Monday, September 5, 2011
Getting started
For most of you, college is a big, new scary thing that you're probably not quite sure what to make of yet. In a post of 250 words, tell us what your anxieties and expectations are for the upcoming semester, not just for this class, but for your college experience in general. And if this is not your first semester, you're still going to have anxieties and expectations, but maybe also some advice for the noobs. Since it's the first week, I'm only going to require one post (though this is not normal) and I'd like you to have it up by Sunday night.
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College is supposed to be the “time of your life” and most people are so excited to go away to college just to get away from their parents and to have their own independence; not having anyone telling you what to do, where to go, what time to come home, etc. Doesn’t that sound awesome? It does. But it would not for someone who is sixteen years of age and has never been away from home without their parents. For the entire summer before fall semester 2010, all I could have done was imagine how bad my college experience was going to be. Also, I was thinking about how much I will miss my family, my boyfriend and my friends and also if I was going to make any new friends at all. Basically, I did not know how I would have actually going to survive what was going to be the worst 109 days of my life. Luckily for me, around mid-June my cousin told me that she got into the same college as I did, so we decided to room together. This made some of the anxieties and expectations that I had seem less dreadful. But during the course of the semester I realized that her rooming with me made my semester enjoyable. We partied, obliviously not at clubs, and we even took a class together; Mus 290(Spartan band). But here comes the down side. Around mid-term, realize that I had to pull up my socks. But all the partying plus all the “studying” that I did made it difficult for me to get my g.p.a. up to par. At the end of the semester I ended up with a g.p.a that was below average and was placed on academic probation. I made a promise to both myself and my parents that I would never end up on academic probation again and that would study harder and party less. And with this experience at hand, I learnt that college wasn’t as bad as I thought I would have been. I also learnt that you have to study hard in order to be up to par.
ReplyDeleteEveryone told me that college is about making a "fresh start." You get to recreate who you are and what you want people to think when they hear your name, blah blah. What if I don't want a fresh start. What if I want to stick with the friends that I have had since birth instead of being over 1200 miles away from them. I'm so used to the same group of people that I couldn't even remember what it was like to have to make friends. Or at least I couldn't until I got here. I'm worried that, aside from my roommates/suite-mates, I'm not going to make friends. It's so much harder than I remember. I'm worried about only having them as my source of "support" when times get rough and I have a million assignments due on the same day as my Chorale concert. I'm also scared to death of missing an assignment, or worse, a class. I don't have the strongest immune system and anyone who knows me knows that when I get sick, its usually a really big deal. I'm very nervous for that first cold to run around and catch me in a particularly crazy time and knock me out of commission. I don't know maybe I'm just crazy. But then I guess you have to be a little insane to go to a completely new place where you know no one over a thousand miles away from home.
ReplyDeleteWhen preparing to go to college, I applied to schools from Tampa to New York to Texas. I had no idea where I wanted to go; how far I wanted to be from the small town of South Tampa, my family, and my friends. Large or small, private or public, I didn’t even know where to begin. In the end I decided to compromise by staying in Tampa but living on campus, and so far it has been an amazing decision. I have adjusted well to making a new group of friends and accepting them as who they are, as opposed to comparing them to my friends from high school. My biggest fear for this semester is that I will not be able to juggle having a good time with friends and being productive in school. When people are getting ready in my dorm every night to go out, it is nearly impossible to say “No, I have to stay in my room alone and do my homework.” Also, I plan to rush this semester, which will put a whole new burden on my schedule. It is intimidating because I want to be able to stay involved and socialize, but I do not want a social sorority to be more important than my grades. Finally, the biggest reason I need to keep my grades up is financial aid. I had the opportunity to go to any state university in Florida for free, but chose to attend University of Tampa which is a private school, and that comes at a much higher price. Fortunately, I was able to accumulate several scholarships, but my parents have made it clear that if I do not keep my grade point average high enough to keep my scholarships, my experience at UT will quickly come to an end.
ReplyDeleteDeciding on where I would want to go to college was not as hard for me as it was for my friends. I knew I wanted to go south, primarily Florida, for the warm climate. After being accepted to several of the schools I applied to, I then had the trouble of selecting where to go. When deciding, I had to keep in mind class size, professor ratings, and location, for safety, jobs and internships. The University of Miami, Jacksonville University, and The University of Tampa were my final three to choose from. I could not be happier with my choice. I still have anxiety every day, though. Thinking I forgot to check my syllabus for each class, managing my money and not being able to spend like I would at home, staying on track with my work and never letting my determination to be the best I can die down are worries that race through my mind from the moment I wake up until the moment I fall asleep. My expectations for myself and expectations that my parents have for me keep my striving to achieve more than the average person. I know my anxieties will never go away until I accomplish my goals, but I can help alleviate them by staying focused and the constant reminder that I can achieve anything I set my mind to.
