A Reflection On My First Year Of University

Technically I transferred schools as a junior, but I feel much more like a freshman. Navigating a new campus, scheduling my classes, the difficulty of said classes, and trying to find a balance between school, work and being social, took a bit to get used to. In fact, I would say I am still getting used to it. Also, don't even get me started on the bus schedule. I transferred from a community college, where for the most part, I was able to balance all of that easily, so what happened?

One major cause could have been stress. During the winter quarter, I was taking four classes (which equaled to twelve credits) working 30-35 hours a week, barely passing my classes, and having no social life. Compared to now, where I'm taking three classes (fourteen credits), working 22-28 hours a week, doing pretty good in all of my classes, and barely having a social life. The main change in there, is I choose to focus more on myself.

I cut down the number of hours I worked so I could focus on school and so that I made sure I had time for myself. I had it so I would at least have one day where I didn't have to do anything or go anywhere unless I wanted to. I made sure I had time to relax and de-stress during the week. I also took classes that interested me more, like Japanese Literature versus Art History (not that there's anything wrong with Art History, it's just not for me) and having a smaller class size reminded me of being at community college, and I felt like I wasn't one in a sea of two hundred other students. Instead, I was one in twenty.

Next year, I plan to work about the same amount of hours as before and making sure I can still have a day to myself. I'm also taking classes that coincide with my majors (Journalism and Japanese) more, so I'll, hopefully, be more interested in them and strive to do better. As far as getting out there and being more social, I personally feel like if I willingly put myself out there more, I wouldn't have a problem finding friends. Joining activities that are similar to my interests, would go over a lot better than being in a corner in the library.

In conclusion, would I go back and change anything from these past six months? Sure! I would have liked to have done better in all of my classes and I would have liked to have connected with more people, but I can't change that now. I can only move forward. Next year, I'll be living with new people, in a new apartment complex, I won't have to rely on the bus system (thank God) and I know if I applied myself, I could do really well in all of my classes. So that's my goal for next year. Will I actually accomplish any of it? I hope so but who knows, maybe I'll come back next year and reflect one again.