Transition To College Reflection Paper

When it came to the transition to college, all I could think about is all the major changes that would follow. I had no clue how I would adjust. I knew there was going to be both easy adjustments as well as challenging ones. I knew that these adjustments included independence, responsibility, social environments, time management, and harder school curriculum. My enthusiasm towards college was very high and so were my expectations. I had a mindset that the college I was going to attend was exactly like the stereotypical college that I had seen in movies. I expected my roommates to become either my best friends or worst enemies. I expected my college to have immense tailgating every weekend, while watching my football team win or lose. I expected

I had no idea how I was going to be able to workout, play soccer, do school work, get respectable grades, socialize, eat, and sleep all throughout my day. At first I tried to do all of these tasks without a specific time throughout my day. It turned out not to work and I was spending more time on other tasks than others. Eventually some tasks vanished from my daily routine and other tasks started to take up more time. I realized that the college education curriculum was very different and harder than then my high school one. Instead of doing school work for just a couple hours, it turned into five to six hours at times. Working out, playing soccer and being social became were put off and only happened when I had free time on the weekends. Eating and sleeping never faded or took up more of my time, but I did forget to eat on occasions and found less sleep throughout the week. I managed to set up a daily schedule that involved everything I needed to do in the hour by the hour. Luckily, this schedule made my life so much easier. I had time to eat and develop at least six hours of sleep. I now know when to study and for how long. And the weekend has become a utopia of socialization and exercise. But even two months into college, I am still getting used to following a schedule from day to day. Time management by far was the hardest transition into college. Even though I am

I wanted to have a unique college experience. I imagined college as the stereotypical college that I would see in movies, with a traditional campus, traditional dorms and traditional Greek life. I knew when I visited Georgia State that it didn’t have an official campus and I was okay with that. I could cope with the non- traditional because the city seemed to be an amazing site to walk through on a daily basis. But the city-like campus soon turned out to have its deficits. Georgia State University’s campus became a very inadequate place to be after sundown. I had a personal experience where a homeless man threw a glass bottle at a group of friends and I walking down the side of the street. I expected Georgia State University to have a traditional dorm experience, which turned out to be disappointing when the dorms turned out to be a motel and hotel that were converted into dorm living. I knew that if I had high expectation there would only be disappointment to follow. I don’t regret coming to Georgia State University, but I do wish there were some aspects that were