First Year, Freshman Year Advice & First Impressions: College

I started college back in late June of 2016. I had orientation earlier that month (the 13th and the 14th) and then school would start doe me thirteen days later. I was taking two online classes so while it was my first semester of college, I was not on campus. Although that was over a year ago, I am now only writing my reflection as I finish up my sophomore year.

Prior to College:

In high school, I took several Advanced Placement classes. These helped me prepare for college along with obtaining college credit. Even though during my four years of high school I took eleven AP classes, I only passed four of them. Essentially putting myself a semester ahead which is why come Spring 2018 I will be a junior in college.

Acceptance:

I will admit I applied to UCF later than I should have. I applied to all the other colleges in like September through November, but I waited until January to apply to the University of Central Florida. I do not recommend that.

Although I got accepted, I got accepted into Summer B instead of Fall. At first, I cried because the wording was a little funny and made it seem like I only got into summer and that was it. However, my dad called and found out for me it just meant that’s when I started. It was all good after that.

Orientation:

My orientation was stressful to say the least. I felt overwhelmed to the point I came home from day one crying. I felt overwhelmed for several reasons.

• There was a total of three people in my major at the whole orientation

• The other two had their career paths completely mapped out and I didn’t

• I felt lost

• I realized the only thing I thought I knew, I actually didn’t

• My major wasn’t for me

• I spent the day finding about information for Statistics majors and now I was going to be undeclared

• It was a long day, it started at seven and when until roughly nine at night

• We interacted with loads of people and had no down time. As an introvert, this is a problem because I find my energy within myself and not from other people, so I was feeling drained.

• It was June and Florida heat and humidity will drain you as well

• It felt as though I had no time to breathe or process my emotions because the week prior I was on my graduation cruise then when I came home singer Christina Grimmie had been shot and killed at an Orlando Venue then Pulse occurred the next day and then I had my orientation for the next two days.

I was overwhelmed and I had to admit for the first time I felt unprepared and terrified for college. It was more personal than anything but the pressure from outside factors weighed me down. I cried because at that moment in time it was all that I could process to do.

Luckily, I have my dad who told me I would be fine in a couple of weeks and I would get adjusted to college even in that moment I never saw that actually being possible. All I saw was how stressed and scared I was and any advice from others didn’t seem realistic. Basically, college takes your seat out right from under you because your seat is what you know and expect but it doesn’t even compare to what actually is going to happen over the next four years.

First Classes and understanding the GEP:

As I said previously, my first classes were online during summer B. At my school Summer B is the only summer semester that starts the end of June out of the four, but it is one of two semesters that are six weeks long. The six-week courses are nice because it’s either the sixteen-week course crammed into six weeks or it’s a lightened load of the same course with the same credit hours.

I personally enjoy taking online classes during the summer. The reason is that even though you are taking classes you can still enjoy your summer break because you do not have to go to campus. Also in the state of Florida, if you attend a public university or college you are required to take at least nine credit hours during the summer.

My first classes were fairly simple ones because they were B category GEP courses. First let explain the categories:

A: three courses in this category: Communication Foundations

• A1: English Composition 1

• A2: English Composition 2

• A3: Intro to Communications, Fund. Of Tech. Presentations or Fund. Of Oral Communication.

B: Three courses in this category: Historical & Cultural Foundations

• B1: US History(1492-1877), Western Civilization, Humanities or World Civilization in various levels

• B2: History of Western Art, Cinema Survey, History of Motion Pictures, World Literature, Several music related classes, Intro to Philosophy, World Religions or Theatre Survey

• B3: take a second course from B1 or B2

C: two courses in this category: Mathematical Foundations

• C1: College Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry and a few others

• C2: Mainly computer related and Statistics classes plus a few others

D: two courses in this category: Social Foundations

• D1: US History(1877-Present), Microeconomics, Macroeconomics or Government

• D2: Anthropology, Psychology or Intro to Sociology

E: two courses in this category: Science Foundations

• E1: Astronomy, Concepts in Chemistry and other Chemistry classes

• E2: Broader range of science classes like Human Species to Biology to Geology and more

It’s slightly confusing to say the least. I think the reason people consider the B type classes the easiest is because there is the biggest range of classes to choose from. Personally, I took Cinema Survey and Intro to Philosophy, and AP World History got me the credit for the other B credit.

Cinema Survey and Intro to Philosophy have been some of my easiest courses in college so far. I wouldn’t consider them easy A courses though because there was a decent amount of assignments due in six weeks, but maybe them as a sixteen-week course they are. I believe these were two courses that were a good starting point for actual college classes.

The two classes were hard enough to make one realize that any sort of study habit or work ethic from high school really won’t work unless you thrive off working under pressure for let’s say a deadline. However, they were still easy enough that it wouldn’t be a stressful first semester.

The courses themselves were six weeks long. I did fairly well in them for them being my first college classes. I got one A and one B. I will say the only plus/minus versus letter grade system is very confusing since it is not the same overall.

First On-Campus Semester:

My first on-campus semester was fall 2017. For this semester, I had Intermediate Algebra which is a prerequisite for College Algebra, Strategies for Success, Astronomy and Intro to Communications. It was two electives and two G.E.P.s.

