Becoming a College Freshman: Reality

Last month, I became a freshman in Virginia Tech. However, a college freshman life is not delightful, but rather it is a total disaster full of assignments, projects, and insomnia.

When I finished my high school in California and arrived at Virginia Tech, I was filled with excitement, anticipation, and little nervousness. As I enter to the Commonwealth Ballroom at Squires Student Center for the International Student Orientation, I was surprised how many people from all around the world came to attend Virginia Tech. Meeting with this new people, and encountering their cultures were very interesting and wonderful. This new exciting and intriguing life at new school was full of joy and fun until the first day of the class.

        The first day of the class came very sudden and very calm. When I looked at my schedule to see what kind of classes I have today, I saw ENGL 1105, MATH 1225, and CHEM 1035 written in big blue letters. First, I thought that since I have only three classes, it would be an easy day. However, it did not take much time to realize that this schedule was horrible. After I have taken all the classes for the day, I was worn out. Listing all the assignments I had to do in two days, I met my friends and talked about this horrible schedule and how should I have to manage my time. From that day, my friends and I went to the Torgersen Hall to do the assignments that were given every single day.

         The first restless week has past, and I thought this huge workload and stress is nothing like I have imagined of college life. The “ideal” college life I dreamed was like the college life portrayed in TV shows and movies: going to fraternities and sororities parties and listening to loud music pounding the dorm walls. Of course, there are fraternities and sororities parties, but the problem is that if I go to the party, I have to give up my sleep or homework, or even both. Also, I can listen to loud music in the dorm and bring my friends, but it would be very rude to my roommate and others who are living in the dorm. So I just decided to stay up late on Friday to go to parties and club meetings on weekends.

        In the second week of the school, I had few happenings that I couldn’t control. I ditched the class. It happened early on Friday at 5 a.m., and I was rushing doing my math assignments and writing a blog post that was due on Friday. After I finished my assignments, it was 6:30 a.m., and since the first class starts at 9:00 a.m., I thought I should not sleep, but rather be awake and sleep after the class. However, life isn’t always under control. I closed my eyes to think about my schedule for the day, and when I opened my eyes, it was 10:00 a.m. I felt so frustrated to myself, and I even felt self-hatred. Battered by all different kinds of assignments, I am now learning how to manage my time better and more efficiently without giving pressure to myself or to my body.

      To think positively, I am only freshman, and it is only the third week of school. I can fix it, if I work hard on time-managing, sleep sufficient hours, and keep up my work on time.  Wish me good luck on the rest of my college life.