My College Experience

I once saw a quote that said “do not judge my life by the chapter that you walked in on”. For some reason, this quote really rings true to me. Would people think of me in a different way if they knew my whole story? In every person’s life, there are so any successes, challenges and failures, that if you walked in on their life on any particular day, you would have no idea how they became the person that they are that day.

“Today is finally the day,” I thought with butterflies in my stomach as I hopped into my car and trekked forty miles to The University of Massachusetts Boston. Everyone’s first day as a college student is daunting and the nerves were definitely high that day. I was no longer attending a high school of a little over five hundred students, but rather a university with a total undergraduate enrollment of over twenty-two thousand students. This day was the start of a new chapter in my life and the University introduced entirely new opportunities for me to explore. Since the first day here, I have been submersed in a culturally diverse community that has challenged and allowed me to gain a new perspective of this world. The University of Massachusetts Boston is more than a school that I attend to gain a degree; it is a place where I continually learn and grow. I quickly fell in love with UMass Boston and only a few weeks into attending, found myself referring to it as my school. During my first year I was able to meet new people through my freshman success community and eventually form new friendships. Everything seemed to fall into place and my worries disappeared, but more personal challenge arose as the year continued on.

I believe that the main struggle that I will face in college is becoming accustomed to a new way of life. Growing up in a small rural town in central New Jersey, I realized my area was not an accurate representation of the “real” world. Adapting to a new setting is a challenge that I am excited to take on and overcome. Additionally, the course load will vary from the one that I am used to. I was briefly exposed to this course load in a different environment during my summer exchange program at Oxford University, and I am excited to return to the rigorous courses. Most people would be nervous for the complete change to their life, but all I feel is the eagerness to begin my college experience and continue my growth and learning.

This semester was a journey I was not expecting. It turned out to be completely different from what I imagined, and I still can't decide if it turned out better or worse than I expected. At the beginning of the semester I was a constantly anxious and angry person, which happens to me every time after a long break. Coming to Capstone class I didn't know what to expect and how it will be connected to the field I am studying in. I am still confused about what exactly I learned in this class, but I will be describing everything I learned this semester from my outside of classroom commitments. In the middle of the semester I received a job offer with a City of Bridgeport. It was a 3-month finance internship with the office of Small and Minority Businesses. My classes were always my main priorities, however, once I accepted the offer, I knew that I'm not only representing myself, but my employer is judging the whole school based on my performance. This led me to the first change I've made this semester: change of priorities. This is important if I want to live a balanced and fulfilling life. Many people are successful in their career but don't have good relationships with their family because of wrong priorities. They put things like money and reputation above their relationships. And I used to do that a lot. My classes, work, and other commitments were always above any social interactions, whether it was family or friends. Yet, I realized that I do not fill accomplished if I

Fear is not a word that was in my typical vocabulary, as most people who know me I was very active throughout my highschool years. I participated in many things such as Student Council,Cheer,Band, and other extracurriculars. To do most of these you are expected to have courage and so on. One thing I understand now more than ever is that you never leave what you can do today for tomorrow, the opportunities might be gone. Many things would go through my mind these past months before I had to start college in the fall. It finally hit me that I was becoming an adult with many responsibilities ahead of me. This didn’t seem to bother me much since I kinda had everything figured out or so I thought. I wasn’t the first of my siblings to graduate. I forecasted I would have the help I needed occasionally throughout my college journey. As the days went by college registrations were getting closer than ever. I honestly was super excited to be back in school with familiar faces and even to meet new ones. The news I would be receiving two-weeks before I officially started college really set me back physically and emotionally. By this time I had met someone I’ve never in a million years thought I would meet my new friend fear.

I have made many mistakes in my lifetime. I have struggled, I have stumbled and I have fallen Still, I refuse to let my past define me. I refuse to let my experiences bring me to my demise.

Growing up, I never saw myself as one of those people who graduate high school and then off to a four-year college they went. It was hard enough just to imagine attempting, let alone succeeding, at a two-year college. Even though, I had wondered what it might have been like to experience dorm life at a college in another town, even state. But, for me, after high school graduation, I was enrolled at the Community College.

For many, college is a time of self-discovery. It is a time where many find their calling in life, their spouse, their passion, or their student debt. Some may go so far as to call it the best time of their lives. While there is potential for me to eventually look back on my time at the University of Arizona with similar fondness, for now, I have more pressing issues than finding my soulmate, like finding my next classroom along with many other stressful situations. So far in my limited college experience, the major stressors in my life are religion, academics, and social interactions; however, there are several ways I have found to manage these situations.

