Tag: Two

The idea of being the new kid has always intrigued me because you’re going into a new situation and you barely know what the process is like. I read quotes on my social media that talk about how going to school at a certain age should not matter. However, at the age of 25 I started going to San Jose State University where by some means could be considered older as you go and finish out school. I stepped into my first year after having been accepted not knowing what to expect. The admissions process was stressful because I wasn’t even sure if I was doing the steps correctly with financial aid, the writing test to be placed into a writing class, and the orientation itself. But somehow someway after having first done the writing test and then the orientation I successfully completed the first necessary steps. I went in and also finished up my financial aid paperwork which I thought would not be enough to pay for classes but I had plenty left over after to cover the rest of my expenses. Let’s fast forward to July and I wasn’t sure when my registration was supposed to be as well. I sat at a hotel in Las Vegas and I awaited a response from the person who was the contact to register for my classes. I was on a little mini vacation at the time and the prospects of not being able to sign up for classes was stressing me out. The classes were less than a month away and I was still waiting. Little did I know, I ended up resolving this issue the day before I was coming back to home. I saw the e-mail the contact person had sent me and I got on the website to see if I could register for classes yet. I got back from the park that day and I was wondering while at the park what the next steps would be. I got on and I realized there was a button that I hadn’t yet got through on there portal and I clicked on it and that advertisement was no longer there. I was super happy to discover that all my information for my classes was on the side. I went through that and I saw the few remaining classes that were left. I ended up taking Social Psychology, Human Factors, Nutrition, Psych of Prejudice, and my Writing class. I had 4 classes on Tuesday, 1 on Monday, and 3 on Thursday which gave me Wednesday off. My classes were finally set and I was ready to go although when I walked into my first day of classes I saw how much older I was than most of my classmates.

There I was walking into a class of 20 something year olds and I was a little ahead in age. But as the day went on I saw that yes I was completely on my own as the new kid on the block and that isn’t a bad thing. I saw chances to be learning and make friends with everyone in class that I could. I even saw some familiar faces as the day went on. Some folks were graduating already and other were just getting started. For myself, I kept telling myself that I was on my own now. I wasn’t sure if I’d be successful but I said I wanted to finish my degree and do it with some help of course. As the days went on, I started warming up to people and I could not let the idea that I was too old already to bring me down even more. The funny thing was that many times I doubted myself before this and just the idea of being in something new was the thing I feared.  I even saw a guy that was in one of the orientations I was in earlier that year and by chance we ended up being placed in the same team for a project. We still keep in touch today and I am glad we do because it gives me a chance to reconnect. The first semester was a chance for myself to see how I could do exactly and I must say I had a great first semester. At the end of the first semester, one of my professors sat me aside right before the final and said some nice words to me on how I always had some wonderful comments to add to the class and I don’t think many other professors had nice things to say like she did. I also had a conversation with one of my professors in the nutrition class who had some disputes on one of the papers I had written about obesity being a myth and she did not take too kindly to some of the articles that had been published. I ended up having to write the paper twice and the second time we had a lengthy discussion about it but at the second outset she had talked about her current job she saw different evidence and she gave me full credit on the paper which I found to be awesome. The “being the new kid on the block” isn’t always the worst thing in the world because you have to create your own opportunities. I went out there and saw what classes I needed and disciplined myself enough to get through my classes. You can be shy or the most outgoing person in the world but it helps to go out there and work with what you have. Throughout my 4 semesters there, I saw people come and go but I was able to build a bond with some of my classmates that was worth it till the very end. We had one goal and that was to graduate and find careers out there. I think this experience was one of the most grateful I’ve had because I was put into a new situation and I excelled at it. What made me most grateful was having people there willing to help even if they were strangers. The people you just sat next to who randomly started conversations with you and asked for help those were the ones who were there for those great times. Honestly, I wouldn’t change a thing about this and I’d do it all over again.