☆Semester 1 Reflection☆

Semester One

I was at my friend's house around May of this year. We were discussing our future college plans and I told her how I was planning on dropping out of the scholars program I was accepted into and that I had already sent an email. “WHAT!!?” her mom shouted across the room, they both started telling me how it was a bad decision. I ended up leaving her house that day going back on my decision. I’m glad. My first semester of college has been less than stellar, to be completely honest it has been a frustrating and draining experience. My life back home was comfortable, and it was uncomfortable to have that ripped away from me. But the one thing I looked forward to each week was colloquium. The activities we did each week enriched my college experience and gave me a boost when starting the week. Having a community, especially within my TA group, was something that kept me going. I’ll miss not having this environment again as we move into workshops. 

The coursework for scholars was pretty manageable and it was a great outlet for my artistic abilities. I’ve decided not to pursue an education in arts and the humanities so having scholars is a breath of fresh air when it comes to completing assignments. The activities we were encouraged to do while in scholars were great experiences. While the “Supercell” field trip was not my cup of tea it was a connecting factor and was a really fun topic of discussion among those of us who went on the field trip. I plan on doing more craft and chats next semester, to be honest, the first one I went to was not fun I left after 5 minutes (mostly me being stressed out) and the second one I went to was just to complete my arts TRYathalon.

The learning experience that stuck out to me the most was learning to vogue. I am personally a huge fan of the ballroom subculture. I’ve been consuming content surrounding it for years so it was amazing to have a hands-on lesson. You can only watch so much you know? Especially with how ballroom is built on community it’s something I’ve always wanted to experience firsthand. And to be taught by a legend, father of THE house of Revlon, I was star-struck. It was genuinely one of the most memorable moments of my college experience. Marquis was such a wonderful presence and a joy to talk to.

I struggled a lot this semester with finding enjoyment in what I was doing. I felt extremely lost and being in college has been a humbling learning experience. Whenever I’m going through a crisis I rely on my support systems- friends and family. But it’s been made extremely difficult when my friends and family aren’t really here and the friends I do have here are very premature relationships. I’ve come to accept that this is something I have to go through and that everyone experiences this at some point. I’ve adapted this problem-solving to college by talking myself through my thoughts and ideas and luckily my roommate has been a wonderful support through all this.

With how I’ve been talking about college it might come as a surprise that I’m looking forward to my next semester but I am! Stuff like this builds character and I’m grateful for experiencing a more independent lifestyle. Scholars has been an amazing part of my first semester of college and I am immensely grateful for the program. I’m glad I stayed.