pre-Brown jitters

<p>anyone else here starting to feel a little nervous? It’s now starting to become more of a reality that I have to leave my home, my family and my friends and go to a place where I know nobody. And I think the admissions committee made a mistake in accepting me. I don’t belong at a place like Brown. There’s a large possibility that I will end up being at the bottom of the class and get kicked out or something. What if I just can’t cope academically?</p>

<p>You are definitely not alone in these fears. For me, the academic anxiety hits close to home. Most of those going to Brown are academically very strong and have never been in an environment with SO MANY other really intelligent people, so Im sure a lot of us feel the same as you.</p>

<p>The way I look at it is, you have 2 choices for the next month: to be scared or to be elated. Do the former and you have a month of fear, do the latter and you have a month of joy. At the end, Brown will be the same. So...why not choose elation? =)</p>

<p>because it's not a choice, rather a matter of circumstance</p>

<p>It's like Supertara says, everyone else will be just as nervous as you, so you have nothing to fear. I assure you Brown students are very kind, welcoming people and you'll feel right at home once you get there. </p>

<p>As for the academic side, the admission officers wouldn't have admitted you if they didn't think you could handle the academic courseload, and they wouldn't have admitted you if they felt that you didn't belong with the rest of the class. No worries, it's going to be a great year. =)</p>

<p>Yes, amor, life gives us certain immutable circumstances, but contrarily, we DO have the choice to change how we think about these circumstances. It is neurological fact that consciously working to use different thought pathways alters our brain and alters the way we experience the world. Its a combo of what life gives us and what our brains make of it.</p>

<p>So, yes, lucyS does have the power to choose her outlook, to a degree.</p>

<p>You will only do this walk twice....one in and once out. Imagine yourself feeling excited, proud and confident. Promise yourself you will choose classes wisely and seek help when you feel overwhelmed. I doubt choosing you was a mistake and I know that Brown students have good success rates. You don't have to go thru this alone.....talk to your folks and a friend or two. This feeling will eventually pass and as to leaving your family.....if your folks are coming for parent's weekend it is like 6 weeks maybe? Followed by T'giving and Christmas. The year is very broken up with breaks and the longest period is following Holiday when days are short, weather is bad and you are into the new courses. Plan for a break. This is a doable.....you're gonna be fine.</p>

<p>cite your source</p>

<p>neurobiology textbook</p>

<p>" to supertara. Also, other studies (such as studies on the "stereotype threat" or "stereotype bias") have shown that people often make self-fulfilling prophecies about their success or failure in academic situations. For instance, a group of researchers gave standardized tests to two groups of black students. One group was told beforehand that blacks tend to do worse on such tests than white students. The other group was told nothing. Guess what? The first group performed significantly worse on the tests. The same phenomenon has been seen in studies conducted on all sorts of groups (women, men, other racial minorities, and white males who were told that white males underperform on certain tests). The point of this is to show that your attitude reflects your results. If you try to have a good attitude, you will help yourself do well.</p>