Why I'm Grateful For My Freshman Year | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Student Life

Why I'm Grateful For My Freshman Year

My thankfulness for the ups and downs of my first year in college!

43
Why I'm Grateful For My Freshman Year

When I first stepped on campus last year in August, I honestly had no idea what to expect. I was excited, scared and, unfortunately and unsurprisingly, clueless. I had so many people around me tell me what college was going to be like, but I still felt like I I wasn't ready for anything that was about to come my way in the next couple of weeks and months. However, looking back on my first year of college as a sophomore is actually so rewarding, despite how idiotic I may have felt when I realized that I really didn't know how to study, to how crushing it was to receive my first exam at Hop back only to see a disappointing number scrawled on top.

I'm incredibly thankful for my freshman year because I learned so much. My first semester, I applied to at least fifteen different things, from a cappella groups to jobs at clinics to labs all over Baltimore. I was so focused on getting myself involved with different things that I never stopped to ask myself if I would actually be happy doing any of those things. The lesson I learned from this was to do research beforehand on clubs and organizations before actually committing myself to them. Although I did get to meet a lot of great people doing a bunch of different things, I was mostly overwhelmed and felt like I didn't know which direction I was going toward. Still, because of this happening my freshman year, I now know how to choose what I want to get involved with.

I'm also thankful for my freshman year because I developed skills that I had never even thought of in high school. I learned how to take notes attentively in lectures, read up on chapters ahead of time and study through a variety of methods (outlines, YouTube videos, class slides and PowerPoints, etc.). Even more, I learned to plan out my week, month and year ahead of time, so I could manage my time more effectively. It was tough going from having a messy dry-erase calendar that I barely updated to an organized online calendar with a color-coded system for all my classes and extracurricular activities, but learning how to do these types of things has been a great, fulfilling part of my experience at Hopkins.

For me, transitioning from high school to college was rough, mostly because everything changed here: the structure of classes, the amount of free time I have, the responsibilities of extracurricular activities and so on. Because of this, freshman year was a source of a myriad of learning opportunities from left to right, and I will never stop being grateful for that.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
coffee

It's finally flu season! It's around that time in the school year where everyone on campus is getting sick, especially if they live in the dorms. It's hard to take care of yourself while being sick at school, but here are some coping mechanisms to get you on the path to feeling better!

Keep Reading...Show less
Health and Wellness

The Battle Between College And My Mental Health

College isn't easy, and I'm afraid I'm not going to make it at the rate my mental health is going.

481
woman sitting on black chair in front of glass-panel window with white curtains
Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash

Everyone tells you that college is hard, but they fail to explain why. Sure, classes are hard. Math sucks, and political science can be so boring. But that's not even what's killing me about college. What's killing me about college is my deterioating mental health.

As a college student, I feel as if people don't understand just how exhausted I, and fellow college students are. We have so many things going on, all the time, and sometimes it's hard to explain to people how we feel. Personally...I'm tired. I'm sad. And I'm struggling every single day with my emotions. But the thing is, it hasn't always been this way. I haven't always hated school, so why am I feeling like this now?

Keep Reading...Show less
manager

For the average 20-something, life moves pretty fast. You’ve got classes, friends, relationships, jobs, family, and whatever else we overcommit ourselves with. I probably should have learned to say no to adding more to my schedule a long time ago, but instead here are 11 things that can be more helpful than coffee.

Keep Reading...Show less
Parks And Rec
NBC

Your professor mentions there's a test in a few days and you didn't know about it.

Keep Reading...Show less
Blair Waldorf

Resting b***h face. Defined as a person, usually a girl, who naturally looks mean when her face is expressionless, without meaning to. Many of you suffer from this "condition." You are commonly asked what's wrong, when nothing is. What people don't know is that is just your facial expression. Here are some things they wish you knew.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments