We’ve finally reached finals week again, which means lots of studying, cramming, and stress. While finals are demanding and take up a lot of time, I find it important to take time to reflect on all the good parts of the semester. Furthermore, it’s also helpful to reflect on everything you’ve done and learned through the year.
This year was my first experience within a university. I always knew that college would be different from high school, but I don’t think I could have ever anticipated just how big of a change it truly is.
College allows much more freedom, but also demands more responsibility. There’s no one there to force you to wake up in the morning, or tell you that you shouldn’t stay up until 3 a.m., or make sure that you’re keeping up with assignments.
These are all things that you have to do yourself, and in that sense, my first year has been a great learning experience for me. This is the part of college that I actually like the most–having independence and proving that you are responsible enough to do everything yourself and do it well.
In a more literal sense, I have learned a great deal throughout my first year.
- I have learned how to shoot, direct, edit, and produce videos in Video Production I and II.
- I have learned about the different theories of communication in Communication Theory.
- I have learned about the different schools of thought from thousands of years ago in Philosophy.
- I have learned how to draft, revise, and revise again in English.
- I have learned how to write a news story without being redundant or long-winded in News Writing.
- I have learned about different religions throughout the world in Modern Belief.
All of these different experiences have shaped me and made me more educated as a person. I feel as if I can relate to so many more people having learned these things.
As a kid, college was always something I feared. I always assumed that it was the hardest type of school you could ever put yourself through. After nearly being done with my first year here, I no longer have that fear. In fact, I feel confident that my next three years will go just as smoothly as the first one. I’m looking forward to seeing what next year holds.
This will be my last blog post for the year. I hope everyone has a great summer, and thanks for reading every week. I hope these blogs were as helpful to you as they were to me.
Jonah Kramer is a freshman digital media major. In addition to blogging for Frame Your Future, Jonah is a disc jockey for 91.7 VMFM and an audio technician for TV-Marywood.
Frame Your Future 