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Back in time: Being a First Year

Date:05 October 2018
Being a First Year
Being a First Year

Today I want to take you on a time lapse. I’ll dive back into that time that I was a freshmen at UCG, which in fact is only one year ago.

When I was in High School, all I could ever think of was how it would feel like to be at University. I projected so many hopes and expectations into something that seemed a lifetime away. And then, all of a sudden you find yourself in your gap year, application deadlines on the doorstep and reality check reminds you that no professional career can be pursued in Hostel hopping. And that is where it all started. Having to contemplate what I really wanted to study confused me even more, and so my brother inspired me to follow his path of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Looking back now, first year was a solid mix between challenge, fun, excitement and sometimes confusion.

Coming into a new surrounding is always a chance: Nobody has put you into a category yet and associates you with specific traits, in a way, you get to start from scratch. The weirdest part about that is that back then, I was scared of people who are now my best friends. However, living on campus does make you grow closer to you everyone else very quickly. If you are a very social creature like me, then you’ll fall prey to the habit of not spending any time by yourself anymore. Even if in total silence, you just enjoy the comfort of having people around you all the time.

Living in Student housing is not quite as it appears in american college movies (unfortunately Frascati has no pool). Still, the memories to be made are priceless. The class of 2020 succeeded in establishing Frascati as the party mecca even for students outside of UCG and Frascati. All it takes is light installments, DJ’s, and a lot of promotion. The perks of residing at Frascati is that we didn’t ever have to worry about disrupting anyone’s peace. I remember that one time I had to evacuate a houseparty at my brothers house and Frascati came as the perfect solution.

What about the academic perspective? First year is like getting vaccinated: You need to be confronted with the virus to become immune. After a decent amount of all nighters and energy drinks you just become used to it – Deadlines have nothing on you anymore. Still, you come to realize that you can’t pull off the same stuff you pulled off in High school.. Apart from that, I think the intro track on Global Challenges was probably still one of the most adventurous courses I have taken during my academic journey. It was nothing like I expected, nothing like the sort of education that High school provides you with as there you are taught what to think but not how to think. By confronting us with media that deviated from the mainstream media outlets, our teacher taught us about the three-dimensionality of things: there are more than just the one perspective that we get served. The greatest lesson I’ve learned throughout that course was one about myself: Just as the world isn’t flat, my beliefs do not necessarily represent the reality – getting educated is moving out of the comfort zone. In the final essay that I wrote about the course, I said: Education gives you the wings to fly and see the world from above.

 Now you’ve probably asked yourself earlier: Why confusion? The confusion is for the ‘what if’s’. What if I would have studied that? What if I would have gone there? Wherever you go and whatever you do, there will always be ‘what if’. I have now instead started to ask myself: What if not? There are many things here, that I would have not gotten anywhere else and it is important to keep in mind that you cannot dance on two weddings at the same time.

After all, what makes first year unique, is the constant exposure to new things: new experiences, new places, new people, new knowledge. We always long for experiences that are emotionally charged. Now that I am a second year student, routine is a greater part of your life and I am beginning to realize that this is what it means to settle down.

Greetings,

Eva

Tags: Student blog