ReplyDeleteI was always told that college is supposed to be a time where you learn the most about yourself. It is a time when you a forming a path you hope to maintain for your life. When I first started searching around for colleges, I had no idea where I wanted to be. I knew I wanted something completely different than Pennsylvania. I began looking out of state. I was sick of the snow, which somewhat led to my decision to attend the University of Tampa. As a freshman, I have all the same fears as anyone who is having the first year college experience. I was nervous about being so far away from home and meeting new people. I didn’t know how well I would be able to balance my life between school work and going out. I did not know if I could handle the responsibility of living on my own. However, it was to my surprise that I am stronger than I thought. I rarely am homesick and would say that I have adjusted pretty well. I have met some great new people from all over the place. It’s very cool to meet people all around the world. That’s an opportunity that’s very rare for me back home. So far I have been able to balance out my time in a well manner, but it is only the second week. I am majoring in Criminology and will minor in Psychology. The thing about college is that I am actually excited to finally learn information that I am interested in. On top of that, I just want this year to be a great learning and growing experience.
ReplyDeleteMy only older sibling is my sister Caitlin who is just one year older than me. The only knowledge and experience I had about college prior to coming to UT was what I learned from her. I knew she applied to seven different schools all around New England, each completely different from the others to give herself options when it came down to choosing the final one. She ended up attending UMass Amherst which is two hours away from where we live and since she was so close I got the chance to visit her a few times throughout the year. Her school has over 25,000 students and the campus is enormous! The dorms were tiny, some of the classes held 300 students, she didn’t get along with her roommate, and when she would walk through campus she would barely recognize anyone. This was how I expected my college life to be because this was all I knew. Now that I have been through the application process and a few weeks of school, I don’t think there is any way that our college stories could be more different. I applied to two schools, both very similar to each other so the choice wasn’t tough at all, except to my parents who weren’t expecting their daughter to move so far away. Our school is relatively small so when I walk to class I pass by many people that I stop and say hi to. I really like the community feel that our school offers, the small sizes of the classrooms, and I also love that my roommate is my best friend. I feel like this school was the perfect match for me and I now realize that I don’t have to compare my college life to the one of my sister. I am leading my own path and making my own stories. Besides occasionally forgetting to look over the syllabus before class, I have no anxieties for the year to come because I know that I have nothing that I need to compare it to and I can simply enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteWhenever I used to think about going to college classes when I was younger, I thought it would be big halls with five hundred people in it and a teacher that spoke monotone. There are still many colleges that are like this, but not exactly Tampa. Something else I expected was to have weird roommates. This expectation came true. Its been hard to adjust to living with people you have never met before. We all have different sleeping rituals and different ways of studying and just don’t get along. Also the fact that we are three people living in a 2 person sized room makes it ten times more difficult. Other then the roommate situation, I have tried to set goals for my college life. First and foremost, I want to succeed in my academic life and finally know what I want to do with it. Also meet new friends and people from many different places. I also wish to succeed in swimming as well as academics. Hopefully I continue to swim throughout all four years, but it may not be easy to balance swimming and school for much longer. I hope to have an open mind with all of my classes and learn things I have never learned before. I want to become a harder worker and find something that I am passionate enough about to do for the rest of my life. I also want to improve my writing skills because I do love to write, it is just hard for me to get all of my ideas out at once. Those are my expectations and recent experiences from college.
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ReplyDeleteThe college years in one's life are often seen as the last step before adulthood begins. College prepares individuals for the real life in many aspects such as general intelligence, independent living, moral decision making, etc. When reflecting on these ideas this summer, my anxieties and expectations for college finally kicked in. My initial thought was the question of if I was truly ready for this process to take place. There was no more counting on my mom to make my meals. No more winging it on final exams. And most importantly, the questioning of my identity and what kind of person strangers would believe me to be. In effect, I was about to begin a new life. The time had finally arrived for me to go out on my own and experience a new world. Another anxiety I began to deal with was my ability to balance both my academics and athletics. During the previous four years of my life in high school, I was bombarded by my parents, teachers, and acquaintances with the idea of being academically prepared to succeed in college. The grades that I would soon receive would honestly be the deciding variable for my success later on. It would affect my ability to receive internships, a stable job, and the entire future of my working career. For me, there was three options. I could either become the successful businessman that I always dreamed of being. I could become the average adult who went to work at 9 and came home at 3. Or I could be the man I see standing on the side of Kennedy Blvd. with a sign that states, "Just got laid off, I have a family to support, God bless." The outcome of this is based solely on my ability to be successful as my college years unveil. All of these anxieties stated above are quite frankly difficult for an 18 year old brain to think about. At this point it is my job to deal with these issues and to put them to use as motivation.
