My Experience With College

College is a great place to grow as a person, but you have to plan out what you will do in order to have the greatest experience possible. Without having a plan you will not be able to go forward with great confidence that you have made all of the right choices in college. This means you should not party and make bad decisions that will ruin your chances at making a great career out of your time and money that is going in for your education. I believe that you should not be part of the crowd that is only at school to party and to has fun, I believe that you should join a group that will help with your education and that you can still have a good time with. You should also have great relationships with your professors in order for you to go to them and talk about problems or issues that you are having with the classes you are taking and maybe they can give you advice on how you could improve in the class that you are struggling in, or maybe they can just be a person to talk to. Professors are great tools for you to use to start doing the best you can possibly do with the help and guidance that only professors can give.

Coming into a Texas A&M University as a freshman, I had no idea what to expect. Everything was new. From living in such close proximity to a stranger, to having a sporadic class schedule that I am completely responsible, the experience of college is unlike anything I could ever imagine. Having this seminar the first semester was so helpful in that it showed me my options on campus and all the resources that I have available to me.

I walk into the house close to around eight- thirty pm, it’s pitch black inside my house.  Still standing in front of the doorway, I call out to see if anyone's home. A glowing orange light appears bouncing off the hallway walls and barely brightening up my field of view. It was my mother, she was crying; I asked her why she had a candle in her hand and she had told me that the power, electric, water, and gas had all been shut off. This had been the fourth time in three months.

The semester has been able to turn on a more positive outlook, I feel every semester that you are going to have of college, a part of you always matures. Think of yourself being a plant or a tree that only grows and grows—your branches, leaves, roots, so much rooting indeed.

Spring 2017 was the worst semesters for me in comparison to my entire college education. I returned back to college after leaving for six years. I started back spring 2016 at Cuny Hostos . I took 5 classes in the spring and Fall and one class over the summer. I maintained a GPA over 3.0. I had 3.54 the spring, I passed my summer class and I maintained a 3.94 for the fall . I transferred from there due to the distance and I attended my first semester at Brooklyn College.

The greatest educational opportunity that I took full advantage of was enrolling in college classes. I first began to take college classes my junior year. I knew it would add plenty of value to my education since I had already proven to be a good high school student, but taking these courses would show that I am a worthy college student too. I wanted a glance at what it is like to be in a college class so I do not feel overwhelmed by it as a freshman in college. I knew the courses would be challenging since I had to perform at a college level and do college-level work all while I was still enrolled in high school. Nevertheless, I would never let the opportunity to take college-level classes as a junior slide. The greatest benefit of taking these college courses was that all the expenses were already paid for. I did not have to pay a dime. Considering that most college students stress about finances, I consider myself lucky to have the ability to take free college classes. Ever since my first college course, I have gladly enlisted too many others. Taking college courses is definitely the best decision I have made and I am thankful that I had the opportunity to do so.

In my years growing up with multiple in-groups and conforming to many identities, it has been difficult learning to be myself in a world in which some people wish I wouldn’t. Early in my childhood, my parents always looked at others who looked like me and told me that they were beneath me and I could always do much better. Why? These people were mostly African Americans. Though most stereotypes associated with African Americans are perceived to be from non-African Americans, this is not the case. There are many events that led me to my college journey and I ultimately found myself at North Carolina State University. A Predominantly White Institution. Though I was forced to choose this college, it does not mean I love it any less. However, the experiences that I have encountered being an African American at a Predominantly White Institution have been life changing.

“Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory,” a quote by George S. Patton, quite accurately epitomizes the experience of my first year at university. After being offered the Rogers scholarship, I knew that I would have to work extremely hard to make the sponsors and the Canadian Lyford Cay Foundation proud. Knowing this, I accepted the task. With taking on this challenge came many difficulties, triumphs, personal highlights, and, eventually, goals for my second year.

This semester has been filled with many different encounters and situations. Many different feelings and people. My experience in this first semester is likely one that I won’t forget, I will likely remember my first semester at Badley until the bell tolls for me and I leave this current plain of existence and begin anew. Throughout this paper I will discuss what I experienced, the problems I faced, and how I feel I improved because of 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

This week has introduced very intriguing, interesting, and vital tips and topics for me to be successful as a first time college student. I feel more confident going about in my endeavors now that I have this new found knowledge. Now that I know these things, I can use them to fix where I fall short and improve even more when I am doing well in certain areas. In this essay, you will be informed about my personal shortcomings as a student, and how I can improve, my thoughts and feelings on ER Nursing, and what I have learned this week in class.

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.

Starting since 6th grade I always found a way to get out of going to school or doing my school work. I put in more effort in skipping school, not doing my work, and in extracurricular activities than I would at school. I was lazy a person, I was a C student, I was that kid who everyone expected him to fail. Until my junior year I thought school was a total joke, what changed my perspective about school was during the summer when I realized that my grades sucked and no school would want me if I kept up my poor performance in school. “To be great is to be misunderstood.” (Emerson) This quote by Ralph Emerson is a quote I can relate to easily. I always thought it was normal to not do your work because your peers didn’t do it, but I was right it was normal. I knew I have achieved greatness when I stood out from my peers, when I set myself apart. You may be thinking, “What made you decide to break your old habits and start your new ones?”

College, from what I heard from people say, is a time that you would not forget. From coming from such a far away place I did not really know what to expect. I was expecting some changes, but not the changes that I experienced over the past semester. I have changed as a person with greater openness of others’ ideas and topics. I have changed with more independent from my parents and I have changed with more knowing of determining who I want to be, and I have changed by being more understanding that a person has to ask questions or otherwise, when in doubt people will not communicate with you. This past semester has been a time of self growth, which in turn has caused me to be a much different person that I had started out with.

During my college days it was standard practice of a group of us guys after we dropped our dates off at the dormitory around curfew to go to an all-night diner up the hill from the campus. We would push several tables together and chat until quite late (or early depending on hour you want to define it).