Hooray Hooray!
Freshly graduated from high school, I was excited about the college experience. I was eager and wanted to know about the differences between college and high school.
A couple of weeks before classes started, I got an email from the Division of Student Success that talked about the schedule and who my academic advisor was. At that time, I was in Cambodia because I went to visit my home country and completed the placement test required for freshmen in my hometown.
Day one arrives, welcome to college life!!
I woke up early that morning around 4 a.m. and left home at 6 a.m. to take the bus to Arcadia University, the view along the way is so amazing! I step out of the bus and WELCOME TO ARCADIA! As I remember, I had 2 classes on the first day and one of them was the First Year Seminar, we studied the Inequity in the U.S. healthcare system. Those classes took place in the Brubaker Hall. Guess what? I didn’t even know where the Brubaker Hall was. I tried to ask other people and still had no idea which way should I go, so some Arcadia staff led me to my class.
Even though I was nervous and excited at the same time I also felt comfortable because of their friendly staff which showed how amazing the community is and how beautiful the campus is.
As I sit in a room in the library writing this right now, I’m reflecting on what I went through during the first semester of my freshman year, it’s funny for me because right now I know the campus so well. It is just one of a bunch of examples of lessons that freshman year has taught me, even if I feel nervous, I can do it!
Finally, I found the room and I was sitting in a room with other people whom I had never known before. I felt a bit weird because we did not have to wear the uniform like in high school. I am also nervous about who will be my professor. Class started, and the professor wanted us to introduce ourselves to each other I started to realize that everyone was a stranger and had never known each other before. Little did I know, this was the first of a hundred times that I would say my name, pronouns, and major, and I realized that nobody wanted to go first because we were not comfortable. Then, I started to feel more comfortable because I knew that I was not the only one who felt this.
After this class finished, I had to go to another class and I had to do all of this again but at this time, I was ready to say my name, pronouns, and my major again but at this time I felt much better than before.
Seven months later, I am halfway through the Spring semester. I can say that I feel much more comfortable than when I started here, not only because I know the campus well but I also feel a sense of community, started to make friends, and built a strong relationship with the faculty and staff.
