refelection-memior

All the way from the very beginning, I knew that California State University, Monterey Bay was going to be the right place for me. The first day I came onto campus for a tour, I felt a connection; a connection that has stuck with me all the way through my first semester as a college freshmen. Whether they are bad or good, I have learned many lessons along the way.
College is a huge adjustment for a person to make. As a student it is a big jump, because the course difficulty is definitely harder, whether it be a little or a lot, the difference is significant. The day before my classes started, I went around to each building to find the room where my course was located. The first day of class was very nerve racking, but it was good to get it under my belt. Taking the first step was important for me in terms of adjusting to my new environment. I feel like I have made big changes in my academic career since August. I now have a major set up (Liberal Studies), so I have my classes picked out for the next few years. Knowing that I have this path set up for me has helped me to focus, because having something to look forward to and work for is definitely a drive for me.
Another big adjustment that I had to make was living with another person. My roommate, Farrah, happened to be a very good match. We get along great, but as everybody knows, if you are with someone for too much time, things begin to get messy at times. Sometimes there are disagreements, but you don’t have mom and dad there to help you out, so you must work things out on your own. One thing that I definitely learned to be the most important rule is to never start a fight with your roommate. Sit down and talk things out, but never, EVER start accusing them of things that you aren’t sure whether or not they did. If you do that, things can get very messy. Since you have to live with the person whether or not you like it, its best to keep things clean. It’s important to talk to my roommate if I realize that she is doing something that I don’t really like, or if something that she does bothers me. We talk about our feelings and our problems, and this makes our living space a happier and healthier living space for the both of us.
Another thing that I learned from living with another person is to be considerate of their feelings. Be respectful of their living space, because even though it my room, it is also theirs. This means that I have to watch what I do, so I make the space live able for the both of us.
I have learned to put myself out there. Meeting new friends and developing a relationship with people is something that comes very easy to me, but this June at orientation, it was kind of a wake up call for me. I realized that I was really going to have to loose all of my shy feelings and just throw myself into the sea of anxious freshmen. When I did this, I met a lot of the friends that I now spend time with. If I had not decided to do this, I wouldn’t have met some of the great people that I really admire today. I am socially more mature than I was in high school. I like college much better than high school because everybody is very accepting. In high school, people make judgments faster about other people, but I saw college as a fresh start; a chance to meet completely new people and start over completely.
I have also learned not to judge any book by its cover. All people have an equal chance at everything in life. I already knew this, but I definitely put it into effect during this school year. I opened my heart and mind to all people, and it helped me to have a better experience. It has definitely been life changing.
Being independent is another important life skill that I developed along the way. Although I was pretty independent at home before I left for college, moving to Monterey and living completely on my own has definitely helped me grow as a person. Being able to do whatever I want whenever I want was definitely a big change, and it was nice for me especially in the beginning. As other people started to skip classes, I realized that independence definitely comes with consequences if you do not use it correctly. Although it was nice for those people to not have their moms forcing them to go to class, they were failing in return. I decided to keep going to class, because I knew if I missed one , it would turn into a bad habit and I would end up never going to class again. Making these decisions on my own helped me realize that I can make the right choices and still have fun. Although I have never skipped a class, I can still manage to have all the fun I need and maintain a good grade point average.
I feel like overall, California State University, Monterey Bay has offered me a handful of skills, both academic and personal, that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I feel like I have reached many of the course outcomes not just from being in the class, but from gathering information from all of my resources here at Cal State Monterey Bay. I have definitely added more to my knowledge about how to maintain and balance a good education, but also to have fun and live your life. College is an experience that everybody should get to live, and although some people don’t , I am trying to make the best of my experience here.