Freshman Year In Review (College Edition)

Fall 2014

Ignore that giant block in Monday's slot. That was my orientation. I don't know why it ended up on the schedule.

I learned a lot from English 1010 when it was all said and done. I didn't really enjoy writing most of the papers in that class, but I did learn more about my writing style when it comes to academic papers and managed to develop a system that works for me. I've used what I learned in 1010 for other classes and gotten A's and B's on those papers as well. Bonus!

U.S. History to 1865 was boring, but necessary. The lectures were very difficult to pay attention to, honestly. My teacher had a very unique way of talking about things and he just had one of those voices that kind of put you to sleep...but you know, I actually liked him just fine. When evaluations came around a lot of people were complaining about him, but I made a point to say that he was a perfectly good instructor. He just had a different way of getting things done was all.

My Personal Wellness and Walking classes were again boring but necessary. Personal Wellness was ridiculously easy. I honestly don't even think it should be required since the same exact class was required in high school for a majority of the students on campus, but what can you do? Walking was just a simple way to get my gym requirement out of the way. I would have taken something a little more vigorous, but when that time of the month rolls around, I just cannot do anything, and it would have affected my grade. I'm sure you ladies can relate.

Western Civilization I was actually one of my favorite classes. Though many students dread taking the course, I thought it was extremely interesting and helpful. When NaNoWriMo 2014 rolled around, I was even able to use some things I'd learned in that class to help me write my novel. Score! The teacher was great, too. She really made the class enjoyable. I can't imagine taking the course with any other instructor.

Math. I am beyond done with stupid math. I passed with a C, I'm satisfied, and that's all I want to say about it.

Choir was all right. First semester was definitely easier than second semester, but I think it's because it was so easy that I didn't really care for it at first. I grew to like it more the second time around (HA!! TMNT reference!!).

During the fall semester I began to have a falling out with my friends from high school. It lasted from mid-summer all the way to early December. During this time I began to make new friends and meet other people on campus. It really surprised me that we have such a diverse group of students since we're kind of in the middle of nowhere, but we have people from all over the world attending our college. It was also during this time that I went on my first dates ever with a young man from southern Wyoming. We are currently not seeing each other, but we are still friends.


Spring 2015

Why did I think it was a good idea to take a class at 8 AM? Seriously. I must not have been in my right mind. In any case, I took Spanish 1020 this past semester, having taken 1010 through concurrent enrollment at the high school. I quickly realized that the course was way too easy for me. Everything that was being taught was stuff I learned in Spanish I and II at the high school.Thankfully my teacher was understanding, and she worked with me to arrange my schedule in such a way that I did all the homework online through distance learning and only came to class on test days. Now that that's over, I will never take a class that early again if I can help it. Night owls were not meant to function in the early morning.

English 1020 was much more fun than 1010, mostly because it was more focused on reading than writing. We did short story, novel, and poetry units. Only three papers were written for this course; our final was a presentation on a poetry piece of our choice. I breezed through the novels and dragged through poetry. The short stories were kind of my neutral zone; I neither liked nor disliked them. The only thing I really didn't care for was the analysis paper we had to do on a short story of our choice. I don't like being analytical in English. As a writer, I need my mind to be creative and free from restraint. I lose my ability to simply enjoy the things I read if I have to analyze everything.

I am also beyond done with science. I have a lot of complaints about the class I took last semester (Historical Geology), but I passed with a C, I'm satisfied, and that's all I'm going to say about it.

Western Civilization II was my favorite course last semester. I had the same teacher as before which definitely helped, and I just really enjoyed learning about how we got into the World Wars and the Cold War and whatnot. It's amazing how much I didn't know about our world's history until this semester.

Choir was much better during the spring semester because we were really learning college-level pieces of music (like Mozart's "Requiem.") It was certainly difficult, but it was so worth it in the end. We managed to pull off a great concert - one that even my brother enjoyed. He's hard to please when it comes to choral music! However, despite it being a better experience the second time around, I am still unsure whether I will take the class again in the future. I won't be taking it this fall.

My high school friends and I got along all right for the first couple of months last semester, but by the time mid-March rolled around things started going downhill fast, and by the first week of April we'd fallen off a cliff. As of right now I have not seen or heard from anyone in over a month, and I'm kind of to the point where I just don't want to bother anymore. They say the friends you make in college are the ones you'll keep anyway. Last semester I met Jolene, who started out as my co-worker and ended up being one of my closest friends. She's up on the mountain all summer, but chances are we'll be seeing each other again come fall. (She also reads my blog, so...hi, Jolene!)

Overall, I'd say my first year of college wasn't that bad. It had its ups and downs, to be sure, but it was a cool experience for me. Right now I'm enjoying some much-needed time off before my summer class begins, and after that it's back to campus for sophomore year! Maybe this time I'll actually get to live on campus. That would be nice.

That's all for now. Hope you enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!