I feel that I have grown exponentially my first semester at UMD. Reading the letter I wrote to myself at the beginning of the semester, I realized that I didn’t have anything extraordinary to say to myself. The person I have evolved into over the past months is a lot more aware of the future and how the actions I make truly do affect those around me. Also, academically, I have learned about the educational system, the life around us, and how to relieve stress in my life. I can apply this knowledge my life and teach others about what I have learned. I am so blessed to have received an outstanding education.

My first semester of college was in January I had just graduated high school in December and decided to attend Rappahannock community college for nursing. The road to the college I was attending was named route seventeen. Seventeen is a long stretch of windy, woodsy road that is known to be populated by deer. On the particular day of my accident It was pouring rain, the roads were slick with water so instead of taking my beetle convertible I decided to take my father's SUV. My boyfriend decided to accompany me to the college that day even though my parents did not know I had a boyfriend and I was not allowed to ride others in the car with me at the time.

I expect this year to be difficult. I come from a small town and UNCC is huge in comparison, and not just in terms of population. The space between my dorm in Witherspoon and the Student Union is about the length of my hometown’s main street. To say I am experiencing culture shock is an understatement. I want this year to be fun, be enjoyable, but I know it is going to be hard, especially during the first semester. There is a steep learning curve to even being here, not even considering classes, just being here, just getting here, it has been and will continue to be a challenge. I have never been away from home for more than two weeks at a time and this past Friday marked my first two weeks here. I have never felt more homesick. My family is trying to help, but I am a first-generation college student and we are all in the dark as to how I am supposed to scale this mountain. I am only here because of the generosity of others and hours of hard work. I spent middle school and high school with my nose pressed into books, understanding that I would never be talented enough for an athletic scholarship. In my spare time I worked, worked because my family did not have enough money to send me anywhere. I earned scholarships and I got here and I knew that college was going to be hard academically, and that I would have to work, but even before the real work has begun I have been slapped in the face by something much worse, loneliness.

Now to recount my college chapter I would have to say that it didn’t end so successfully. I began as a freshman at the University of Washington-Bothell (UWB) campus. There I followed the general path all freshmen went through; completing their prerequisites and adjusting to college life. I was like many students, still unsure of what I wanted to pursue in college but a key factor of college is exploration. However, as the year went by I slowly started to notice that the vision I had of attending this college was not what I expected. I felt that the courses laid out to freshman weren’t beneficial as they combined the essential disciplines of say math, history, English, and science into one class they like to call ‘Discovery Core’. Of course, you are selected to choose a pre-major of your choice where you would be taking the classes you’ll need to complete the set of requirements for that major. At the time I was thinking about going into the STEM field as it was something I enjoyed doing during high school. I took the beginning series of Computer Science and going into the class it wasn’t a problem it was the end of the quarter that caught me off guard; the finals.

Last weekend, as my final task in this 27-day journal reflection, my mother had given me on the hardest task that surprising made me rethink everything I've come to known. She had asked me to send in my university applications. At first, when she told me that she wanted to get it done before Monday, I thought I was going to need another task to write about in my reflection on Wednesday, I already knew what programs I want to go into. I had no doubts about what I wanted to do, what schools offered the best program, where I live on campus, how much everything cost... I had done all my research since grade 11. I was physically ready to submit my applications. But I wasn't prepared psychologically and emotionally. Not even close. As I sat there looking at my laptop screen, I questioned everything that I thought I knew and I had let my insecurities come to surface to make my decisions. I end up switching back and forward between doing nursing and not becoming an OBGYN but do prenatal/neonatal nursing or sticking with doing health science and probably move out of Canada to go to medical school (a lot easier overseas than here). I even thought about changing majors completely and go into women studies and not pursue a career in science at all. I had seemed to lose all self-confidence that had for two years, in a matter of ten minutes. I rationing to do is to talk to others who are in university right now-- which I did. I ending up calling my aunt, my two brothers, my uncle, my

College never really intimidated me. I always got decent enough grades, had friends, and participated in sports during my High School years. Nothing really worthy of a scholarship by any means, and my family was unfortunately not in the financial situation to send me to an out of state school. They always did everything they could for me, So my first choice (in state) was University of Denver. However, as my family lived pretty far in Boulder to be exact, I moved into the dorms on campus. That's one of the worst decisions i’ve ever come to.

What are the first few adjectives that come to your mind when you think of college? It is part of American culture to make college look like the best years of a person’s life. Television, movies, and even music does a fantastic job glorifying the college experience. Often times, the high stress is never portrayed. Take my school’s statistics on stress for example, 47.9% of MTSU students reported feeling their stress levels were greater than average over the 12 months prior to completing the survey, and 27.3% of MTSU students reported their academics were negatively impacted because of stress (MTSU, 2013). With that being said, “Could writing be an outlet for students to alleviate college stress?”