Pieces of BGSU

Starting in my sophomore year of high school, my family and friends began pressuring me about what I wanted to study in college.

I had a wide range of interests and I was completely clueless. The pressure freaked me out, and I avoided thinking about college completely.

The summer before my senior year, I considered photography, pharmacy, event planning, pediatrics and so many other things.

None of those ideas really stood out to me as what I would want to do for the rest of my life.

One day, while volunteering in my church nursery, someone told me I would be a great teacher. I thought about that for a moment and realized teaching is something I never considered.

Teaching runs in my family. My grandmother was a substitute teacher, my aunt is currently teaching, my cousin is studying special education and my mother works at a daycare.

I started working at my church nursery at around 12 years old, worked at a daycare for two summers and always helped with our Summer Youth Program.

I wondered why I didn’t think of teaching in the first place! I love working with children and helping them learn. Early Childhood Education sounded like the perfect major for me.

I felt such relief having a solid answer when everyone asked me what I would be studying. However, I got nervous when people started saying how often college students change majors.

I am not someone who likes uncertainty and hearing that made me start to doubt.

However, when I got to BGSU, I fell in love with everything about the education program.

My freshman year was focused on getting me into the classroom to make sure this was what I wanted to do, and taking BG perspective courses to expose me to other options.

I really enjoyed my marine biology class, as well as sociology, but nothing compared to my education classes.

BG does such a great job of giving students exposure to a variety of fields, to help them make the best decision in choosing a major.

Coming to college undecided is completely understandable. It’s a big decision to make, and it is OK not to know when you arrive freshman year.

College is a time to discover yourself, explore and try new things. Taking a variety of classes and getting involved on campus is a fantastic way to find your passion and decide what you want your major to be.

I made many mistakes my freshman year! The top three are:

1. Ordering books
2. Managing my meal plan
3. Overextending myself.

The first year of college is definitely a learning experience and everyone is different.

I am the oldest in my family so I had no siblings to help me figure out what to do or not do. Having to be independent and learn from my mistakes was a huge growing experience.

Ordering books was something I was definitely worried about. My freshman year, I ordered every book it looked like I would need.

Unfortunately, when I got to school and looked at my syllabi, I realized not every professor requires the book. Some did not use it at all!

I was so frustrated for wasting my time and money in searching for and buying these books. However, I learned from my mistakes, and now I check the syllabi to see if the book is required or recommended.

If I need it, I find the cheapest website to rent from. If the book is recommended but not required, I usually just borrow a friend’s if I need it to study.

Managing Falcon Dollars was trickier than I anticipated! Starbucks and Pinkberry got the best of me, and I was seriously struggling by the end of the semester.

Take into consideration the amount of Falcon Dollars/swipes you have in your meal plan, and plan the semester accordingly. It is not fun to be out of meal plan with three weeks left to go in the semester. Trust me, I know from experience.

The third mistake I would consider as significant is overextending myself. College in itself is a challenge, and as a freshman, it is a huge transition.

Taking classes, working, getting involved in organizations and making new friends is a lot to put on your plate. It is much better to ease into things and adjust to college life before committing to too many things.

Being involved is a wonderful thing! However, when you’re too involved, it gets difficult to do your best in everything you do.

College is a learning experience! We live and we learn, growing and maturing. Making mistakes is a part of life. We just have to make sure we learn from them.

My freshman year I only knew a handful of people going to BG.

I wanted to room with someone who I did not already know, but I was definitely worried about living with a random.

Instead of relying on the survey you take when signing up for housing, I took matters into my own hands.

I went on Facebook, and began talking with girls who were also on the BGSU Class of 2015 page.

Facebook is a huge help in roommate situations! After many conversations with many different girls, I found one that seemed to be a good fit for me.

To make sure of this, we decided to have lunch while we were both visiting BG on Presidents Day. After hanging out with our parents, and shopping in the bookstore together, we decided we were the perfect fit.

The rest of the summer, we used Facebook to continue getting to know each other and plan who would bring what to the room.

The first few weeks were great, but BG was not the perfect fit for her. She ended up transferring, and I had a random roommate to fill her spot.

I was absolutely terrified when I found out that I would have to have a random roommate! However, she ended up being an even more fantastic roommate than my first.

We were great friends, talked about our days before we went to bed and hung out at least once a month. Other than that, we had our own friend groups and did our own thing.

My experience from roommates went from being great to absolutely wonderful.

However, that is not always the case.

Roommate issues are common and definitely healthy. It helps develop confrontational skills, compromise and communication skills. If this is a struggle, your RA would be more than willing to assist with mediating conflict. If you have an absolutely horrific experience, it is possible to change rooms.

I believe that learning to live with a roommate is an important aspect of college. It teaches you important skills that you don’t learn in the classroom.