College can seem like a scary and daunting world to enter, a new place, new ways of learning, and lots of new people. For most people coming out of high school, there might be high expectations or nervousness heading into their freshman year. But for someone coming from the military, it’s a new beast entirely. I hadn’t been in a school setting in over four years and was rather dreading the idea of coming back home and having to jump right back into it. When I first arrived at boot camp, the drill instructors had a term for the feeling of being in a completely new environment. There is a lot of craziness going on and I didn’t quite know how to react. They called it “culture shock.” I think that best describes my reaction to college so far.
Coming into college I thought that the professors would be no nonsense, strict, drill instructor types who didn’t care much about the individual student. I figured this was the grown-up world and I would be expected to figure it out on my own like I had for the last four years. But the professors have been very helpful and understanding of everyone’s situation, not just mine. I also thought the workload would be monstrous. I figured I would be spending the entire day after class working on homework and studying, but I’ve struck a very nice balance between school and life. While I definitely experienced that culture shock my first few weeks, I am starting to get into a groove and feel more comfortable while at school.
