The College Experience So Far (Blog Post #3)
While reading the first part of the graphic novel Freshman Year, I learned about the activities which occupied Sarah’s summer before starting college, her move-in experience, and her first week of college. In doing so, I was able to connect some of her experiences to mine, while also seeing how they differed. Some of these activities included having a summer job, hanging out with friends and family, and shopping for dorm essentials. Although we did similar things over the summer, I think the specifics of them are where our experiences vary greatly. For instance, Sarah’s summer job included mowing lawns, gardening, and walking dogs, etc. On the other hand, I worked at a gym as a swim instructor, teaching young children how to swim. In the later part of the reading, I was also able to connect Sarah’s experiences of moving in and her first week to my own. In regard to moving in, I had my family with me just like Sarah. However, she only had her parents helping her, while I had all three of my siblings in addition to my parents. Similar to Sarah, my first week here at Longwood was spent attending required events to get us settled into campus. These events included navigating the campus, attending presentations full of important information, and taking part in small activities, such as icebreaker games to get to know each other. I was genuinely surprised to find all of these similarities with Sarah from my summer and very first college experiences. Despite all of these similarities there are still of course big differences. Some of these would be the university which we are attending, as well as what we are studying; Sarah is undecided, but leaning towards studying English, and I am studying Nursing. Overall, regardless of any differences in my experience compared to Sarah’s, I was able to connect with the story and her as a freshman in college.
Reflecting on my summer and my time at Longwood so far, I am left feeling slightly regretful. I am filled with many different emotions and feelings, but for some reason that is the first one that comes to mind. It is not regret for anything I have done, but for things that I have not done. For example, I regret not spending more time with my friends and family before I left. After this summer I began to realize just how fast time can go by and this understanding only increased since I have been here at Longwood. I am overjoyed at the positive experiences I have had and the incredible friends I have made thus far, but there is so much going on all the time, making it difficult to slow down and enjoy these things. Despite this feeling of regret, I am hopeful that I will soon find a better balance and be able to truly enjoy the wonderful experiences college has to offer.
Dear, Molly
I can relate to your college move in experience because moving into college was stressful for me as well. Just like Sarah in the “Freshman Year” novel, I thought about taking a gap year before going to college too but I did not want to graduate late. Seeing how much time and thought that Sarah put into moving in, made me think about how I first moved into my dorm. I also had the help of my family which included my dad, mom and brother. Every time I read the Freshman Year book, I think back to my first week of college where I spent time with my group mentors and I think about how much fun I had. Just as you had regrets about college, I did as well because I was uncertain if I would be able to keep up and maintain good grades. Although, I’m struggling in Precalculus, I have managed to obtain good grades throughout the first five weeks of the semester. I also can relate to you feeling full of different emotions because I was worried about getting home sick or not being with my family, however, I have made new friends and learned how to be social. You are definitely right when you that time flies because as I look back on my 4 years of high school, I still can’t believe that I am in college. Although I have learned how to adapt to college and mange my time wisely, I sometimes wish I was still in High School because it was less stressful and I miss my old friends. As I continue into the semester, I still have thoughts creep up in my mind about if I’m going to dropout or am I going to graduate college on time. Before I came to college, I knew that there would be a bunch of obstacles thrown my way, but I have stayed true to myself and I am not going to give up just like you are not going to give up because you are smart and God has so many great things stored for you! Another thing that I can relate on is how Sarah went to a party during her first week of college. I have been to three parties during my whole time in college and I have to say that they are a lot different than I expected them to be . I don’t know if you have been to any of the parties but going to the parties made me feel very nervous and uncomfortable because I did not know if I would blend in with the crowd or if I was just seem isolated; however, people that were at the party made me feel welcomed by coming up to me and asking me my name or just asking me if I was okay throughout the night. Although you feel regretful, it will be all worth it in the end and I believe in you!
Sincerely, Darion Ridley.