Opinion
Freshman finds college overwhelming, yet fun
December 15, 2006
As the first semester of my first year at college comes to an end, I find myself scrambling to get those last projects completed, final papers written and time to study for finals. This semester has brought so many things — both good and bad. I can’t recall a time that I have been so busy, but also had so much fun.
It seems like just yesterday that I set foot on this beautiful campus. I can remember thinking, “Here is the beginning of my new life. What the heck am I going to do?” It was so overwhelming. Now, I can’t understand why.
This campus is small enough that anyone can find anything with simple directions. Most rooms are placed in a logical order. And everything that I was worried about was really nothing to worry about at all.
I came in not knowing what to expect in my classes, but in most cases these courses are either less than or equal to the difficulty of the classes I took in high school. It just seems so weird that we sometimes work ourselves up so much about things that are so minimal. Yet no matter how much we would like a perfect world or a perfect freshman year, the likelihood of the perfect place is next to none. Coming to this school left me with some notso- great memories as well.
The first weekend after move in, I heard about an argument on the third floor of Hathorn. At the same time, some drunken guy was sitting outside below my window while his friends tried to find a way to get him back to his room before he was caught with underage consumption, and before they were caught with distributing alcohol to a minor.
As I sat in my room, I couldn’t help but to ask myself why I chose to come here. But after a few weeks, the extreme partying and chaos died off. Now it is nice to be able to sleep through most nights without hearing the drunks until Wednesday or Thursday night. The first semester of college will not only be memorable, but enjoyable as well.
As I walk around campus, I find that it isn’t so weird anymore. Just as I was told on my first tour around this time last year, I feel welcome and like I fit in. Teachers care about their students and most students care about others. This campus is very personable, but still large enough so not everyone knows each other.
UWRF is a place for that person who wants a cozy school, nice students, friendly professors, pleasant service workers, and a campus with numerous scholastic and social opportunities
Sara Hauer is a student at UW-River Falls.