As I begin to dive into the wonderful world of studying, I am lost to find any sort of guidance when it comes to planning my assignments, finding extra help with classes, obtaining outside information in classes, and everything in between. A month into school and I am truly valuing the educational opportunities Rollins provides each student. This is my first time attending a large university and I am beyond grateful for all of the extra help Rollins provides, like the weekly talks in Bush auditorium, the office hours, and extracurricular activities allowing me to feel like I am apart of campus. I do really love how little work I have to do here. I’ve noticed no one does work until a couple days before the assignment is due, something I have not been familiar with in my college experience. Every week at Rollins, no not just every week, every day I am beyond stressed out with juggling my priorities. I have really had a nice break not doing so much school work every day. Although, the grading system is more challenging in different ways. The exams are harder at Rollins for sure, but the exams at UON are worth much more percentage wise. I always try to imagine my life if I were to go to a larger college back home and how different of a person I would be, yet I always end up being extra grateful for the endless pressure and struggles I have at Rollins. This is so weird to say, but I miss being stressed out all the time mainly because I felt like I had a purpose and had something to always look forward to. The stress it brought me had me on my toes all the time and prepared me for the real world. Here, I wake up super late every day, don’t really have a plan for what I need to do every day, and push off my assignments until the last couple days. It’s going to be a drastic change going from a high-stress environment, to a non-existent one, back to my upcoming, possibly hardest semesters at college. Writing about this makes me sound really pessimistic and ungrateful for the break in reality I have for 4 months, and although it is, I am grateful for the amazing opportunity I have to live abroad in a country I knew little about and learn about myself and different cultures.
