Beginning college is a scary experience for all involved; the worrisome parents, the unorganized teachers, and most of all, the petrified freshman. It’s a huge change of pace, some seem ready and others don’t and I can’t always figure out where I fit in with that.
Living away from home provides a new adventure every day. I never really understood all the responsibilities of taking care of a ‘house’! A snack malfunction made me realize we needed cleaning supplies, and a bathroom shared with three other college guys made me realize we needed air freshener. A lesson is learned every day. However, I do enjoy staying up until I’m tired instead of pretending to be asleep to please my parents.
As for class I was shocked the first day entering my American History class of almost 180 students. It’s so different from my high school classes; capped at 25. Then I realized my American history class was nothing when I entered my economics class of 500! I looked at the rest of my schedule and expected more of the same; overstuffed classes with no personality, the majority of students scared to talk to one another. The next class I head to was archaeology—sounds interesting, right? Wrong. It’s pretty boring in the most predictable way. Dull lectures every Tuesday and Thursday with intermittent breaks brought about by a dry sense of humor from an interestingly small man that enjoys sitting in the front row of class.
I’m still not quite sure what to expect out of this English class, but I guess it can’t be anything too bad considering it’s just a class of 20 or so, and our professor responds to ‘hey you!’
Connor, all of those same thoughts are running through my head too. It's tough being on your own and having to take responsibiities for your actions, but there moments where you can have fun and be responsible at the same time. I'm sorry that most of your classes are 180-500 students. I guess I am lucky that most of my classes are in the "25 capped limit" except for my Intro to Brain and Behavior class. I hope you dropped that archaeology class because if you don't like it you should drop it and find something else you like.
ReplyDeleteThis new experience will definitely be beneficial to most of us. It's too early to tell what our college experience will bring but I'm sure we will enjoy it and learn to balance the studying with other factors. The class sizes shocked me as well, being in a class of 500 is quite overwhelming but I guess it provides a great number of opportunities to meet different people who can help you with homework, lessons, projects and much more. Good luck with the "boring" classes, hopefully you'll become interested in the material as time goes by.
ReplyDeleteThe beginning has been tough. I have found that I have a really hard time with change so I know exactly what you are talking about. After a few weeks I know everything will be better, but it has been quite an adjustment. Seeing my mom cry before she left was incredibly sad. I have never been away from home this long and it's starting to feel weird. Sometimes, I think I'm on vacation and then I realize I'm not. The classroom sizes amaze me too. My Macroeconomics class is bigger than my entire senior class. I have found my classes to be extremely interesting so far. I hope yours become more enjoyable as well. I just feel that I am having a hard time balancing everything. There is so much to do all the time. I wish you the best of luck!
ReplyDeleteI think everyone who is a freshman can relate to this one way or another. For me, moving wasn't easy. My family is so close and being that I'm the youngest, it was hard for my parents to say goodbye. Now they're just left with my cat and an empty house. When I left, I just kept thinking to myself, it'll just be like summer camp except, I won't be coming home for a few months. When classes started, it hit me. I'm not in high school anymore and my teachers aren't gonna spoon feed me everything. It's such an overwhelming experience. You just gotta take it one day at a time and pray to god you can figure out blackboard... Good luck with all your classes and to everyone else as well!
ReplyDeleteAmen bro. I am going through everything that you described. Every class I have is huge except for this english class. I am 9 hours away from my hometown and with me being an only child my parent are freaking out that I am so far. They need me to call every day but i want to try and be independent. All my classes seem tough but luckily my teacher and professors seem willing to help. So i say good luck to you and to everyone on our freshman year.
ReplyDeleteIts almost kind of funny comparing our experiences. I feel we share a similar personality at least on a cultural and intellectual level. But as for classes, its funny how different our experiences have been. So far all of my classes, although similar size, have been not just engaging, but also comical and the vast majority of my classmates have been friendly. I guess that shows that despite similarities, no two people share experiences.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though this English class is a mandate for exactly this reason: we're all freshman. The first day, I think we all walked on campus wide-eyed and nervous. I was actually almost a minute late to my first class because I made the mistake of trying to drive on the first day. Never. Again. I now find myself timing every trip from apartment to school. Living on my own is completely different. Having to stock up and keep check on what I need and don't need is a whole new experience. Connor, I completely agree with you on the whole macro situation. I walked in to HCB101 thinking I might have 100-150 people in there and my jaw literally dropped at the sight of 500 people cramming into their seats. But I think that this whole college thing will start to slow down now that the first week is over. I wish all of you the best of luck as we embark on this journey called life.
