Author: Strawberry shortcake

There are many things I have to be proud of in terms of college. The biggest thing I am proud of so far is simply the fact that I am in college. I am a first generation college student so for me and my family it is a big deal that I went to college. To many people the thought of going to college is normal and expected, but for me it has always sort of been an idea, but I never thought of it as a reality. Because no one in my family went to college, I did not know what to expect and how I was going to do. I struggled with the fear of failing, and to be honest I still do, but I can confidently say that I am proud of myself for even going in the first place and making it this far. My dad constantly tells me “I’m so proud of you” and it truly means a lot. My parents being proud of me has led me to start being proud of myself. Now that I have been here for a few months it is starting to feel normal, but at times I take a step back and think about how I’m actually at college and that I really should be proud of myself.

Not only am I proud of myself for going to college, but I am also proud of how I am doing. So far I am doing well in all of my classes. I have kept up with the work and not fallen behind on any assignments. I also do not have any missing assignments. My grades are doing good: I get good results on most of my quizzes, exams, assignments, and papers. The workload has honestly been a lot but I am proud of myself for being able to keep up with it all. I get overwhelmed very easily and when I have a lot to do or a lot of work that starts to pile up I get very stressed out. I do find myself getting stressed out a lot but I ultimately overcome these feelings, which I believe is something to be proud of. I have always been a decent student but academics have never really been my strong suit. However I believe that I will continue to do well in school and therefore continue to feel proud of myself.

Living in a college dorm is a totally new experience for me. I grew up with three other siblings so it was a big switch from a big house full of people to a small room with just me and my roommate. The first week of college it felt like I was at camp and the dorm I was staying in was just for a short time. Now that I have been living here for a while I am more comfortable in my dorm and it feels like home. I have even noticed myself referring to my dorm as “home.” Living in the dorms comes with a lot of freedom as well as a lot of responsibility.

There are many pros and cons about life in the dorms. Personally one con I have experienced while living in a dorm is other people being loud. Some people can be very inconsiderate and be very noisy during times of the night that are supposed to be quiet hours. One example of this is from a few weeks ago when I was trying to sleep and someone on the floor above me kept running and jumping around and making so much noise at around eleven at night. Another con can be that you are on your own a lot. My roommate goes home most weekends and I don’t so when she is not here I am all by myself for a while. This can get pretty lonely at times. There are also responsibilities like doing my own laundry and dishes and keeping my room clean. These responsibilities are not necessarily a bad thing, but at the moment doing dishes and laundry is not fun.

Some pros of living in the dorms are that you can get really close to your roommate. I knew my roommate before college and we are best friends, but living together has helped us grow closer. I have also met new people in my hall that I probably would not have otherwise met. It is also nice to have a space that is your own. Some of the freedoms I now have are going to bed as late or early as I want as well as things like decorating how I want. One of the biggest pros about the dorms at uwgb specifically is that each room has its own bathroom and shower. Most other colleges have community bathrooms so the fact that there are individual bathrooms is a huge plus. Overall I think living in the dorms is a good experience and I highly recommend it to people who attend the University of Wisconsin Green Bay.

For many college freshmen, including myself, this is the first time we have had to live on our own and be in charge of our lives. This new experience can be exciting and scary all at the same time. There are many pros and cons of being my own boss, but let’s start with the pros. There is a new sense of freedom that comes with living on my own that can be liberating. For example, now that I am in charge of myself I can decide when I want to start my homework and how late I want to stay up. If I want to stay up all night binge watching my favorite show, there is no one to stop me. Despite having this freedom it is important to take care of myself. Living on my own also pushes me to be more responsible. Now I have to do things like my laundry and dishes. At first this may not seem like a good thing but it is actually beneficial for preparing myself for the future and helping me become independent.

There are many good things about being in charge of my own life, but there are also some not so good things that come with. A big thing about living on my own can be loneliness. When I start to miss my family and friends back home it can make me feel pretty down. While being my own boss it can be easy to quickly become overwhelmed and stressed out. Time management is extremely important in college and if I did not have the best time management in high school it can be hard to keep up. When I live on my own there is no one to remind me to do my work; instead it is entirely up to me. While these things are cons to living on my own there is still room for improvement. There are resources to go to if I need help, but I have to go to these resources. No one will force me.