ReplyDeleteBeing an only child I didn’t really know what to expect when going away to college. I knew I wanted to be somewhere warm; I also wanted to be in a good location for internships and future jobs. Having all my cousins stay close to home for school, maybe no more than 3 hours, I was on my own to know what it’s like to be so far from home. Luckily my parents supported my decision for leaving for Florida. When I went and looked at all the schools I got accepted to, it was not a hard decision, the University of Tampa is where I wanted to be. I was so excited until about 3 weeks before I left. The worries of being so far from home sank in. I wondered if I was going to be able to keep my grades up while having social life. I was also worried about doing my own laundry, keeping a budget, staying healthy, and sharing my living space for the first time. I am still worried about these things every day, and on top of all those things, I get a little home sick sometimes (which I wasn’t expecting). So far the realities of college are starting to sink in. More and more work is being giving in each class, I need to find time to clean, do laundry, go to the gym, talk to my best friend back home, as well as make new friends here. As for the whole roommate thing, I haven’t really gotten accustomed to it yet, and I don’t know if really will.
ReplyDeleteAs the first person in my family to go to college, i wasn’t really sure what to look for, what I wanted, or where i even wanted to go. I ended up applying to five schools up and down the east coast, and got into all of them. I knew my top two, but really didn’t know which one i liked better, I never visited, so i was choosing blindly. I’m glad I picked UT; even after my high school councilor tried telling me I shouldn’t come here because it was too far away. I had never been to Florida before and on my flight down I stated to worry. What if I couldn’t keep up? What if my procrastination pulled me behind? What if I can’t do honors level work? What if’s floating in my head the entire way down. However, once I was moved in and started to get into a routine here, I loved it. I hope that the year goes by smoothly, and that I don’t fail out. I’ve met some pretty amazing people already and I’m looking forward to meeting more. I’m looking forward to the many opportunities that will be thrown my way, and as a person that looks ahead I already know what I want to do after UT and where I want to travel for study abroad, and I’m so excited to be able to pull those things off. I’m so glad to have a chance to really start over and became me, even if I am over 1000 miles away from every person I know.
ReplyDeleteCollege has been a scary experience I have been impatiently waiting for in terror and excitement. Now that college is actually here, I am less scared, but still facing many of these anxieties head on. As of most college freshmen, I was a little worried about being so far away from home. Unlike many of my friends back home, this meant a twelve hundred mile distance when I want to come back to visit. For me, the distance was one factor I knew I had to overcome if I wanted to pursue my long existing passion for marine biology. I expected a little bit of homesickness, but thankfully with so many technological advancements such as video chatting and other social media, the homesickness is manageable. One anxiety that I know I will continually face is the stress of a college student. Finding a balance between class, homework, friends, work, and still coping with the major changes that college life brings, can be a daunting task. Wondering how to deal with suddenly living with two new people, and where I fit into those lives and personalities can be difficult. One bomb that has hit me most recently is to understand what it means to become a young adult, learning how to become self-sufficient one step at a time. How do I undertake such a large financial burden of affording this education? I wonder how this financial debt I will most likely face effects me in the future. It’s such an odd feeling when you start to see that your parents, the people you relied on up until this point, are starting to cut some of those ties so that you can become an independent young adult.
ReplyDeleteThis may not be my first semester at UT, however I still do have a lot of expectations that I would like to fulfill and anxieties about classes and getting the grades I need. There are many goals I have for this semester; I want to/ would like to do well in my classes and to also raise my GPA to a suitable level so that I can do a semester abroad. It is going to be tough, as I have two math classes (managerial statistics and calculus for business) and I’m not really that good at math. Also I guess its time for me to give advice to the freshman. First of all, last year I lived in Mackay, and if anyone currently dorms there, they should know that its basically the ghetto of UT. If you happen to live in community side of Mackay, there is one thing that you need to know/have; you need to have slippers for the community showers! That place is disgusting and a hazard to human health. The next bit of advice I can give to the freshmen population is to hard work during the week because during the weekend there simply not enough time to any homework or studying for any up coming test. Last but not least when signing up for classes for next semester, ratemyteacher.com may just make finding the best teacher easier, as no one wants an overly difficult class.