ReplyDeleteI was so shocked when I walked into my college algebra class and it was 180 people. Then I realized that was nothing when I walked into my psychology class. I was pretty nervous about dorm life especially since i got stuck in a triple! My earliest class is at 10:10am and both of my roommates took 8am classes! So i do get woken up a lot, but luckily i fall back to sleep easily. Luckily sharing the shower with 5 people has not been a problem like I thought it would be. As for this english class I think there is going to be a lot of work. Our teacher seems to be really funny though so at least class will not be boring.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that beginning college definitely makes one feel very nervous. It is great to have so much freedom but nerve racking with all these pressures and responsibilities. Truly, nothing in my life can compare to this new college lifestyle of huge classes with very few assignments and teachers who will not care if you fail. I also agree with the sense of college feeling like an adventure because it seems like I'm meeting new people and expecting new surprises everyday. Overall the first week of college has been interesting due to these new experiences. I hope everyone's freshmen year turns out the way they hoped!
ReplyDeleteI agree 100%, college is definitely a new experience. I knew some of my classes might be larger but I had no idea that they would be as big as they are. I love our english class because it is much smaller and I can actually talk to the people in my class and do group work. Although we do gain a lot of new freedoms and we are treated like adults in school, we do have to remember the new responsibilities we have such as cleaning and grocery shopping. Another thing that I personally am not used to, is having a roommate. I'm not used to being woken up early every morning to someone else getting ready and having to share a room and other belongings with someone else and their friends. My first week was interesting because I still don't really feel like I'm in school although I've been doing lots of school work. The next four years are going to be fun, memorable, and life changing!
ReplyDeleteComing into this whole college experience was probably one of the hardest/scariest moments of my life. It took me about two weeks to get into the swing of things and figure out how to manage my time. Now I am finally acclimated with everything and I’m beginning to feel at home. These are suppose to be the best four years of our lives and even though at times it may be uncomfortable and difficult being on your away from your family and friends and on your own for the first time .It will all be worth it with the experiences you have, the friendships you build, and the education you receive which is invaluable. I am really looking forward to this year and seeing what this class has to offer.
ReplyDeleteIt’s weird seeing that we all feel similar to each other. I think that’s what makes coming to college so fun an exciting. Most people come in with this mindset of meeting new people and sitting in your hall all night. That’s why I think it’s so easy to make friends because we are all excited to meet new people. Living on our own though is extremely different. I've learned so m ugh and now i have so much more respect for my mom because she always kept the house clean but now it’s my responsibility. Having a messy roommate definitely doesn't help though. It’s kind of refreshing to know that we are all in this together in a weird way. We are all transitioning into this new lifestyle but having each other is what makes it easy. The class size is definitely what shocked me. It’s so much easier to take note on your laptop and it also makes it easier to organize them. Having so many people in the classrooms though is definitely intimidating. Now I cant get to know the teacher one on one as easy. Having this one small English class is keeping me grounding though and I like how we all can get to know each other.
ReplyDeleteThese last two weeks moving to a whole new place has definitely been a big change, but it should be fun in the end as long as the school work doesn't take over our lives. The am also not a fan of the big classes as my high school also had a 25 cap on all the classes, but i've found that if you sit in the front somewhere it isn't "that bad", and i expect a lot of late nights writing papers for this class.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with everything you said. I went from barely having to do anything to do doing everything for myself. I didn't even do my own laundry until I got to college which is embarrassing to admit. My classes are also huge, I have 3 classes in the HCB building which can fit up to 500 students at one time. This English class feels like I'm back in high school because there are only 30 students in the class. I also really like the fact that I am on my own and don't have to constantly ask my parents for permission to do things. If I want to go out, then I go out. When I wake up in the morning I never know what to expect because college is so unpredictable unlike high school where it was the same boring thing everyday. So far I haven't pulled any all nighters, but it's only the second week of classes so that might change soon. Good luck to everybody on their freshman year of college!
ReplyDeleteCollege is different. I went from a graduating class of sixty kids to a class of thousands. The majority of my classes are bigger than my entire high school. It has been overwhelming to say the least. I have to get to my chemistry class over half an hour early to get a seat that isn't in the balcony. I do really enjoy seeing new and different faces every day instead of the same 200. Coming to college is a change but definitely a good one.
ReplyDeleteConnor, “worrisome parents” is the first thing that stood out to me! I’d like to share that my mother bought me about a million types of unnecessary creams from Wal-Mart. This exhausting list includes: cream for times that I get mosquito bites, cream for when I just feel itchy, foot cream since my mother figured my feet would be “dead” from walking a lot, Neosporin, another type of antibiotic cream, and of course, 3 types of lotions. Oh, and let me not forget the three types of Band-Aids she bought me! If that’s not worrisome than I do not know what it is!
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with everything you said. I attended a very small school of nearly 400 students, total. Entering my first class, i was shocked to see more than 500 fellow students. Never had I thought that I would be in a class where the number of students was greater then the number of people I attended high school with. As you can imagine it was quiet a "social" shock, butI think that we will both adjust in due time. I also connected with the comment "A lesson is learned everyday". People used to always tell me that u learn something new everyday, and I never believed them. Sure I learned new materials in my classes but I didn't normally learn something new EVERY day. Now I see that with each passing day, I learn a little bit about my habits, my dorm, and my myself.
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