Reflective Essay: Why I Prepared Me For College

I grew up in a minority community where shootings, prostitution, drug trafficking, and deaths are not something new. Every day I would pray to God for my family and me to come back home safely. Schools in my neighborhood do not offer a good education. In my middle school, there were always fights. The majority of the teachers did not care for the students’ learning. I was lucky to have some teachers that care about my success as a student. Since I was planning to pursue a higher education, I decided to go to a charter high school. My high school was small, but I felt that the teachers put more effort into teaching. Honestly, I do not think my high school prepared me for college, but it did give me some skills that are useful in college. My …show more content…
We made up and after that argument we became closer. From this experience, I learned to take situations calmly, instead of yelling and blaming others without enough evidence. For me, college is a new experience where every day I’m learning something new about myself and about my surroundings. Getting used to the college life is challenging because it is different from what I’m used to living. However, with the emotional and academic support UCI offers, I’m able to slowly adapt to college. For instance, when I feel depressed, the counseling office is always glad to help me. They listen to me and help me overcome my depression. I feel like they really care about my mental health. Another resource that I have used often is the writing center. When I have trouble brainstorming, writing my thesis, or I just want someone to proofread my essay, the writing center is really helpful. They sit and go through my essay with me. If I do not understand something, they would explain it in another way. I think the writing center has helped me become a better writer. As a freshman student, the time management workshops are really …show more content…
I cried because this was not what I expected. I cried because I felt weak. I cried because I wanted to go home. The first weeks felt lonely because everyone was making friends and I felt isolated. However, little by little I started to make friends and talk to my roommates. I also struggle to adapt to my schedule. I felt like I did not have time for anything, and when I did I was not doing my homework. Since most of my classes do not actually have homework, but just readings I took the course lightly. That was a great mistake because I fell behind in my readings and when midterms came I would have to read like 200 pages in one day. The classes that I’m taking are not demanding, but they have too much reading. I’m not used to reading a lot, so I feel like this is a big challenge for me. My college experiences do not match my expectations at all. I thought college was going to be easy. For instance, like everything will there for me. However, it is harder and challenging. If I need help, I need to ask because no one is going to be checking on me. One mistake and I’m behind. College is fun because I get to make friends from different cultures, but I must find a balance between academics and