It has now been a month since the first semester began. For first-year students like me this is a new time in our lives. A large majority of us have just exited the halls of high school and entered a new transitional period in our lives. Now that we have entered the new Autumn season this hopefully means that most of us have finally become accustomed to, or at least mostly accustomed to, the new setting by now.  

I know I have struggled slightly in adjusting into the environment. I feel like a stronger sense of responsibility has been thrust upon me. I think even before classes began; I felt a heavy weight on my shoulders. Having to deal with scholarships, the FASFA, and enrollment was already enough to drive me insane. After I had handled all of that I figured I just had to worry about my schedule and getting my work done on time, which in retrospect sounded easier than it was.  

Bryce Maddox commented on his expectations entering GCCC, “I expected the community college to be more similar to how high school was in terms of how strict it would be, but it has turned out to be a much calmer environment.”  

From day one I was immediately pushed into a hefty workload. However, I do believe that now that my classes are split into two, having a couple one day and the other half the next day really helps balance everything for me. I am someone who likes to have a nice routine and having that balance really helps me plan and be able to just get stuff done while also having time to work on my other responsibilities. Overall, I do feel that this new unfamiliar environment is a lot more freeing and has allowed for much more opportunity here than I feel high school previously allowed. There is still much more of the year ahead of us to go through that will hopefully provide much more excitement and opportunity.