My Experience In College

Throughout the semester I have faced many difficult and different challenges. One major challenge has been to be acting as a single parent again. Recently my husband left for another deployment which has left me alone to care for our children. It has become my sole responsibility to take care of our children and transport them to and from daycare. I also have to make sure I have childcare lined up if I pick up shifts at work. Another thing that has fallen on my shoulders is the responsibility of all of the housework. Instead of having my husband's help with cleaning and putting laundry away, I now have to rely on myself, which I hate. Another challenge I have faced this semester is getting back into a good school routine. When I left high school

“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.

1. The biggest academic challenge I had to overcome this semester was about Time Management. I am not good at using time well in daily life, and I didn’t know how to change my schedule. Thus, I was overwhelmed with class and work every day until I checked and wrote down my weekly schedule through this counseling class. However, I could find the time I spend on using cell phone at night after I got home, and I got to spend that time studying or doing homework. Then, it doesn’t take time until late night, and my life cycle is changed to better one.

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.

My first semester of college wasn’t quite what I was expected. My classes turned out to not be overly stressful or difficult. I liked all of them, started martial arts again, had my first job, and am ready for the next semester. I was pleasantly surprised that I adjusted relatively easily to the greater independence going to college afforded me and that I think I am relatively well-prepared to continue with my undergraduate years. I’ve learned that I still have issues with managing my time efficiently, I still feel psychology is the right degree for me, and that I have a lot of things I want to study and not as much time as I had believed to study them.

Well my first semester of college is nearly about to wrap up and I gained a ton of new knowledge that will last me a life time. It was just seven months ago that I graduated high school after twelve long years of public school. Now, it’s been seven months officially being on my own and being an adult where I need to take on new responsibilities in my life. There have been new obstacles, new strategies to overcome those obstacles, and new outcomes to these challenges.

Shakespeare wrote, “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves”. With the life I had growing up, I never thought college was an option. I was in and out of foster care until my grandparents took guardianship of me when I was 12 years old. They never really pushed college on me or even mentioned it much. None of my other family went to college, some didn’t even graduate high school. So when I finally enrolled in my first semester of college this fall, I was very excited but also very frightened. My brother, who everyone thought would be successful with college, flunked out his first semester at UCO. He’s in the Army National Guard so he says he had a hard time juggling that and school. Therefore, it worried me that I wouldn’t be able to make time to stay focused, issues in my personal life, such as my work schedule, family, and television pose a threat to my success this semester.

I take in a puff of fresh air as I stroll down the sidewalk on my way to eight o clock mathematics. I take in the last of my summer, which engulfed me in the canyons of the west and allowed me to cherish the last of my childhood, as I step into the door. I meet my professor and new friends as my first steps into the life outside my comfort zone. Throughout the day I get the first glimpse of what college is like, and, unlike my first impressions, I start to like it. I start to enjoy the days ahead of me: new friends, more free time, and, to my surprise, not as difficult as I thought college classes. The days rolled into weeks, the weeks rolled into months, and before I knew it Christmas break was at the door. By now I have gotten used to life away from home. With my feet in a firm foundation and bit of food throughout Christmas break, I’m ready to tackle the next three and half years of college. I encounter both highs and lows throughout those next few years, from sleeping in on test days to getting an A on that paper I dreaded for five months. One of the biggest highlights I have is a travel abroad trip to Alicante, Spain that I had always been dreaming about. During this trip, I try delicious seafood and earn my history credit in a whole new perspective all while getting the chance to practice my Spanish with natives. Upon my return to the States, I keep at my work in hopes to earn the biology degree. Time flies and it’s already graduation. What I thought would be a least a

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

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 must admit that the thought of going off to college for the first time, made me a little bit nervous. Would my roommate and I get along, would I make new friends, would I find my way around campus, get to the right classrooms, and grades? Some of my most memorable moments have been meeting my roommate and making new friends. Not only have I met a number of new friends in the dorm, but also in my classes. Together, my new friends and I were soon able to find our way around campus and to the classrooms. College life has been such a great experience, because of all of the new friends that I have made, along with the independence it has created in me.

Going to college is a whole knew experience, and it can be scary to some freshman. Going to college can be a great experience or it can not be a great experience it all depends on yourself. Going to college may mean bad eating habits, or there may be a high level of stress. Going to college may mean that it is the first time to be away from home all on your own. There are many aspects of being a freshman in college, and

College is all of what you make it. You meet many new people, and see many faces. You will start new friendships, and possibly end some that you’ve had for a while; just know that it’s okay when it happens. Friends come and go, especially in this big transition. That’s what the college experience is, one big transition. Whether you are moving to a new city/state or even just moving down the street, college is a whole new chapter. It does pay off to be social in college, but you still need to have that balance of social and academics.

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.

I had a lot of experiences in almost four months in USA. Be in college for the first time in my life is one of the most awesome for me. I’ve graduated in Brazil last year, and I was really excited to go to the college for the first time in my life, and for my surprise wouldn’t be in Brazil, but in USA. This made me feel a lot of feelings. I was nervous, excited, determined, etc.