“Am I in the real world yet? Is this what it’s all about? Will everything get harder?” These are some of the questions that run through my mind every day ever since I became a college student. I have come to realize that the concept of the real world can be defined in different perspectives according to the each human’s life. While I was in high school, I remember listening to some alumni friends saying things such as “Wait until you step into the real world!” and “High school years are the best!” This is because during these “golden years” life feels lighter with no burdens or preoccupations stalking us, unlike the life you start to live right after high school. The time when I did not have to worry about my financial status to pay for books or did not have to think of a career path for my future is gone. Now I must face these questions and many others that do not have an answer yet, but ultimately I will have to come up with a resolution only if I want to achieve what I have always desired. I am only seventeen years old; however, I am already creating my own story by planning out what is it that I want to do with my own life. Where do I want to begin? Where do I want to stop? Where do I want to continue? Where do I want to end up? This new stage in my life has influenced me tremendously to start discovering what I am capable of doing and what could stop me from achieving my never ending dreams.
Initially, high school is the stage of unforgettable memories and delightful experiences. Despite this fact, I always had my mind set in getting good grades. It all started as a freshman, when I challenged myself in my first year of high school with honor classes. This idea of getting good grades and maintaining a good grade point average continued for the remaining years, having my grades under control. Not only were my grades under control, but I was also involved in other activities, such as service clubs and honor societies that required a lot of time and dedication of the student.
On the other side of the balance was my life as being part of the school soccer team. School and soccer were a one together package. In my last year, I did not only have the academics pressure with advanced placement classes, but also the big responsibility of being captain of my school soccer team. As a high school student, my most desired part of the day was in soccer practice. Practice usually started around 3:00 PM and I would be getting to my house around 8:00 PM exhausted. After that, I would usually get into www.myspace.com and be there for like two or more hours. Amazingly, I would usually do homework late at night and then go to sleep not too late. This can be an example of how academics are definitely not a priority in the life of many high school students and they just see it as a “good experience”.
On the other hand, now that I’m in a completely different environment, my life as a college student starts at home, then school, and then back home. Stress, responsibilities, and money are just some of the many issues that college students go thought, and that now I’m facing. A environment in where from the first moment that you get home is eat, and grab your books to study is definitely a time for self-exploration and discoveries.
As a first year college student, the biggest obstacle that I had to face during my first semester at the college was stress. And I know I will keep fighting against it, for stress is like a chain that will always lead me towards the right path. Unfortunately, stress caught me off guard at the beginning of my semester leading me to harsh moments where I had to remind myself about my dreams and goals in order not to stop; because I was already fed up. Homework to do, projects to work on, essays to write, tests to study for, community projects to attend to, plus the other million responsibilities I have outside of school put me in a position where I thought I was not going to succeed in everything I had planned for.
From the very beginning of the semester I was informed by my advisor that one of my most challenging classes was chemistry. During high school, I was a good chemistry student, so at first I felt no worries. Nonetheless, I realized I was not in high school anymore. This was college. So I said to myself “Do not feel overconfident and always do your best”. When the time to take my first chemistry test came, I decided to focus on it and to study as much as I could. Everybody made the assumption that it was going to be easiest test in the whole course because it only included the first three chapters, meaning it was going to be basic chemistry material. But this did not allow me to put my guard down. I still put a lot of effort into it by reading carefully the whole three chapters for more than five hours. At the same time, I analyzed and resolved every exercise in the book. Not only did I worked out the problems in the book, but I also looked over every example in each chapter and I even made note cards for myself with the most important terms. That night before the test I went to sleep at 3:00 AM; my eyes were baggy, I felt extremely exhausted and my brain was burned out. The moment I stepped inside the classroom, I felt ready and even after I finished, I felt I had done pretty well. To my surprise, things did not work on my favor. My grade was a seventy two and I felt miserable.
I realized that stress had embraced all my energy unconsciously limiting me to relax and breath with tranquility. Though I had felt confident because of all the hard studying I had done before taking my test, I had not rested well enough, and it did affect my performance. I was sleepy, tired and stressed. I did not give myself a break and I took over all my good energy. Now I respect the level of stress my body can take. Before any tests, I study in advance and little by little, so when the test day comes, I will not feel as exhausted as I did on my first chemistry test. I realized that the most efficient way to study for a test is not by the excessive hours you might put into it, but the quality of studying you can do in few hours without over pressuring yourself.
Consequently, I have learned a new method to study and organize myself without feeling too stressed. Time management is the answer. I have learned how to divide my time appropriately to fit my needs such as school and my personal life. One of the things I had to do was to set my priorities. In this moment, my main priority is school. I do not have a job, but attending to school and keeping up that 3.5 GPA is almost like a job, because if I fail, I will get fired. In this case, if I fail, I will get kick out of the honors program I am part of and I definitely do not want that.
Similarly, I still manage time to enjoy my life outside of school. Soccer is not a priority anymore, but it’s still a big part of my life. Fridays and Sundays are my “free” days, in where I remember my life as a high school student. On those days I usually get together at my high school with my other team mates and we play a game. I try to forget about school worries and I simply let go of stress. I love to spend time with my family and my group of friends, so I always make time for them as well as I make time for my responsibilities in school.
To sum up, being part of the honors college at Miami Dade takes a lot of effort, leadership but most importantly dedication. Life comes with its ups and downs and one must be strong enough to defeat these obstacles. As a new stage of one’s life, one must learn to accommodate to the different and new things that come along. It will take time, courage and sometimes even failure, but I will make my own story and achieve my most wanted goals in life.
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