College and Coronavirus

Inspired Read: Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

I leave for college in a couple of days and want to provide an update. I expected the coronavirus cases to decrease by now but unfortunately, they have not. So I am going to school while corona is still rampant, even though some countries have minimized its effect on their societies. Due to this, some of my classes have been moved to online courses, most of them being a hybrid of in-person and synchronous/asynchronous online classes. With all things considered, I am super excited to begin school this semester. I am majoring in Public Administration with a minor in Politics and Law. Hopefully, I can change that into a double major later on. Luckily I took some AP classes so I do not have to take most of the prerequisite classes required for my major.

I wanted to get a job on campus but, not a lot of places are hiring because of the stressors of COVID-19 on businesses. Because I am not in the top 1% financially, I obviously cannot afford to go to school without federal/state aid. Even with that, I don’t have much money to spend on books, supplies, and personal expenses. Luckily, my campus has required all on-campus jobs to pay at least $10.00/hr or more. If I can land a job here, it will help relieve some financial strain from my parents.

"Achievement is talent plus preperation" - Gladwell

Move-in day is so close and I have not been more excited to begin a new chapter in my life. I bought some new clothes and some furniture for my dorm, as you do. I have not met my roommates but I hope they become some of my close friends. Before I leave, I am going to hang out with my best friends in Houston. We are all going to different colleges so it’s so weird that I won’t see them every day anymore. Once we all come back for Thanksgiving we can all hang out again. I cannot wait to see how we all change within the time frame of one semester.

Moving forward, I need to keep my goals in mind. I think having online classes will make me more proactive in keeping up with my work. A major goal of mine is getting onto the dean’s list at school. Hopefully, I can utilize all the resources my school has provided to help me achieve this goal as well. I have a couple of upperclassmen mentors and advisors who will help me plan my 4-year plan so I can graduate in time and have an overview of my courses.

I pray that God gives me the grace and strength to enter this new semester and excel. I pray that he keeps each student and gives us strong health to be safe during the virus. I thank Him for bringing me to where I am now and where he will take me later. IJN.

---

Helpful Links:

College Checklist: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/get-in/making-a-decision/off-to-college-checklist

FAFSA: https://studentaid.gov/