Student Blog: Going Back to School

Back to school! Could there be a phrase more exciting and scary? Some students can hardly wait to get back into their various classes and resume learning. For other students like myself, going back to school means more stress, taking unwanted classes, and of course homework.

Allow me to get this out of the way, I am not the most academically inclined. I was the kid in elementary that was daydreaming about what I'd do if I had all the freedom in the world for a day, instead of learning my multiplication tables. During award ceremonies for school, I would just sit and watch student after student receive awards for most A's on their report card or highest grade in World History, etc. When it came time for the fine arts awards, that was my time to shine. I'd like to think of myself as an artistic person, and when it came time to share with family and friends what I'd be doing after high school, no one was surprised when I said theatre.

I had a lucky first semester, and when I say lucky, I mean I didn't have to take my most dreaded class. When I was meeting with an academic advisor before school started I told him I had it in my mind I'd flunk immediately because of math. Unfortunately, some form of math is required in college, and sadly math has always been my worst subject. My advisor suggested that I hold off on math until the second semester. He said if I already had it in my mind that I was going to fail then I would; if I allowed myself to feel optimistic about my classes then I'd have a better chance of succeeding. Good advice, huh? My advisor knew what he was talking about, and to my surprise, I passed my first semester with virtually no hiccups!

I've just started my second semester as a freshman in college getting my Associate's in Arts. I have only been in school this year since the beginning of January, but classes have already proven themselves to be equal parts challenging and intriguing. This semester I'm taking English 102, Math 95, Geography 113: Cultural Geography, and Music Appreciation.

English 102 was a class I had been looking forward to. I love writing, and writing essays at a college level has been a lot of fun so far. I tend to want to write just a little over the required length for essays. Anytime I start a large paper I sike myself out into thinking I can't write that much. After meeting the requirement my mind usually goes "hmm you could stop at 6 pages...or you could do 7." Hopefully, my professor appreciates the effort. If being in college has taught me anything, it's that almost every professor loves when you go over the minimum requirement. Math 95 has been less enjoyable, no surprise there. Of course, my least favorite class just so happens to be the longest. Who doesn't love doing math for 2 hours straight? Thankfully my Math 95 professor just so happens to be one of the nicest people I've met. Her consistent encouragement and willingness to help her students have made the class more bearable without a doubt. Geography 113: Cultural Geography has been interesting. In the past, I've found geography to be somewhat of a challenging subject for me. The engaging aspect of this class is that it focuses on the human side of geography. I've already learned a lot from this class, and it never hurts to be more informed about different cultures. Music Appreciation has not been overly exciting in my opinion. Most of what I do for that class is listen to various pieces of music and identify what sets that piece apart from others. I love music of all kinds, but I think the class could be a little more challenging. Homework tends to feel repetitive when I'm describing what kind of instruments I'm hearing in a song over and over again.

Although I'm taking a class I might not care for, it's comforting to know I'm not the only one that feels that way. My advice is to find a good support system and like-minded friends. Dealing with a class you don't love can cause procrastination and missing assignments, finding people you trust to help you stay on task is crucial! As I tackle my second semester I'd like to wish my fellow students good luck as they navigate school as well. We got this!