Author: Christmas Time

            College is like putting down a wild card in UNO; you never know what to expect. It might work out really well or it might end in a disaster, and there really is no in between. If students go into college with the mindset that it’s going to end in a disaster, they’re setting themselves up for failure. My advice for future freshmen would be to go into college with the mindset that they’re going to flourish and grow as not only a student but a person as well. One thing that will make a student successful in school and growing as a person would be focusing on themselves. This means finding a community that they feel they can belong to, whether that be going to clubs, going to activities around campus, or going around and meeting new people. This may also be focusing on themselves. This may look different for some, but for me some things that worked well were going to the gym when I had free time, connecting with new people, and trying out new coffee shops. 

            When it comes to school, one piece of advice I would give is to not stress yourself out with the work, and not procrastinate. I have noticed throughout my college experience so far, if you get your work done early, you will not feel as stressed. The workload may sometimes be overwhelming, but always remember to take a deep breath and focus. There may be bumps along the road which may throw you off such as having an issue with a class, professor, or friend, or just having a bad day. However, always remember that you have a community behind you backing you up, and have many people around you that want to help you. At the end of the day, I am glad that I put down the wild card with college, and decided to try it. So far it has worked for me, and I am loving every step of my journey.

uno wild card – Search Images (bing.com)

Ever since I was a little girl, I have always dreamt of what it would be like to call my own shots. I have always been a fairly independent person when it comes to my life; however, I have always had someone whispering in my ear, pointing me in directions that I didn’t always want to go in. I knew that once I moved off to college those dreams of calling the shots would become a reality. Since college has started, I’ve been loving being able to be my own person and make all my decisions. Although it has been lots of fun, there have been a few setbacks as well. It has been very hard to manage my school work with free time and knowing when is the right time to say no. There have been many nights where I have had to do schoolwork, but I also get asked to go out and do something with my friends, and I have to choose between what is the right decision. Another thing that has been challenging is being responsible for the important decisions that are needed to be made. This may include paying for college on time, budgeting my money, and using time management.

Although there are some challenges to being your own boss and making your own decisions, there are also some benefits as well. By being my own boss, it has allowed me to be able to make my own schedule. When I started college, I loved being able to pick my own classes, and decide when I was going to be taking them. In high school, we had no control over what time we were going to take our classes, and we were just forced into them. Since college has started, being my own boss has made me realize how strong I am as a person. It has made me realize the different characteristics that I hold such as being a strong independent woman, being hardworking, and being responsible, and the different things that I can accomplish on my own such as getting my work done on time, keeping my room neat and organized, and planning out my week. I know that I have made the little girl that always wanted to call her own shots very proud.

www.bing.com

            When coming into college, I had many different expectations of how my experience was going to be. I expected that the classes were going to be difficult and hard to understand. I expected that the workload that I would have after class was going to be hours long. Before college started, my brother told me that every one hour of class was going to be about three hours of work per class. Within my college classes, I expected that my professors were not going to care, and that they would just show up to class, teach class, and leave. In movies, this is shown, and so my mind just went straight to the fact that that was how college, and my professors were going to be. Outside of my college classes, I expected that I would not have lots of free time to do what I wanted because I would be swamped with homework. I also expected the pressure of college was going to be hard and was going to stress me out. 

            To my surprise, college has been nothing like that. Classes have not been as hard as I thought they were going to be. In high school, the teachers always worried about us and told us that we were going to have to study very hard in order to do well in any of our classes. Although I have had to study for my classes, I do not feel that I study as much as my previous teachers told me I would have to. The workload has not been hard, maybe because I try to get my work done in the week before it is due, but at one point I sat in my first-year seminar class, and asked myself if I was doing enough work for my classes. Along with classes going well, the professors are so nice, always there to answer any questions that I have, and always willing to check over my work. After my classes are done, I always make sure to make time for myself every single night. I always plan out my week on Sunday’s, and in that planning, I make sure to leave out at least 2 hours of time that are just for me, and for clearing my mind. Clearing my mind is a very important thing for me because I occasionally feel the pressure of college. The pressure can sometimes be what I expected; however, I have been able to ease my stress by doing specific things like going for walks and hanging out with friends. Although I am doing well in my classes, I still feel pressured because I had to pay for college, so I have to make sure that I am doing well so that I spend my money well, and that it is worth it in the long run.

www.alamy.com