Sam Nnadi-What I Wish I Knew as a Freshman

There’s certain things that you wouldn’t know unless you experienced it or were told. I went about middle school without really thinking or realizing what was next. I was never told about the importance of my grades in terms of getting into high schools. In fact, it wasn’t until halfway through 7th grade where I realized that I would have to actually start applying to schools the next school year, and that grades genuinely mattered. My parents hadn’t gone to school in the States, so although they forced me to get the best grades, I wasn’t informed why it was actually important, and so only applied myself for my parents and nothing else.

In an effort to not be shaken again by the sudden importance of school once again, I did what every reasonable person would do, Try. I gave 100% concentrated effort into all of my work my Freshman year in an effort to get excellent grades, which this time I correctly assumed would be important for getting into college. Once again, it was a decision that I made on my accord. But if I went back, I would do it differently. 

It’s another thing that you aren’t aware of until you experience it or are told, but one common thing that is expressed among many students is how easy freshman year is. And although I don’t want to say it was easy, it definitely wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be, or merit the amount of time, effort, and how serious I took it. I took it so seriously that even though I was interested in playing basketball, I decided against doing it in order to dedicate time to studying. I took it so seriously that even though I was interested in many clubs, I thought it would just get in the way of me studying, so again I decided against it. Those are two regrets I have, and if I could go back, I would definitely go back and do those two things, with the knowledge that I could handle the workload.