Author: the everlasting beauty

For all the commuter students let me tell you something, getting to college by car is not an easy process. As a sophomore, I had to get used to a college schedule and life while enduring the constant traffic on my daily commute to school. I get up every morning in a huff, get dressed fast, and hope to have enough time before my 20-minute trip to UWGB to make my own coffee and breakfast. Depending on the class that day, my iPhone alarm clock will either wake me up at 5:30 a.m. or 6:30 a.m. to start my regular day. I look at the weather forecast to make sure I’m ready for whatever Green Bay weather has in store for me that day. I always remember to bring a jacket even when it’s not cold outside because I know that I can never depend on the weather here. After rushing out of the house it takes me time to start the car and drop my sister to her school too which is like 20 minutes away from where I’m headed to. And after arriving at my college the struggle gets even more worse as I have to deal with finding a parking lot to park my car. Parking my car is one of my daily routine worst nightmares because when coming to school I fear that I will be late to class and miss some important stuff, even though sometimes it’s my own fault due to bad time management on any given day.

On the contrary to this, there are some advantages to being a student who commutes. After a tough day of studies, I like to leave college and drive home to unwind. Given the work required to attend college, I think the majority of commuter students are committed to their studies and motivated to achieve. In contrast to high school, college commuter students come from a variety of counties, so preparation is essential for a hassle-free journey. In the bright side of this the benefits are potential savings which means that you get to prepare your own meals from home and you don’t have to worry about meal plans, and another one is privacy and space benefits which gives me the satisfaction to live at my own house and not have to worry about sharing closets or any space with strangers. On the other hand of this, there is also some cons that affect me as a commuter student which are, the increase transportation costs, fewer social opportunities, and the difficulties with schedulings which if you consider factors like traffic making it on time to 8am classes may be trickier, particularly when you’re not a morning person. In conclusion, being a commuter has helped me significantly with my time management abilities. To ensure that the day goes well, you have to make some alterations to your routine. Always allow yourself enough time to locate parking. I’ve learned that effective time management is essential for commuting students to succeed.

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The modern life of today is filled with demands, frustrations, struggles, deadlines and stress which is a normal part of life. One such period of time that people go through this is when they are attending college/university. It is a big deal for students because it’s their first time dealing with a lot of stress and doing things that they have not done before. They’ve gone through a lot of stress growing up, and now they’re dealing with stress in the real world, which can be really overwhelming. College can be more stressful than any other time because it’s a big chunk of time that sets us up for success in the future. So for me, what I mostly struggle with is increased responsibilities, a lack of good time management, feeling overwhelmed, and to be honest the financial troubles/needs that I worry about. In my first year of college, it was a real hard struggle because I didn’t have the study skills I needed to succeed. I got through high school on sheer intellect and waited till the last minute to finish most of my work. And I would constantly turn in my homeworks late which then most of the time had no consequences for but in college if I turned in my homeworks late then I would have some points taken away or sometimes the professor won’t even grade it because of it being late. 

Therefore, college is really harder than I imagine it to be. Moreover, college has had a significant impact on my daily life, often causing stress that seems never ending. Each day, I grapple with the pressure of deadlines, the weight of the assignments and the constant need to balance academics with the other aspects of my life. It is not easy and there are moments that I feel overwhelmed. However, I have learned to overcome these stresses by prioritizing time management, setting realistic goals and seeking support from friends, professors, and campus resources. I have gradually discovered a way to deal with the difficulties with college and the stress it entails by breaking tasks down into manageable, asking for help when necessary, and remembering to take breaks. Examples of this would be, I prioritize time management by setting out particular time for different tasks which helped me avoid putting things off until the last minute and I also planned my study sessions, when each assignment would be due, and etc. I would write all this in a calendar which was my reminder tool. Other examples are, I stopped being afraid to speak up and ask for help when I needed it so I started seeking support from my professors and family. That way I learned to not hesitate to ask for help when I am struggling with courses/homeworks or in general when I am feeling overburdened. All these strategies helped me become better in college and taught me to speak up, write and carry myself like the professional I will soon become.

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     Coming to UWGB was not something I honestly had in mind. During my junior year I was told by my counselor that I had all the credits that I needed to graduate so I thought why not just graduate early. As a result then came the hard decision where I had to decide where to go for a college/university. However, since I already knew what I wanted to major in, I just had to look for the right college/university to go to. Although my family didn’t want me to be far from home, I decided to go to UWGB. As it’s always for starters going to a university scared me and I was somewhat afraid of what the professors, facilities, classes, social life and the campus itself was going to be like.  

Nonetheless, being close to school starting I had the opportunity to join a 2 week program called GPS where they cover everything you might need help with. Because I had the opportunity to participate in this program, I was no longer as scared as I was in high school, but I was still a bit scared about how the overall courses will turn out since during my high school I was taught that “College/university won’t be like high school, and you won’t get as much help as you did in high school”, which made me even more scared. Additionally, after 3 weeks of taking classes, I felt like I received a lot of help, more than I ever received in high school. Proving my theory wrong, I realized that life in college doesn’t always go as you thought it would. I started to really appreciate the help that my professors were giving me and the campus itself, although I still can’t say the same about my social life. In conclusion, things don’t always go as you have in mind so always stay open minded about things because they won’t always be as you think. 

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