When I first decided to attend Bridgewater I was very excited. I was not only excited to start my next journey in life but to also move out of the house! People would ask if I was ready and I would always happily tell them yes. I was anxious to buy all the stuff for my dorm and give my side a little personality. I was also excited to meet new people and perhaps even form bonds that would last for the rest of my life. When I got to my dorm I remember making sure I put things where I wanted them. I actually wasn’t sure what I would do with the time but Bridgewater already had a full schedule for us. Most of these sessions were very informative and enjoyable, but finding them was somewhat difficult. Thankfully the campus is small so there weren’t so many buildings to choose from! Also, at every session it seemed like there were excited upperclassmen there to greet us in addition to our Orientation Leaders, which was a mix of comfort and intimidation. All of these Welcome Week events made me feel, for a lack of a better term -- welcome. But the real experience didn’t begin until classes started…

Walking to my first class, I had no idea what to expect. It didn’t start until 11:00, yet I was arriving at 10:45 as all the advice I had been given said to arrive at class early so the professor knows you’re serious about the class. However, the professor did not arrive until about 10:55 so he wouldn’t have known if I got there early or not… Thankfully I had already befriended one person in the class, so the whole “Where do I sit?” experience was not felt there. I arrived early to all my other classes and felt very responsible and accomplished at the end. The first weeks were easy as we did not get any real assignments except for readings. Progressing through the semester, I found all my classes to be very easy. Yes, quite a bit of reading was required, but I had no issue with this. Probably the most important thing that I learned was that keeping a schedule helped.

Looking back on my first year at college I can say it’s nothing like high school. Not only is there more freedom but the workload is either much less or much more -- depending on the class. Professors seem to have a very extensive knowledge of what they’re lecturing on as they seem like they’re just sharing as opposed to regurgitating information from a curriculum. It was also interesting to meet new people who were from different places. Most interestingly to me was learning the slang that some of them used -- and teaching them some from where I am from. With three more years (six semesters) ahead of me, I am anxious to continue my journey at Bridgewater College.