With the the first semester of my freshman year coming to an end, I feel like I haven’t changed a lot since August. As much as I hate to admit it, I feel like my first few months at college have been exactly as I expected, different from high school but still more of the same.
My courses this semester have all been relatively simple; I haven’t pulled an all-nighter studying and I haven’t missed class...yet. I learned the map of the campus relatively quickly so at least I’m not getting lost. I have grown accustomed to eating dining hall food (and have already started to grow tired of it as well.)
After registering for my classes next semester, I’m getting more excited for my future here at ASU. This semester, all of my classes were right after one another, leaving me with little time to finish up any assignments in between.
Next semester, I am experimenting with having my classes spaced out to hopefully make the day seem less overwhelming. Although I’m still adjusting to certain aspects of college, I feel like I’m ready for a change. It definitely will be a little strange to have a completely different course schedule after the holidays and have to settle into an entirely new routine.
In the past few months, I’ve learned a lot about living on my own and the differences between college and high school. One of the biggest ideas that has really stuck with me is the fact that I always need to be thinking ahead.
All my life, I’ve heard about preparing for the next step and what I should be doing in order to be ready for the next phase of my life; in high school, it felt like everything I was doing was in order to prepare myself for college; in middle school, it seemed like I was just being prepared for high school.
Now that college is in full swing, I feel like I have four years to make something of myself, four years to explore the university, four years to take advantage of the opportunities that I have. However, it seems like I don’t have as much freedom as I had expected. I can’t afford to relish my independence if it means sacrificing other things that are essential to my future. I had hoped that the crazy competitiveness of joining as many organizations as possible and obtaining leadership positions ended in high school, but it seems to be just as relevant in college.
Overall, I think I have adjusted well to college life and can’t wait to see what else is in store for the next four years.
