WHAT I LEARNED DURING MY FIRST SEMESTER OF COLLEGE

Hey Everyone!

I’m so excited about writing/ planning this blog post because I honestly believe, well at least in my opinion, this has been by far the weirdest/strangest time of my life. (Hoping that doesn’t seem too dramatic haha.) This time has tremendously helped shape me into who I am. So many new things happening around me, it's hard to wrap my mind around it all, and that's okay!  Maybe you're like me and realized that your whole “ideal vision” of your college experience hasn’t turned out exactly the way you wanted it to. Personally, I really had no sort of “expectation” of what I wanted my college experience to be, I was never looking for that. I really went into this semester with the completely white and black mentality of “getting my degree and leaving.”

Just like all of you, I am beyond thrilled that this semester has wrapped up because it seemed as if it was never going to end! (To all of my readers who are still about to take your finals, you got this!!) It’s crazy to think that it is already mid-December and so many things are planned this month.  Traveling, Christmas is extremely close, spending time with friends and family, and finishing out 2017 strong.

It's crazy to think that we are at the end of another year, it always seems to creep up on me, but even though this year was difficult, it had to be one of the most memory filled ones. It’s strangely comforting to think that right around the corner is the start of a new year, a new fresh take on your life and how you want to make it out to be!

Now is the time that I would say I have some “tips and tricks” for you all about having to overcome your first semester of college, but honestly, what tricks do I ever share lol?? I feel that that phrase can be so overused, or maybe it's just an idiom, but one day maybe I'll throw in a trick of some sort (have any ideas ahah?) This post is all about some insight and advice I can say about my first year at college (well, first semester.) Essentially, I want to capture each semester of college to share with you all so you guys can grow from it, as well as I. So without further ado, let begin!

DON'T TAKE THE EASY WAY OUT

I believe in a previous post I shared about how my first semester was at a community college where many of the students attend for a semester or two to get their general courses under their belt, then transfer to their dream school. I spent my first semester there and now I’m transfering to Florida Atlantic University next semester.

One day over the summer, right as I finished high school, I went to one of their “informational sessions” to go and pick your classes for the following semester. The only exception to the classes they required me to take, since I was enrolled as a transfer student, were blended classes. If you are unfamiliar with that, all it is is that you sit in a classroom for a little bit more than an hour each week, your professor tells you your upcoming assignments, and you go home and learn the material yourself. Basically, I was homeschooled for the first time of my life. Major shout out to my parents for never doing that to me growing up, I would have hated it! My biggest struggle in school has always been math, in order for me to do well in math, I have to be very hands on and taught one on one to understand what is being taught to me.

Long story short, a good majority of the time this semester (I hate admitting this, but it's true), I would find ways to get my work done quicker, so I could get the grade in a short and quick amount of time. It wasn't until a few weeks ago when all of that started creeping up on me and I was in too deep.  So to wrap this all up, if you know you aren't that strong in one subject, admit it to yourself that it’s completely okay and get yourself the help you need to succeed! Don’t just coast along the whole semester and wait until the last minute like I did, trust me, it'll come to haunt you!

DON'T MAKE HUGE LIFE DECISIONS BASED ON UNFAMILIAR FEELINGS

I’m not gonna share too much about this because this topic is a bit too personal than what I would like to share. I had a teacher in high school and one of my close family friends that would always say “You shouldn’t make decisions when you are alone, tired, hungry, and during new changes.” Please, please please, if there's anything I would want you guys to take away from this post, it would be this point right here. Yes, I have heard this on end, but some weird level of self-assurance and cockiness creep inside of me and was just being ignorant to what I have been told time after time.

Things were so unfamiliar, all of my friends moved away for college, I started a new job, I was at a new school. I figured if maybe I were to take things in the matter of my own hands, it would make me feel more independent and empowered, which was such a dumb mindset. I don’t even know. The hardest factor had to be accepting that this is where I was meant to be for the time being. Even though I grew up here and had so many memories with my friends around here, it was time to separate that from my day to day life. If you all have thoughts about these major decisions in your life, really think about it. It sounds lame, but make a pros and cons list! Just don’t act on impulse based on temporary feelings. The scariest thing for me is that it hit me out of nowhere that you have to make such big decisions that can affect your life. Yeah, I have heard people talk about it, but until you are really faced with those decision and having to put on your “big girl panties” and conquer them with your own thoughts and beliefs, is when you truly start to begin to grow up.

JUST BECAUSE EVERYONE AROUND YOU FEELS ONE WAY, DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULD AS WELL

Again, my saltiness from where I spent my first semester is going to come out. Not to be dramatic, but I felt as if I was in some weird twilight zone there. I was in such a lull because “failing” was all everyone ever talked about. I have always been one to go against the norm, but it was such an unhealthy feeling of always being reminded of failure, and really no motivation by anyone, even the professors didn’t really care how well you did or put you on a successful path. Being constantly surrounded by that negativity, sadly puts a toll on you, whether you realize it or not! I began to slowly see a lack of motivation, obviously because everyone else around me felt the same!

XOXO,

Jillian