Strategies for Success also known as SLS1501 was definitely my favorite class. It is a class that I am sure a lot of schools have similar classes but obviously different names. Essentially the class helps college freshman get adjusted to their new atmosphere and course load by helping teach how to do a literature review, search for scholarly articles and work together on a group presentation. I recognize I might be bias in promoting this class as each class has an assigned peer mentor and this past summer I was one. However, bias aside it is a really great class.

Along with a new course load there were new expenses and new experiences. During the summer, I only had one textbook that I needed to buy; however, come fall all of my courses either had a required textbook or access codes. Unfortunately, I could not buy from discounted sites as two of the three textbooks were special editions for my university, the third had an online access code packaged with it to complete online assignments and my fourth class required an access codes.

Besides supply costs, there were a lot of new opportunities. The biggest lesson I had learned from this semester is to read the textbook. Let’s just say I learned this the hard way. By hard way I mean that I had a D in my astronomy class for about half the semester because I was not reading the textbook. This occurred because I was not properly splitting up my time between my classes. I should have been splitting my time equally, but for half the time it was fifty percent Intermediate Algebra due to the amount of assignments, twenty percent Strategies for Success, fifteen percent Introduction to communications and five percent on Astronomy. Thankfully, I learned my error early enough that I could fix it and pass the class with a C.

I highly recommend taking a course that teaches you time management skills if in high school you were like me and could procrastinate until the night before and still get an A or B. it won’t fix all the procrastination tendencies because currently I have an essay due on the 16th of September and I only began it on the fourteenth. However, I’ve learn it again each semester to not procrastinate, but it takes an assignment to remind me why I shouldn’t do it.

On whole, this semester was really well for a more intense course load than the summer. I got an A, a B and two Cs. For my first on campus semester, that is not bad at all. I know it could be better but I learned a lot and I know each semester will get better as I learn better study habits.

First Football Game and Clubs:

Along with fall, came events. Football games were the most evident. I believe I went to all but two home football games. I learned some football traditions but others including the fight song I still do not know to this day. Maybe I’ll learn it by the time graduation comes along. I personally enjoy the football games and I believe they are the easiest way to become immersed in the college environment.

Along with going to football games, I also tried out three different clubs, but have only stuck with one of them. I applied for the Student Government Association’s mentorship program and made it through to the interview round but that is where it ended for me. I then was suggested to apply for the street team due to my photography experience, but I never heard back even after trying to reach out. Oh well, I took it as a sign that it wasn’t meant to be at the time.

After that I tried Knight News which is our school’s paper. It personally was not for me and a little too chaotic, but I was one of many photographers so it wasn’t like there weren’t people there to fill in my spot.

Finally, the third club I joined and still have stuck with is Delight. Everyone I’ve met in this club is so welcoming and friendly. Personally, it was nice to find a faith based club on such a large campus. I’ve made several friends and have felt closer in my relationship with God because of it. Also, it has made me become more involved with campus activities which is important because as a commuter student I am not always aware of what is occurring on campus.

As for other events that I’ve gone to, I’ve gone to a Basketball game, a Baseball game, a Hockey game, a career fair, Universal Knights, a Volunteer UCF event and Light Up UCF. Personally, my favorite was Universal Knights followed by the Hockey game. I honestly don’t have a clue when it comes to Basketball and Baseball, I know football decently well even after calling the end zone “the touchdown area”, and I would say Hockey is the sport I known the most about and can understand.

I’ve really enjoyed college thus far. It has provided me when new opportunities and experiences. I’ve learned a lot but I still got a lot to go.

College advice that I’ve learned so far:

• Your first choice may not be your best choice

• It is perfectly fine to not know what you want to major in

• Switching majors is not as scary as everyone makes it out to be

• Get involved in at least one club during your freshman year

• Talk to the people you sit next to in lectures, they make for great study buddies and you can help each other out in the chance you miss a class.

• Go to as many events as possible

• You’re paying to go to class not to party. (I’m not a party person, but I know people who do and their academics suffer from it.)

• Midday classes are typically the most popular (11 a.m. to 2 p.m.)

• If you are not a morning person, do not sign up for an 8 a.m. lecture if you have the choice

• Find a place on campus that is relaxing for you to do homework at if you ever have any extra time

• Even when you think you know your way around campus, odds are you don’t

• You’re bound to get lost at least a couple of times

• Get you G.E.P courses out of the way as fast as you can

• I find it easier to do 12 credit hours in the spring, 6 credit hours in the summer and then 12 again in the fall versus 15 and 15

• There are times you will have to go out of your comfort zone in order to make friends

• College school supply list (works for the most part): notebooks, pens, laptop and charger

• Do not wear another college or university’s attire to your own, it just looks like you’re not committed to the university

• If you know a professor that you’ve had in the past and enjoyed sign up for their class again. Classes are a lot easier if you understand how that professor works already.

• Before buying your textbook from your school’s bookstore, check places like amazon, chegg and other discounted places. Even school related Facebook groups as people tend to post things they are selling there.

• Access codes can be more expensive than textbooks and there is no alternative for them. The cheapest one I’ve had is 45, but I’ve heard of some that go north of a 100.