sooner which should translate into better test scores and grades while I want to become more friendly and get to know more people so that no one left on campus feels like he or she does not have a friend. Throughout life at college both of these strengths will grow me as a person and focus on self growth.

(Hook) “English teachers put more thought into a novel than the actual author did” (Teenager Post #4155). English is a subject that is difficult, and usually, it ends up being detailed and a lot of work because of the way teachers push their students. (Controlling Idea) When entering into high school, I was signed up to take the class Honors English Nine, which turned out to be a stressful experience because of the this in depth work. (GS1) In high school honors courses, I as Freshmen was faced with academic difficulty in some classes that I didn’t experience in middle school. (GS2) Eventually, more fun came with the more advanced classes while in school. (GS3) While in the honors classes, I as a student absorbed a lot of material and lessons from our teachers who pushed us. (THESIS) Throughout Mrs. Oles’s Honors English Nine, I experienced a range of (I) difficulties through her honors-level class, (II) balanced out by carefree fun, (III) and ultimately many learning experiences.

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.

describing your purpose for being in college, your educational experience, motivation and attitudes toward learning, your strengths, weaknesses, and academic/career goals.

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

I walk into the house close to around eight- thirty pm, it’s pitch black inside my house.  Still standing in front of the doorway, I call out to see if anyone's home. A glowing orange light appears bouncing off the hallway walls and barely brightening up my field of view. It was my mother, she was crying; I asked her why she had a candle in her hand and she had told me that the power, electric, water, and gas had all been shut off. This had been the fourth time in three months.

Well my first semester of college is nearly about to wrap up and I gained a ton of new knowledge that will last me a life time. It was just seven months ago that I graduated high school after twelve long years of public school. Now, it’s been seven months officially being on my own and being an adult where I need to take on new responsibilities in my life. There have been new obstacles, new strategies to overcome those obstacles, and new outcomes to these challenges.

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.