Needless to say, after nearly two years, the coronavirus pandemic changed the pathways of every college student. The unconventional natures that have been adapted allowed college students to learn and grow from continuous change.
Personally, my senior year of high-school was completed in one month during the new online schooling opportunities, and my diploma came folded up in the mail by a careless mail employee. After a few months of hard work, my enrollment at Arizona State University was official, and my first semester of college was completed entirely on Zoom; one semester ahead of schedule.
From that experience, the first lesson I’ve learned in college was to meet staff professionals. Whether these professionals are professors, club leaders, or school advisors, more people who genuinely know your goals for college will reach out to you in times of hardship and lend a hand.
The student-staff position that I earned during my second semester of college, I believe, was due to the amazing professional staff members that I engaged with during my time on Zoom.
Meeting these connections and getting to know them took time and active participation in the events they offered, but those opportunities gifted me with lifelong advice and more opportunities than I could have ever anticipated.
Moving forward into my second semester at ASU with fully in-person classes, a student-staff position within the dorms. And living on-campus for the first time came with as many challenges as advantages.
One of the most prominent is a life lesson about friendships; allow people to fit into your life as needed. There are friends within ASU that can provide me with life advice and help me in my classes. These are not the same friends as the people that I talk to about my personal life and frustrations while we spend our nights at various university-funded events.
In short, you do not have to fit into little check-boxes that appeal to one type of person. You are allowed to branch out and engage with different groups of people at various times during college, and even throughout the day. Allow yourself to experience all that people have to offer and accept those that mean to help you along the way.
As December comes into view and the semester comes to an end, along with my freshman year of college, I find that the last lesson I had to learn was the workload.
In high school, it felt very easy to complete work two weeks ahead of schedule, work part-time, and engage in various activities. College takes a toll on those who spend hours upon hours in their rooms trying to get ahead in the classroom, only to find more work awaits them.
The last lesson I had to learn, albeit over many months, was to allow myself time to complete the course work. Turning work in on the due date is turning the work in on time. There are no points awarded for turning in assignments early, so instead of holding yourself in your room, take a deep breath and go out to events that are offered at the university.
College is about the experience and growing as a person, and education is to help you find your future.
Good luck!