{"id":10009,"date":"2018-12-20T21:14:06","date_gmt":"2018-12-21T01:14:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/?p=10009"},"modified":"2018-12-20T21:14:06","modified_gmt":"2018-12-21T01:14:06","slug":"reflecting-on-first-semester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/2018\/12\/20\/reflecting-on-first-semester\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflecting on First Semester"},"content":{"rendered":"

As exams wind down, it\u2019s finally occurred to me that my first semester of college is over. While I rejoice at the opportunities to see family, sleep in, and relax over winter break, knowing I am halfway done with freshman year is bittersweet. Retracing to the beginning of the school year, I\u2019ll admit the first few weeks or so were intimidating. I remember calling my mom and confessing how much I missed her, my family, and my friends back home. I was worried about acing classes, making friends, and feeling \u201cat home\u201d in a new environment. How would I find my place at such a huge university?<\/span><\/p>\n

Gradually, I found myself feeling more comfortable calling U of M my home. In fact, thanks to wonderful friends, great professors, and <\/span>some spontaneous decision making,<\/span> it didn\u2019t take long for me to love life at Michigan (I also want to give a shout out to the Residential College for giving me a community to belong to). <\/span>I tried different activities, both familiar and new, to further build connections and find interests. <\/span>By stepping out of my comfort zone, I ended up forming some great friendships that made everyday life both manageable and enjoyable. Additionally, football games and arts events (which were\/are sometimes free for students) were opportune moments to take a break from schoolwork and make memories.<\/span><\/p>\n

Until now, I didn\u2019t think anything would go by as fast as senior year of high school. This semester went by insanely quickly, and it\u2019s almost frightening. While I still don\u2019t know what I\u2019m doing with my life, this semester has been incredible, and I hope to take advantage of the rest of my time here at U of M. Here are some things I\u2019ve learned:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. College goes by really fast<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Call your family members, they miss you and are there for you<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Late nights are a given<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Naps are essential<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. It\u2019s okay to get out of your comfort zone<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. ^^ You can do this by talking to people, taking a class you normally wouldn\u2019t, or even going to events by yourself once in awhile<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Even though I truly enjoyed high school, college is so much better (albeit harder)<\/span><\/li>\n
  8. There are a ton of great study spots around the libraries<\/span><\/li>\n
  9. One way to hang out with friends during the week is by studying together in the dorm lounges (though be aware you might get distracted)<\/span><\/li>\n
  10. Convincing yourself to go to the gym, even if it\u2019s just ten minutes away, is difficult<\/span><\/li>\n
  11. Eating healthily is fairly attainable with a dining meal plan\u2026 then again, it\u2019s also easy to eat ice cream every day<\/span><\/li>\n
  12. Ann Arbor has plenty of great restaurants for when you get tired of said dining meal plan<\/span><\/li>\n
  13. Ann Arbor is a pretty cool place to explore in general<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    As exams wind down, it\u2019s finally occurred to me that my first semester of college is over. While I rejoice at the opportunities to see family, sleep in, and relax over winter break, knowing I am halfway done with freshman year is bittersweet. Retracing to the beginning of the school year, I\u2019ll admit the first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2196,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10009"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2196"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10009"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10010,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10009\/revisions\/10010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}