My First Day Of College

I would describe myself as a very fast learner prior to coming to college here. I have been preparing for this step in my life ever since I was in school by participating in hard classes and being involved in my community. Keeping high A averages in my classes has given me the opportunity to become involved in national honor society and national art honor society but also granting me with the incredible trip to Blue Bonnet Girls State this past summer. I believe that involving myself in these three organizations gives me the extra drive a student needs to flourish as an aspiring student to UT Austin. I grew up in a good home as a child and my parents both pushed me to the best of my ability that thankfully got me accepted into this amazing university.

For many of us our expectations of what the first day of college should be is less or more of what is predictable considering that some of us have never been to college or are returning to college. The mind-sets that we have not only are comparable to most but, are very surreal to a lot and can be overcoming. Being that I am 42 years old, going back to school to finally undertake something with denotation had me motivated yet, explore whether this was for me. To be on campus with the majority of the students half my age unfortunately made me feel vulnerable and timeworn. I understood going back, there would be many changes, especially with today’s technology and new updated curriculums. The sense that you want to be ready for whatever

It was a cold, dreary, January morning-- the first day back from Christmas Break. This one was different than past years though, as I find myself driving on I-10 and foreign roads, to my new high school.

Wow Ive came this Far to the first day of me becoming a grown up. It was pretty cool it was the first day of the rest of my ¨life¨ my grown up life. I had my outfit all set up on the chair by my bed, you could definitely say that i was prepared.

It was sixth grade when I met Paige and Carmen. About five years ago, can’t believe it’s been so long. I moved to Lewis Central just the year before and I didn’t really have very many friends. I remember the first time I met them, it was Carmen’s first year here but Paige had been there for awhile. We all had band together Carmen played the clarinet, I played the flute and Paige played the trumpet. It was like we instantly found each other even though we didn’t know each other. We’ve been best friends ever since that year.

On a stormy Monday morning, a girl wakes up and barely drags herself out of bed and forces her small feet across the hallway and into the bathroom. The girl steps on top of her step stool and stares back at the mirror. With tired eyes she stares at the dark skin, dark eyes, and dark cornrows covered with her favorite colorful hair beads, looking back at her. She smiles at her rainbow colored hair and shakes her head with a giggle as she hears the beads shake around, going about her morning routine as usual. She brushes her teeth with her Disney princess toothbrush, showers, gets dressed and gets ready for another day.

The fumy smell of permanent marker lingered in the air as I stared at the big red ‘F’ written across my returned paper. I looked over at my teacher, as she continued around the room, and was met with an icy cold stare of contempt. It didn’t seem to matter how good it was every essay I wrote was returned with the very same marking and without the slightest feedback. This was my rude introduction to writing, at the high school level, and one I wouldn’t soon forget. It is an experience that remains etched deep in memory.

“You need to surround yourself with people who care about you. Who challenge you to grow. Who make you happy and appreciate all that you have to offer.” The message rang in my head as my mother offered me this advice, in attempt to quell my fear of not fitting in the night before my first day of high school. I was often scared to be myself. Being a persistent Asian with nothing but frequent late nights studying intensely to keep up, young male dancer, and closeted gay teenager were all facets of my identity that did not sit well in the minds of middle school bullies. However, my high school experiences brought me to realize that by integrating myself in a community of passionate individuals, I thrived immensely and found myself growing every day. Today, I no longer fear being unapologetically Marcus. With a profound clarity, I envision myself continuing my journey of self-improvement by studying at Carnegie Mellon as a design major.

It was two weeks before my first day of highschool when I started my first college class. I was signed up for an American History class to see what college would be like. My school tried to talk me out of enrolling in the P.S.E.O program because of how many high school freshmen fail classes in their first semester. The school’s suggestion was that I should wait until I was a Junior because then I would be ready for the difficulty of college classes. However, what my counselors didn’t tell me was that most of the freshmen who fail in P.S.E.O classes fail because they don’t know how to study for the tests.

Today is my first day of high school and I don't think that I am prepared for the workload of all these honors classes, but I think that I may be able to find my high school sweetheart before the school year is over with. As I was walking through the hallway, I dropped all of my books on the ground and a guy named Terry came and helped me pick my books up. When our eyes met, it felt like love at first sight. I never knew that existed until I met him…

I have already been in UH Hilo for three days. During my time here, I have had a few struggles as a freshman, such as looking for textbooks, finding a seat in a crowded room, lacking the necessary items, and most of all, getting lost. It always seems to happen to me on my first day in a new environment. On my first day of high school, I had to get security to drive me to my classes because I was late from searching in the wrong place. Then when I had changed high schools, I was so close to staying in the wrong classroom, if not a classmate of mine told me. Soon, I had graduated from high school, and the process of being confused and lost started all over again. I am sure most students go through this struggle, unless they took a campus tour before. However, there are still ways that we can make it easier for all of us. The solutions range from signs to maps to a helping hand of a fellow student.

The first day of school as a freshman is always an exciting and nerve-racking time for most freshmen. You’re making that big transition from middle school to high school, and you’re excited to start this new life and see what it should offer. I was always told by my older sister to always be open to meeting new people and new ideas my freshman year. The part she forgot to warn me about was that I would possibly lose friends, and sadly, I did. As a freshman I learned quickly that some people change when they enter high school, that the peer pressure of fitting in is hard on some freshman and it causes them to do drastic things for “popularity”. I learned a valuable lesson my first week of freshman year and it has stuck with me for my entire high school career and it was to always be yourself, and never try too hard to fit in.

The day started off pretty good, the birds were chirping, the grass was green, it was a beautiful August morning. I was listening to my happy, epithalamic, and soothing music before I had to leave. It was the first day of school, we had just moved to Parma from Seattle Washington. I never really had trouble with making friends, so I was fervid to meet new people. The city seemed perfect for me. I felt untrammeled and joyous in my new neighborhood. The city gave me a great aesthetic pleasure. I expected the school to feel the same. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Hearing so many good things and bad things about college I didn’t know what to expect and look forward to. That change my junior year knowing different college come every year I didn’t really pay it any mind what college I wanted to go to until ODU, Virginia State University and Virginia Teach came. It was Virginia State first year of visiting out school and I knew I wanted to go there I start getting e excited for college that were talking about their experience at college and what to look for when we graduated if we decided to go to college. Eager to start a new chapter college sound like it could be a little nerve wrecking but I thought I could handle it.

It was the second day of my brand new life at college. I nervously shuffled off a bus packed with people I made some short, uncomfortable conversation with, hiked up a hill that, with out knowing where the end was, felt like an eternity, and was promptly forced to trust these new classmates with my physical well-being. Being placed in this new situation with many unfamiliar faces leads one to resort to judgments of others in order to figure out where they belong and who to trust. Looking back, I realized I made judgements about others that have been proven wrong. I believe they have made the same mistaken judgements about me, and this has led me to identifying my unconscious biases and take actions against them in my conscious decisions and judgements.