<p>Building off the poll at the top of the page, for all non-freshman out there, what did you believe would be your greatest challenge and how did that turn out? Any unforseen challenges arise?</p>
<p>Personally, I was always worried about the more difficult academics that awaited. I knew I would at the very least find a couple people I could consider friends at school, so the social aspects never really bothered me. Family and friends from home always meant a lot, but not enough that I would feel lost without them. Plus I was single when I went to college...which I would suggest everyone be, so that wasn't a problem. </p>
<p>In the end though, I'm glad that academics were my biggest worry early on. I think I worked alot harder, and have not gotten into the routine of overworking before tests, which has paid off to say the least. </p>
<p>That said, the one previously unencounted challenge was having to be dependant on myself for little, dumb things I had previously taken for granted. For example, my mom had always made doctor appointments for me if I was sick. Well, I came down with MRSA (a staph infection) during my first couple weeks at school, and was going to the doctors quite a bit. I had to schedule appointments with the school doctor, a surgeon, etc. That all wasn't very difficult though, just a pain, literally. </p>
<p>I'm kind of an introvert, so hanging out with people for an extended amount of time is pretty draining for me. I know everyone is going to be socializing 24/7 the first few weeks of school, and I just hope I can keep up with everyone and make some good friends. </p>
<p>Buuuut I'm a freshman so I have no place in this thread...hehe.</p>
<p>I had experienced some really bad homesickness when I was younger, to the point where I couldn't even spend one night over at a friend's house. I hadn't really stayed away from my family since then and since I was going to a college a few hundred miles away, I was pretty worried that I'd be so homesick I'd hate it. Fortunately, it didn't end up happening, and now I'm homesick for school!</p>
<p>Making friends as a commuter. I'm a senior (still have a couple more years, though....), and I still talk to people for orientation and my classes all the time! It was just a matter of being myself and being willing to talk to people. :)</p>
<p>Keeping up with academics (engineering, ack!) and finding close friends again were my two big fears. I did fine as far as academics go (as in, I kept a 3.2 which is good for engineering, and I didn't fail anything) but there were LOTS of times where I was struggling trying to fit in all of my work, not pull all nighters all the time, and have a life, but I survived. I look back and laugh at the "adventure" all of it was, and am pretty excited to do it again this year. There's nothing like working your a$$ off all week, partying up the weekendat until you think your liver will sprout wings and leave you, then doing it all over again, then studying nonstop for finals, suffering through 40-hour continuous days, then going home for break and completely decompressing.
As for the friends thing, I had a bunch of really close friends and then a bigger group of friends that I wasn't so close with but still hung out with, so I was worried about not finding those few people I could really confide in, yet still have lots of outside friends to just hang out with. I ended up finding a few that were close, but had a larger, less connected network beyond those few. I guess it's simply because I had formed these bonds in 9 months, instead of years. </p>
<p>I somewhat have the same fears, as I'm transferring. However, I already have the academic thing down, and even though I'll be taking a completely different range of classes (I have a humanities class! And a writing engineering class! woo!), I've got the whole studying/working vs playing thing down pretty well, or atleast better than last year, so it should be an okay transition. As for friends, I'm living with 3 other transfers and 2 other girls previously at UVA, and are living on-grounds in a huge apartment complex (800 people), so I'll be meeting all sorts of people, and I love my roommate to death already and I have a bunch of old, close high school friends nearby so i'm not too worried. :)</p>