What I learned in my first in-person college semester

        Although I am not a freshman in college, who has just experienced her first semester, instead I am a sophomore who has experienced her first in-person college classes this term. Due to the ongoing pandemic, I was unable to experience the typical freshman year in university packed with the excitement of finally being an adult and getting to experience university. Instead, my freshman year was basically a bunch of zoom classes. The class of 2020 that graduated high school can relate to what I am referring to. But finally, my university decided to conduct in-person classes in my sophomore year. So technically this was my freshman year term 1. What a term it was! There were some unusualities like wearing masks to classes and residence halls, maintaining social distance, and constantly sanitizing your hands till they get super dry. But it did not mean that I had less fun. In this blog, I am going to share my experience of my first in-person university life and how it changed my perspective. My aim through this blog is to help those future freshmen who are about to move out to college. 

Moving out to college is not an easy task. The moment you realize that you are required to do all the tasks by yourself is when the course called Adult 101 commences. For me, I was moving to the University of British Columbia, which is a whole other country. Even though we tend to think that Canada and the US are very similar, trust me, they are not. When you change countries, you have to establish a bank account, tax number and get a new phone number. These tasks consumed the first week of my college. The question always pondered in my mind that when will I get to study if there are so many adult tasks that I have to do. This is where I learned my first doctrine from Adult 101: You have to manage your time between a plethora of tasks. 

In my first week in a college residence, I was overwhelmed by the thought that I have so many people to have fun with. My residence advisors conducted events like study nights, hot chocolate with a bonfire, painting, and karaoke nights. I recommend going to all these residence advisors’ conducted events. This is where I met a majority of my friends. Also, it is a great stress-relieving activity in midst of completing assignments and studying for the never-ending exams. In my opinion, these events are the reason you want to live on campus as they help you build life-long relationships. 

The next big change in my life was procuring a job on campus. It was fun as I never had a formal working experience. It was a unique experience as I learned how to manage my finances and how to navigate around your workplace. I definitely recommend working in your university career as it helps you to learn how to save money, and how to build working relationships with your co-workers. Moreover, it helps you to strengthen your time-management skills. I realized that when I was working, I was able to block my schedule effectively and study in proper time blocks and then work. Hence, working was extremely advantageous. 

The next important thing about university life is tourism. My major attraction for spending my university life in Canada was tourism. As an enthusiast traveler, I decided to enroll in UBC. It was a great decision as I got to see the beautiful Okanagan valley. I was able to explore the mesmerizing Kelowna downtown and go to some local cozy coffee shops. It was a rewarding experience. In my future university years, I plan to explore more. But so far, I had a great experience. Even if you go to school near your home, I recommend going around your college campus and exploring some beautiful places as traveling is a great way to enjoy your time as an undergraduate student. 

Now the most valuable thing I understood as an undergraduate student is that my competition is with myself. Not with other stellar students who have their name on the Dean’s list or not with the student who seems to achieve everything in terms of grades and extracurricular activities. We live in a world of comparison where we are trained to be happy through external achievements. But I feel competing with the past self is a more effective way of learning or working. Achieving better grades than the past semester or trying a new effective learning method results in a more meaningful university experience, at least in my opinion. Because in the end, competing with others reduces our ability to befriend our peers. Instead, it leads to bitter relationship development. Because in the end, the friends you gathered in university are what contributes towards your memory and not your grades or extracurriculars. This was a lesson I learned after graduating high school. Since what I remember from high school is the Friday football games, choir nights, and Dunkin coffee time with my friends. And not my AP scores, GPA, or SAT scores. Sure, they are important to get into a good college. But fixating upon that should be avoided. 

I hope my experience helps future freshmen to navigate through their first college semester. Indeed, it is an exciting time where there are a lot of first-times. But not getting overwhelmed by those and always staying honest with your true self will help process these new life changes. Good luck! Happy first college semester!