My First College Experience
The transition from high school to college is a special moment for most people. It is the time when you finally feel like you are grown, and you start to have an idea of where your future is going. I was able to get a head start on my college experience with dual enrollment. I started doing dual enrollment to get ahead in credits and to transition as smoothly as possible. Since this was my first ever semester of college, it was a memorable roller coaster ride of emotions and experiences. It was a long semester full of procrastination, late nights, and lots of coffee.
At the end of my junior year, I was figuring out what classes I wanted to take the next year. During this process, my parents wanted me to start taking dual enrollment classes at FSW. My brother did it his senior year, and they expected me to do the same. At first, I did not want to do it, and that might have been partly just because my parents wanted me to. Also, I thought that it would be a lot of work since they are actually college classes.
So after going back and forth with my parents about it, we all decided that I would just do it. After I said I would sign up, they wanted me to take three to four classes, but they only wanted my brother to take at least two. I thought this was unfair, but they said they “have higher expectations for me.” I told them my first semester I would take two classes, and then once I was comfortable, I would be able to do more the next semester.
I registered for Composition I and Intro to Psychology. After I already registered, I found out that my professors were the same ones my brother had. Still, at least I knew he could help me out of I had questions on anything in the classes. I was a bit nervous on the first day because I thought that I would be the only in dual enrollment. Also, my high school friends weren’t there, and I really didn’t know anyone except for my brother and his girlfriend.
Usually, in all of my classes that I go in not knowing anyone, I always make at least one friend. I do this so that I’m not bored, and in case I am lost, I can ask them what is going on. After the first few days, I made friends pretty quickly, and I got to meet many new people. I had to ask them for lots of help, especially in my Intro to Psych class. Also, I met a lot of people who were also in dual enrollment who went to different schools.
My classes, Comp I and Intro to Psych, were the exact opposite of each other. Comp class was actually interesting with discussions and engaging lectures, while my Psych class was the opposite. The professor was a nice guy, but his voice was deep, quiet, and monotone, it sounded like a meditation or mantra voice. It was hard for me to focus, I would either zone out or almost fall asleep every 5 minutes. Which is why I had to ask my friends for help so much.
His lectures were straight from the book, but also his tests were, so they were pretty easy to study for. Also, in my Psych class, we only had four multiple-choice exams, and those were our only grades. While in Comp, we had many different kinds of assignments and projects.
Even though I only had two classes, my semester was not easy. I also had three high school classes I was still taking, and I had two jobs: dogsitting and working at Cracker Barrel. I always had a busy schedule and lots to do all throughout the semester.
How I was able to keep up with everything still baffles me. I would usually do all of my school work on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, and then I would work on Wednesdays, Fridays and the weekends. However, I did procrastinate a lot, I waited until the last minute to do assignments and study for exams. I gave myself just the right amount of time to successfully finish and get at least a B on my assignments. Also, I found that I work well under stress, I don’t get overwhelmed when I have lots to do; instead, it helps me focus on my tasks even more. Which I think is something I have learned over the years, after getting so used to being stressed, I feel like I started to thrive on it.
Going into this semester, I had a lot of expectations and worries about how everything was going to be. In the end, it was not exactly what I imagined it to be; my classes weren’t as tricky as I set them out to be. Also, my worries about not knowing anyone quickly went away. This semester was actually, dare I say, fun? Going into next semester, I will definitely feel much more prepared and ready, and I am excited about it.