Most of the time when college students say they have hit a slump you would expect them to be going through that experience during their sophomore year. What I have been experiencing with my friends is something of an early slump. We’ve hit our second semester of freshman year, and it’s almost as though we’ve all hit this wall. There’s this realization that we’re that much closer to needing to know what we need to do with our lives and what major will define our college experience. We’ve yet to solidify which groups we will be apart of all throughout college, and the school we are going to is huge with a sink or swim mentality. Sure, you can float without a support system, but you’ll be swimming along sluggish and not kicking to the front of this incredibly competitive race.
This second semester slump will pass I am sure, but as for now it still feels as though we are not used to this campus, as all of our courses and schedules have changed. There’s this overwhelming sense that each semester will present us with something new, whether we are prepared to handle it or not, and we’ll have to follow the motto: sink or swim.
With each new semester at Cal, the opportunities grow, and they open up to you if you reach out and ask for them. While this is true, it is also difficult to decide which direction you want to take, as each new decision could change the way you want to live your life, or change your career path in the future.
However, I’m under the impression that that is far too much pressure to place on every decision that you make. While not every choice will lead to positive results, you will gain a life lesson you never saw coming. Even for the occurrences that you wish would go away, you’re growing and the slump will pass. We’re still figuring where we want to go, and freshman year is the time to make these mistakes and learn about what not to do in the future. I have faith our slumps will pass!