Becoming a Mustang

If I could ever describe my first few weeks of school, the correct word for it would be astonishing. I was very amazed at the new beginning I was receiving. I could not hold in the excitement any longer, I was a college student. I was a Cal Poly Mustang. If I could ever relieve that feeling, I would probably want to stay with that happiness. 

I decided to go a day early, before Fall Quarter began, to see where my classes were, in what building and room number I would be. I found out that all of my classes were in short distance of each other, so no need for a bike! The only place that was far away from all my classes was my dorm. I live in the Sierra Madre dorms of Cal Poly SLO and the walking distance is about ten minutes from everything. I would have loved to be somewhere close, but just being here was good enough for me. 

My roommate is an international student from India and her name is Nikki. Nikki and I got along right from the start. She's an Environmental Engineer and I am a History major, wanting to switch into Biochemistry. Nikki was very shocked and excited at the same time to be back in the United States, especially in California, a place where she had never lived. She's originally from Massachusetts which is completely different weather from California. Nikki and I were ready to begin a new journey together.

College life was a little something what I expected and something I didn't expect at all. I expected my first quarter to be relaxing and not much studying. Of course, I was very wrong. I did not expect to annotate to excessive amount as I do for my History class, or be giving 5-7 minute speeches during my Public Speaking class on why water was healthy for you. The only class that I was excited about was Calculus. I had taken Calculus in high school, but I didn't really understand it the first time around; my college calculus was very similar. I felt very confident about taking this calculus class, and thankfully I'm proud to say I have an A in the class.

 
 After taking the first leap into college, I am definitely looking forward to more. I'm looking forward to changing my major and taking Chemistry classes, since I've found out I have a passion for it. I'm looking forward to meeting tons of new people, creating more networks and joining more clubs. I cannot wait for spring and summer to get here. I plan to take summer courses, I feel the need to keep studying and keep seeing how much potential I have to myself and to others.

-Julissa, Cal Poly '16