As I’m finishing up my first semester of college, I’ve already learned many things to help me continue to succeed in my college journey. For one, I’ve had to become good at balancing my time wisely between school, friends, family, and work. It surely hasn’t been the easiest thing to do, but it’s been so rewarding to become better at time management and enjoy/do all I can out of the time I have. Another thing I’ve learned is how to use different online programs to be more digitally diverse. For my freshman seminar class, we had to build a website, use Slack, and do a research paper. Also, I’ve had to do several Excel projects for my Statistics class. Both of these classes have helped me grow to be more knowledgeable about the digital world. I’ve also learned to get out of my comfort zone, whether it was to ask professors for help, give a presentation, or do a new kind of assignment like an Excel project. Overall, this semester has already helped me grow into a more knowledgeable person and gain lifelong skills. I can’t wait to continue on my college journey and become a first-generation graduate in just a few years. 

Currently, I am a commuter at the University of Mary Washington and I have a love-and-hate relationship with commuting to college. It has some good pros but also several cons. For one, I enjoy being able to stay home and save money by not having to pay for room and board. It’s also nice being able to stay out as long as I want on campus, but then get to leave whenever I’d like. It always makes my day better, after a long day of classes, when I get to go home and see my family, especially my dogs. However, driving back and forth can get annoying as I have to wake up relatively early to start my commute to campus every day. Plus, traffic surrounding the college can get pretty bad, and getting gas more often is very unpleasant. On top of that, it can be harder to make long-lasting friends that stay on campus, as I split my time between home and on campus. But, some more pros are that I can continue to work while being in school, as well as I can have more privacy and develop better time management skills. Being a college commuter has helped me to learn better time management skills as I juggle work, school, and ensuring I allow myself more than enough time to commute to those places every day while still having some free time. Overall, being a college commuter has its perks and its downsides. But, at the end of the day, I think it has been the best decision I’ve made in terms of pursuing my college education.