The thousands of new college students all over the country are experiencing the exciting times and scary times that come with starting college. Josh is a third-year undergraduate economics major at UCLA planning to pursue a career in marketing. He shared his personal ups and downs of beginning college, and shares his advice on how to make the most of your time at college.
Starting school at UCLA caused me to feel alll kinds of emotions. I was anxious about meeting people and adjusting to the new environment. I was excited for the independence and the famously delicious food. I was scared of the classes I was going to take because I had no idea how college compared to high school. Then, some time early September of 2012 I moved into my dorm.
I chose the type of residence hall that was the most social. This meant more people in smaller rooms with communal bathrooms for the whole floor. I had two roommates. One was an acquaintance I knew from high school, and the other was a theater major from Chicago. He was cool and very easy to talk to. During those first few weeks, the three of us had a few breakfasts and dinners together, and there was never conflict between us. The dining halls were scary to me because they were huge and crowded. Plus, at the time, I was deathly scared of eating alone, so I always ate with a group of friends that had come from the same high school. They helped me with my adjustment to living in the dorms. I was lucky because many people have no high school classmates coming to UCLA. What was great was that during those first few weeks my residence hall would always hold floor dinners to help people adjust and make friends.
I was also scared of my classes coming in. I was scared of the competition and the difficulty of the material. Fortunately, the material came to me smoothly. The only thing I worried about was the class size. I had lectures of 300-400 people, and all these bright students vying for a select number of A’s meant the competition was pretty tough. As long as you stay on top of your material and homework, you’ll be fine. The last thing that I have trouble doing even now is making friends. UCLA is an amazing school; people here are so active, involved, social, and outgoing. I am quiet, introverted, and reserved. It is hard to find other people like me in a school full of outspoken extroverts, but I’m improving and throwing myself out there more often. I’m making friends, and I’m glad I experienced all of this during those first few weeks of school. It’s helped make me who I am today.
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