Next week my first year of college officially ends after 4 days of final exams. I am not looking forward to moving out of the dorm that I have called home for the year. I realize that I own more clothes than I ever thought and that I only have one small suitcase. But ingenuity will prevail on move-out day because I am excited to go on summer vacation. In my first year of college I enjoyed every class I took, my time management skills and study skills improved, and most importantly the dining hall food was amazing. I may have had some frustrating situations to deal with, but overall I had a great first year.

My first year of college did not leave me scrambling at the end of both semesters to catch up on work that I missed because I enjoyed my classes. I had more freedom over what classes I could take to satisfy a requirement and I had so much more variety to choose from, which guaranteed me a class that I would like. Fall semester I took Greek Mythology to satisfy a humanities requirement. Two days a week I got to listen to Greek and Roman myths beginning with the story of Ouranos and Gaia and ending with the story of Aeneas and the founding of Rome. This semester I added a second major—Classics Greek Civilization and enrolled in Latin language courses. Latin may be dead, but it has actually been the most engaging and useful foreign language class I have had. Latin has helped me gain a better grasp on English and Spanish because the words are very similar and has helped me write more efficiently in English because Latin is an efficient language. My love for my classes each semester helped me to study far in advance instead of the day before and they helped me complete assignments in a timely manner.

Now I am probably in the minority, but I loved the food at my dining hall. There was great variety at each meal and almost everything was prepared fresh. I always had something to look forward to at dinner and I was never disappointed. My favorite foods from the dining hall included Pork Pozole, Beef Bibimbap, Beef Stroganoff, and Beef Stew. A lot of my dormmates did not care for the food in dining hall and never ate there unless they could not eat anywhere else. They were definitely exaggerating the badness of the food because it was always packed with flavor and ethnically diverse. My first year of college had was the first time I ever ate kimchi, philly cheesteak sandwiches, and pork pozole. I loved my dining hall because I was able to be adventurous at meal times and try new cusines that I would have never eaten at home.

I had a good experience my first year of college and I am now confident that I made the right choice about going to CSULB. I have met some really great professors and some really great students my first year despite the stigma of ‘useless undergrads.’ I feel healthier and happier more than ever did in high school because I can better balance my academic life and my social life. Most importantly, I am on my way to success here.