ReplyDeleteI can remember my junior year of high school and thinking about how badly I just wanted to skip the next two years and go to college. I felt so ready to leave and begin a different lifestyle. Now that I am here, I find myself wishing that the time would have passed by slower. College life is very different than high school because you don’t have your parents there to help you, to give you anything you need, or to take care of you when you are sick. Living on your own is more challenging than I anticipated. I have always been a pretty independent person but it's still strange not to feel my parents pushing me to get my homework done or to be home by 11:30. I know as the weeks go by I am going to have to push myself to study hard, eat healthy foods, and get some physical activity in every once in a while. Don’t get me wrong, I love college so far, but I know it’s going to get harder and more stressful, and that’s the part I hope I will be able to get through. Sometimes I look back on my decision to come here to UT and think maybe I should have picked a place closer to home. I mean 3,000 miles is pretty far and isn’t a distance I can easily travel if I feel homesick. I think it will make me stronger though, being here, so far away that I really can’t go back. It requires me to do this all on my own and I know in the end I will be very proud of what I accomplish.
ReplyDeleteI’m a little worried about flunking out of school. I’m not stupid and I know I can handle the work I’m just a little concerned about actually doing the work. I think a big part of it is just staying organized and staying on top of what I have to do. Even still the thought of flunking out is one that is constantly in the back of my head. This probably is not a bad thing though, as it will keep me focused and on my toes. Also I think as time goes on and I will become more comfortable with what I have to do and this feeling will fade. Another thing I was very concerned about when I originally came here was whether or not I would get along with my roommate. Fortunately for me my roommate turned out to be a really chill guy and one of the best friends I've made at school so far. Making new friends here at Tampa also scared me a little. But I’ve only been here 2 weeks and things are looking good. I’m a big fan of all the people on my floor and I could see myself spending more time with them. Inevitably though, I’m sure that I will run into some unforeseen problem and that concerns me a little. But that’s all part of the adventure in being 1000 miles from home. At the end of day I have no one but myself to rely on and that is an encouraging thought for me.
ReplyDeleteCollege is more than what I expected. I realized that I would have a lot more free time and there was a good chance of getting caught up in other things besides class. However I wasn't prepared the professors expectations of class. The professors are not like the teachers in high school. Most of the work and quizzes are expected to be done on your own time, and there isn't as much leniency in college as there is in high school. So basically there is a lot of pressure to not flunk out of college and if I did I'm very sure my parents would be pissed. Also swimming adds on more pressure to my academic career. With swimming there is the pressure to do well competitively and I must maintain good grades to stay on the swim team. Probably the most stressful part of swimming are the practices. Were required to go to all the practices Monday through Friday. Every morning and afternoon and even on Saturday morning. However at least I'm staying in good shape and staying out of trouble. On the other hand I am having a fun time here at UT. College should be a good chapter of our lives and not a dreadful one. So far I feel that I'm copping well with college and a fresh start is always nice. Tampa is also not that much different from my hometown of Fort Myers. In all I believe that I will do great and have a great college experience.
ReplyDeleteThroughout all of high school I’ve always been excited for college but never really knew what to expect. Now that I’m here I would of never thought how much time management would be so important to be successful in college. The one thing that I am most anxious about is keeping up with my school work. My education is what is most important to me, but I also want to balance having a good time with my social life as well. Handling my free time is what worries me the most. In high school I was always a procrastinator and I know that I will not be able to get away with that here. On top of handling school and my social life I also have a job which takes up 9 hours a week that I could be studying or getting other things done that I have to do. I am a person who gets stressed very easily, so if I have a lot of things to do I just keep thinking about them until I get overwhelmed. I have to learn how to take one thing at a time and plan out my month according to the syllabi that we get so I don’t leave things for the last minute. Something else that I am anxious about is finding a close group of friends. Back at home I had such a big close group of girl friends that I was very sad to leave, so it’s hard not having them here. I am anxious and worried about finding a new group of friends that I will be as comfortable with as I was with my friends from home. I know I will be fine but just thinking about everything that I have to do stresses me out so I need to stay organized and I know I will be okay.
ReplyDeleteBefore starting my college career I felt surprisingly calm about the prospect of moving into a room with complete strangers.
ReplyDeleteBeing from England, the only way I kind of understood what happens in college was from watching AC Slater move into his dorm on saved by the bell the college years.
And judging by that it looked pretty cool. The weird thing was, not only was I looking forward to practicing with my new team mates on the mens soccer team and striving to achieve the goals set by our coach, but I was really looking forward to kickstarting my educational career.
It had been a couple of years since I had been in a educational environment so I kind of forgot about the pain and stress that school brings, but I am still enjoying learning new things everyday.
