T-minus 24 Hours
Hi there.
Welcome to the PSEO blog!
A quick introduction- I'm the admin on this blog, but in reality, I have very little idea of what's actually going on. The blog idea was mine, but without lots of help (from one of my fellow writers), this wouldn't be in front of you right now. The hope is for this blog to further build up the support structure in the PSEO community. Everything written on here is the authors' opinions and you are under no obligation to listen. Follow our advice as little or as much as you wish- we promise we won't be mad.
Anywho, a couple more things about me: I am a senior and this is my second year in PSEO. I am a lover of books, movies, calculus, and food. I adore traveling and I find new cultures absolutely enchanting. I come from a small town in suburban MN, so this whole big city thing was a bit of a culture shock. I did struggle with my transition to this program but I hope this blog will make the transition easier for many of you.
Okay, now onto business. The reason we so purposefully chose now to launch the blog is for one really big reason: school starts tomorrow. For those of you who have done this before and are ready, or have not done this before but are still ready- good for you. This post is mostly geared towards those who have that sick feeling in their stomach and are only getting more nervous as the big day edges closer.
I will admit that I was part of the nervous group. I still am, even though I've done this before. Labor Day weekend last year, I freaked out in front of my entire family and went on a slight rant about how incapable I am and how this was all a mistake and how my GPA is going to be tanked by my incompetence, etc. etc. They all laugh at me now of course. The reality is, the U is really one big question mark. Unless you've done some PSEO it is impossible to know what this experience is like, and your experience will be different from everyone else's. That thought is terrifying. I, for one, am a huge planner. I despise uncertainty and I hate not knowing. The problem with that is life is uncertain. You can plan all you want but that doesn't mean things will go your way. So, if nothing else, I hope you can take away from this post that you have to become comfortable with the uncomfortable.
To illustrate what I mean, I will tell you all a story- the brief tale of my first couple of days. When I was set to enter the program in the fall, I was just like any other high school kid. The year before I had taken two honors courses and a couple of APs- nothing super duper impressive by any means. I got good grades but that was mostly through hard work, not natural talent. So why was I doing this whole college thing? It's free college, why not? I told myself that it couldn't be that hard- I was looking at a schedule full of APs if I would've stayed in high school anyway, might as well give my credits a bigger chance at transferring.
By the time school was actually supposed to start, my bravado had faltered and I was knew I was doomed. But I said I was going to do this college thing so I had to at least try. The first day was awkward, as all first days are, but thankfully, everyone was awkward. That's the thing- in so many ways starting at college is better than starting at a new high school. The classes that most of you will be taking are the introductory courses and you will mostly only encounter other PSEOers or freshmen. You think you don't know anyone? Yeah well they don't either. Everyone is a stranger to everybody else, which means there's little fear of "everyone will have friends and I won't". My first day, I sat against the wall in dusty corners and ate Cheerios alone. There was also this really embarrassing incident where I wound up sitting by the entrance of the men's restroom by accident...you can imagine how good I felt about myself by the end of that day. But by my second day? I had recognized a girl from my lit class who was also in my calc class. She was also PSEO and we became calc buddies. A couple of days after that, another girl was brave enough to make an introduction while I was eating yogurt (I told you I love food), and we shared a laugh over how I forgot a spoon and was using the lid of the yogurt cup to eat. Then in my history class, I noticed a couple of guys who always sat a few seats down from me and I decided to make that introduction myself- they turned out to be some of the best people I'd met yet.
There is no magical moment when your new friends will suddenly appear. You have to be willing and open to start those kind of friendships. If you sit by yourself, you might be lucky enough that someone else will reach out first, but I challenge you to be brave. I challenge you to make those introductions during the first week of classes because the kind of people you meet and the kind of friendships you make...there is no substitute for that part of the PSEO experience. And you know what, if all else fails, come find me- I'll be more than happy to befriend you and also share food with you :)
The last part I'd like to address is the part about classes. I know that the various authors on this blog will elaborate on this topic later, but I think that it will be helpful to touch on that now. Some of you have probably already received class syllabi. If you haven't looked at those yet, I suggest you do, and if you have, you might be feeling a little overwhelmed. From my experience, the syllabi always sounds more intimidating than the class actually is. Don't get me wrong, this is college so it will require some elbow-grease, but also keep in mind that this is a competitive program. You got in for a reason. If you weren't an AP student with an A honor roll GPA that's okay. As long as you put in the effort, there is always a way to succeed. You might scoff at that but it's true. You've seen the mountain of links that the PSEO advisors have sent out about academic help. That can seem scary at first and you might be at a loss for how to approach it. My advice for that is to keep those links in mind, but you don't have to look at them right away. I sure didn't. They are a way for you to get help should you need it. That's why there is always a way to succeed- because even if office hours and working on your own isn't enough, there is always that mountain to work through to find what works best for you.
College is very different from high school. You get immense flexibility to tailor your experience around your goals, but more than that, you get out what you put in. You have to be your own advocate and know yourself. These professors and TAs, and sometimes even the advisors to an extent, they don't know you. They haven't had you in class and they don't know your abilities. It is up to you to decide how much you can handle. It's fine if you don't know that right now either. We are all still learning about ourselves and we will never stop. Do your best and go from there. I promise that day by day, you will gain clarity.
So, the conclusion? Give PSEO a chance, and give yourself a chance. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
Go forth you wonderfully talented person. I believe in all of you.
Here's to the start of an awesome semester!
~Tempest
P.S. Leave us a message in the comments if you'd like! We would love to hear from you :)
Welcome to the PSEO blog!
