Staff Dual Columns:

I’m two weeks into the first of two years, hopefully, at MHCC. I have heard that a student’s planned timeline usually turns into a couple additional terms, which results in the “I have to get out of here” attitude that many third-year students possess.

So far, the faculty has been pleasant and helpful and I have managed not to get too lost.

The only unusual happening I have observed so far was the music in the Main Mall during New Student Orientation and the atmosphere that resembled a high school dance. I was not sure why dancing is required in an orientation for a place of academics, yet it was.

What do I expect from my time here? “College will be more interesting than high school because you get to take classes that interest you” is a phrase I have often heard and believed. The majority of the courses I will take should be interesting to me, or so I hope.

I expect my courses to challenge me. I understand that all of them may not, but hope that they pose more of a challenge than high school courses that I so hurriedly departed from in my three years at Sam Barlow.

Thus far I have been disappointed and anxiously anticipate the day we progress past subject matter I previously learned during middle school. Sometimes I seriously wonder how some students have managed to make it this far in life without basic skills. An optimistic attitude and some patience are much needed.

Much reading is expected. Every high school teacher of mine seemed to say that we had better get used to reading because, it’s all we would be doing in college. Thus far, they have been right.

I have yet to experience the madness of the bookstore, yet I expect to waste much time and money on overpriced items there. It makes no sense to wait in a large line for multiple hours, when books can be obtained in other ways, before school begins. However, I’m sure there will be a time when I cannot see this logic.

When interviewing other first-year students about their reason for attending MHCC, the answer I most often received was for “financial reasons.” Therefore, I expect most students to not be especially pleased at their enrollment or want to be here at all.

I do not expect to be greeted on campus with smiling faces enthusiastic about their majors. Rather, I expect people of a wide variety of ages just doing what they need to do to get a degree or transfer to another school. On the other hand, I expect to find the rare person who is enthusiastic and passionate about what they are doing. I hope to fall into this category.

Those who expect their instructors to treat them like children, I find foolish. I do not expect instructors to monitor my every move.
Realistically, I expect to change my major; according to MSNBC, over 50 percent of college freshmen that declare a major will change it at least once.

To me, college is a time to figure out if what you want to do now is actually what you want to do for the rest of your life. It’s a time to branch out, try new things and see what results.

Who knows, maybe after two years I will be heading in a completely different direction and my stated expectations will be proven on the contrary to what I experienced at MHCC.

Column One: http://wp.advocate-online.net/opinion/column-opinion/staff-dual-columns-2-2118/