Its obviously a daunting prospect moving half way across the world without your parents and living with a complete stranger. But that’s what life's about. Experience. culture. understanding. And after living with my Icelandic roommate for a month now I have learnt a lot.
Also I'm not going to try and lie and cover up but being part of a sports team does effect your work. We had a ten hour bus drive to North Georgia and I was expected to write two essay’s with my laptop, notebook and novels spread across my lap. As well as the sound of gun shots coming from the team DVD.......Impossible
But its about time management and priorities and I feel as though I will excel here. So here's hoping I have more of a Zack Morris Time, rather Than A Screech four years.
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ReplyDeleteI’ll be honest right away and state the fact that I was not nervous about the transition to college life. I didn’t have to move away 1000 miles, worry about a new roommate, I see my parents every day, and Tampa is still my home not my new home. My transition is shockingly easier than most students going to UT.
ReplyDeleteI was never nervous about college classes. How could I get nervous to go to school? I mean it isn’t like I haven't been going to it for 12 years now. My expectations of college classes never haunted my dreams. I was always looking forward to it. As a commuting student/soccer player who is undecided about his major I certainly don’t have to worry about home sickness or the struggles of a second week math test. I feel confident with the classes that I am taking. I didn’t want to take an overly hard semester due to the fact that I’m on the soccer team and I’ll miss a lot of school days.
The one thing I didn’t anticipate was how much time I have. One thing that has been great is the amount of sleep I’ve been able to have in my first days of school. I have loads of time in between classes. Even though I am on the soccer team it’s still amazing how much time I have. I can’t imagine being just a student.
It is still so early in the year to see what the future holds. I’m very excited and blessed to be at a school like UT. I’m looking forward to the next 4 years of my life!
As I was growing up, I moved around a lot because of dad's job. I have never stayed in school for more than two year. Coming down to UT from Maryland, I wasn't as nervous as I should of been like other incoming freshmen because I was used to moving around, meeting new people and adapt to new environments. That's one good value I gained from being the "new kid" every time I moved. I was more excited than nervous because Florida is a whole new atmosphere that I haven’t been to and was ready to call it my new home. As much as I was excited to be independent and be on my own, there was still a part of me that didn't want to leave. Being the only child, I grew up being dependent on my parents. They were always there whenever I needed anything so I never had the chance to be independent and be my own person, so leaving for college and being almost thousand miles apart from my parents was my main concern but I think it will definitely help me grow my own person. I will definitely miss the comfort and convenience of home but I believe that keeping myself busy by getting involved in campus will keep me from getting homesick. College is the time to find yourself and I think that time alone from my comfort zone will help me define who I am and make me stronger as an independent individual.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up I always thought college was something that was so far away, that I had years and years to prepare myself for living on my own, and having to take care of myself. Little did I know, It would come up quicker then ever. All through out high school watching my friends graduate and keeping in touch with them, I always heard the same things. That junior year was the toughest, senior year is a joke besides college applications, and college is the best experience ever. I have to admit, all of those previous assumptions were true. When I got to college I was excited, but also extremely nervous. I am very close to my family, so moving to a different state was a difficult decision. What motivated me to move to Florida was that I wanted to prepare myself for the future, and learn how to live on my own. So far, I love the experience. I love the fact that I can live on my own, and I don’t have to rely on other people to help me with what I need. When it comes to schoolwork, I was expecting a lot more than I had in high school. Once again, my assumption was right. Lately I have been studying for multiple subjects for hours everyday. Although while I’m studying there are so many things I rather be doing, receiving good grades are the perfect reward. I am looking forward for the rest of my four years here, and I wish all the other students the best of luck!
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, it wasn’t till a few months ago I even considered coming to America to study. My intentions were to remain in England and continue my soccer there. The thought of travelling stateside to continue my education was never a priority in my life. However, my mind was quickly sway after a short conversation with my future soccer coach here at Tampa. The main causes of this change in notion were his brief mention of sunshine, soccer and girls. Immediately after we had spoken I began weighing up my options and came to the obvious conclusion that Tampa was the place for me. The transition from planning life in England to now has been so fast, I never really had time to worry of possible slip-ups. Now that I am here, I realise what a great decision it was. Everyone around me has been so supportive of what may seem such a drastic move but to one I never really doubted. The people at the University all seem so welcoming and have made my move here all the more easier.
ReplyDeleteGoals for this semester have rapidly become clear. With regards to soccer, a National Championship seems to be the ultimate ambition and one I will now desperately strive to accomplish. On the education side, a good GPA as well as a good grade is definitely a priority. Finally, the sunshine can allow me to gain some sort of tan which, was severely lacking in England and the girls…………….. well hopefully I’ll explore this aspect further!