A quick introduction- I'm the admin on this blog, but in reality, I have very little idea of what's actually going on. The blog idea was mine, but without lots of help (from one of my fellow writers), this wouldn't be in front of you right now. The hope is for this blog to further build up the support structure in the PSEO community. Everything written on here is the authors' opinions and you are under no obligation to listen. Follow our advice as little or as much as you wish- we promise we won't be mad.
Anywho, a couple more things about me: I am a senior and this is my second year in PSEO. I am a lover of books, movies, calculus, and food. I adore traveling and I find new cultures absolutely enchanting. I come from a small town in suburban MN, so this whole big city thing was a bit of a culture shock. I did struggle with my transition to this program but I hope this blog will make the transition easier for many of you.
Okay, now onto business. The reason we so purposefully chose now to launch the blog is for one really big reason: school starts tomorrow. For those of you who have done this before and are ready, or have not done this before but are still ready- good for you. This post is mostly geared towards those who have that sick feeling in their stomach and are only getting more nervous as the big day edges closer.
I will admit that I was part of the nervous group. I still am, even though I've done this before. Labor Day weekend last year, I freaked out in front of my entire family and went on a slight rant about how incapable I am and how this was all a mistake and how my GPA is going to be tanked by my incompetence, etc. etc. They all laugh at me now of course. The reality is, the U is really one big question mark. Unless you've done some PSEO it is impossible to know what this experience is like, and your experience will be different from everyone else's. That thought is terrifying. I, for one, am a huge planner. I despise uncertainty and I hate not knowing. The problem with that is life is uncertain. You can plan all you want but that doesn't mean things will go your way. So, if nothing else, I hope you can take away from this post that you have to become comfortable with the uncomfortable.
To illustrate what I mean, I will tell you all a story- the brief tale of my first couple of days. When I was set to enter the program in the fall, I was just like any other high school kid. The year before I had taken two honors courses and a couple of APs- nothing super duper impressive by any means. I got good grades but that was mostly through hard work, not natural talent. So why was I doing this whole college thing? It's free college, why not? I told myself that it couldn't be that hard- I was looking at a schedule full of APs if I would've stayed in high school anyway, might as well give my credits a bigger chance at transferring.
By the time school was actually supposed to start, my bravado had faltered and I was knew I was doomed. But I said I was going to do this college thing so I had to at least try. The first day was awkward, as all first days are, but thankfully, everyone was awkward. That's the thing- in so many ways starting at college is better than starting at a new high school. The classes that most of you will be taking are the introductory courses and you will mostly only encounter other PSEOers or freshmen. You think you don't know anyone? Yeah well they don't either. Everyone is a stranger to everybody else, which means there's little fear of "everyone will have friends and I won't". My first day, I sat against the wall in dusty corners and ate Cheerios alone. There was also this really embarrassing incident where I wound up sitting by the entrance of the men's restroom by accident...you can imagine how good I felt about myself by the end of that day. But by my second day? I had recognized a girl from my lit class who was also in my calc class. She was also PSEO and we became calc buddies. A couple of days after that, another girl was brave enough to make an introduction while I was eating yogurt (I told you I love food), and we shared a laugh over how I forgot a spoon and was using the lid of the yogurt cup to eat. Then in my history class, I noticed a couple of guys who always sat a few seats down from me and I decided to make that introduction myself- they turned out to be some of the best people I'd met yet.
There is no magical moment when your new friends will suddenly appear. You have to be willing and open to start those kind of friendships. If you sit by yourself, you might be lucky enough that someone else will reach out first, but I challenge you to be brave. I challenge you to make those introductions during the first week of classes because the kind of people you meet and the kind of friendships you make...there is no substitute for that part of the PSEO experience. And you know what, if all else fails, come find me- I'll be more than happy to befriend you and also share food with you :)
The last part I'd like to address is the part about classes. I know that the various authors on this blog will elaborate on this topic later, but I think that it will be helpful to touch on that now. Some of you have probably already received class syllabi. If you haven't looked at those yet, I suggest you do, and if you have, you might be feeling a little overwhelmed. From my experience, the syllabi always sounds more intimidating than the class actually is. Don't get me wrong, this is college so it will require some elbow-grease, but also keep in mind that this is a competitive program. You got in for a reason. If you weren't an AP student with an A honor roll GPA that's okay. As long as you put in the effort, there is always a way to succeed. You might scoff at that but it's true. You've seen the mountain of links that the PSEO advisors have sent out about academic help. That can seem scary at first and you might be at a loss for how to approach it. My advice for that is to keep those links in mind, but you don't have to look at them right away. I sure didn't. They are a way for you to get help should you need it. That's why there is always a way to succeed- because even if office hours and working on your own isn't enough, there is always that mountain to work through to find what works best for you.
College is very different from high school. You get immense flexibility to tailor your experience around your goals, but more than that, you get out what you put in. You have to be your own advocate and know yourself. These professors and TAs, and sometimes even the advisors to an extent, they don't know you. They haven't had you in class and they don't know your abilities. It is up to you to decide how much you can handle. It's fine if you don't know that right now either. We are all still learning about ourselves and we will never stop. Do your best and go from there. I promise that day by day, you will gain clarity.
So, the conclusion? Give PSEO a chance, and give yourself a chance. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
Go forth you wonderfully talented person. I believe in all of you.
Here's to the start of an awesome semester!
~Tempest
P.S. Leave us a message in the comments if you'd like! We would love to hear from you :)
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