<p>Hey I am in my second month at a large state school in Pennsylvania (no not Penn State). I must say i am not really enjoying it that much. I should note that I am a commuter student and I didn't realize how much that would suck.</p>
<p>Everyday is the same, more or less. I hop on the bus at 8 and go to my first class. I leave around 2, get home around 3, eat dinner, and go to bed. I have zero social life whatsoever. Im feeling alienated in my larger classes and dislike lectures. How much of the PowerPoint am I supposed to copy down? I don't have great study skills and pretty much skirted through high school without studying very hard. Of course the professor is not going to bother learning your name.</p>
<p>At lunch i am the proverbial kid who sits by himself. Im pretty shy and socially awkward as is, and this makes it worse. How can you feel lonely with 12000 other undergraduates? It reminds me of that passage in The Great Gatsby where he complains that it is easier to feel invisible at larger parties. In high school i had a group of 3 other kids who I did everything with. Now they all go to different schools and I don't see them very often.</p>
<p>Im looking to join some clubs, but they all meet at 7 or 8 at night, which doesn't fit with my schedule. I need some ideas. Please note that im not interested in the frat life or the booze scene. That's not my idea of fun.</p>
<p>At home theres nothing to do either. All that happens is I get into fights with my bratty younger sister. I am bored at home and bored at school. At times I've considered transferring to Temple, where two of my friends go. The only problem is that I hate the city and I don't want to feel scared walking around.</p>
<p>I would suggest that you stay a little longer at your school and volunteer for one of the facilities. That’s what my dd did. Commuting is a bear so maybe during your lunch time you can find the pizza club that is on-campus. There has to be one since all of the big schools seem to have one. They have all kinds of club meetings around the noon hour at all of these campuses-join a club during lunch. Dorm life can be a bear too; you can read some of these posts regarding roommate issues and feeling isolated as well. </p>
<p>As for the lectures, get used to it. A number of those large classes are weeder classes. That means they are trying to see who the “real students” are in the major. Or, you could be in the general ed classes so for those, bite the bullet and do well. Go to the tutors after your school day ends because the lectures will get more difficult and there is a way to study for university level coursework. Your university probably has a study center that can help you figure out the basics that the dorm kids are getting. (Free print-outs, lecture notes, library references, etc.)</p>
<p>Here’s what you don’t seem to understand: at the university, you have to be PROACTIVE, no one is going to hold your hand and guide you. They are not going to tell you what to do. In high school, you were REACTIVE to what was told to you by your teachers.</p>
<p>You have to make your own way and become proactive or nothing will change.</p>
<p>My larger lecture classes are pretty easy, to be honest. “Elements of Physical Science” for instance has a textbook called Fear of Physics, so you know we’re not going to get into anything too difficult. I have mixed feelings about this – while I want college to challenge me, I don’t think I really like physics that much, or science in general that much. Which really sucks because it seems thats where all the jobs are nowadays. I guess I’ll just pass and move on.</p>
<p>I think everybody has the grass is always greener attitude at some time. My two best friends, who are rooming at Temple, are now starting to not get along. I was just talking on the phone with one of them the other day and he said his classes have 200 students or more, whereas my biggest run in the ~75 range. He actually likes these larger classes though, saying they make it impersonal.</p>
<p>I pretty much knew no one was going to hold my hand, so that isn’t news to me. I mean, no one really did it in high school, either. No teacher came to tell me I was failing, because I never was in that situation.</p>
<p>The off campus and commuter association meets at noon on Wednesdays. Which is great for me, SINCE I HAVE CLASS AT THAT TIME. Even my academic advisor said my schedule sucks for a commuter. I thought it was great because I didn’t have any 8ams.</p>