University of Florida Top Questions

It's lots of fun. I've made new friends and I am constantly being challenged.

I went into my first year of college with this entire life plan. However, my college experience has changed my naive view of the world and showed me reality. I found my passion in the medical field and my desire was to help people. As simple as that sounds, it took a myrid of random classes, life experiences, dangerous encounters, and survival of my freshman year of college to discover that. I have learned so much around me and it has shaped me to become a caring, open-minded individual who does not take things for granted anymore. I grew up with the world handed to me, until my father lost his job. This was around the time I was to leave home and live on my own in a new city with new people. I struggled, but I survived. And I have grown up so much. The University of Florida provided a liberal-arts environment to help me explore my future. I now look at the world differently and truly am grateful.

My college experience has offered a great foundation for life outside of an education. I have learned several worldly views and how to react in most situations. The education that I have obtained will be very beneficial for my future. Students and professors have provided for the best college experience. Staying involved as well as focused on my studies, has allowed me to learn how to manage my time better and stay responsible and focused at the same time. Choosing the University of Florida, has been a great choice overall. I wouldn't choose any other campus over it. The size of it was never overwhelming because there was a great community feeling. I have enjoyed the campus life and the education process.

During my first year of college, I have learned so much. I learned that you can't live your life planning every minute but allowing things to take place when they need to and just go with the flow. College throws things at you when you least expect it and you have to be able to handle it all. Another thing is, college is different from high school. No one will baby you or check if you did your homework. It's every man for themselves. Don't expect someone to call your parents if you don't do your homework. If you fail a course in college, it's just job security for the professor. College is the transition stage to the real world. Although I'm only a freshman going to my sophomore year, I have learned so much and will value these sentimental values when I step into the real world.

Packing away my bedroom for college was like going through my childhood memories, but high school ended and I knew it was time for me to get a degree. Once everything was loaded up in the car, I was headed for eight hour drive up to Gainesville, Florida. Saying good-bye to my family was probably that hardest part. I had never been away from home for more than a week., but adusting to college life did not take long at all. After getting settled in, meeting new faces and exploring new places was a thrilling adventure. Summer of freshmen year passed by very quickly, but before I knew it I was back in the Gator Nation for fall of 2009. Tailgating for football games, attending fraternity parties, going to classes with over six hundred students was all new to me, but it was quite exciting. I started meeting people the became my best friends, and I started studying for about sixteen hours straight for exams, but in the end, freshmen year was everything I expected it to be and more. I am honestly considering graduate school. I have my whole like to work, that never ends, but college will.

A new look on life! I came into the University of Florida wanting to be a civil engineer and quickly came to realize it wasn't what I was meant to be. I searched for several semesters for what I wanted to be for the rest of my life. The thought of spending the rest of my life doing this career really scared me. Especially after my sister came to UF and ended up leaving before she graduated. But in the end, after going to academic advising several times they advised me to go into sociology. I think this really changed my life forever. The first semester I took intro to sociology and it interested me but it was only a minimal interest. The next semester which is the current semester I am in now I took the sociology of women. This class has really changed me. I have come to realize and pay much more attention to how women are looked down by society and men especially. My college experience has made me want to fight for women all over the world not only here in the United States on monumental issues occurring right under our eyes.

I have just started my process for becoming a college student. I am 45 years old and have decided to attend college for Organizational Leadership in the fall of 2010. I have currently been working as an Administrative Assistant for the past 10 years for a local government agency and would like to further my education and opportunities in life. I have children and grandchildren that I would like to be a better and more positive role model for, as well as other women my age. I would like to be an example of "You can do whatever you put your mind to do." I believe that wherever I go in life, I will be a positive presence and motivator for all those who come in contact with me and I hope that college will give me an opportunity to see a part of life that I haven't experienced before. I look forward to meeting new challenges with college and also meeting teachers, professors and other students on this journey I will be undertaking. I hope to attend college and enjoy all that it offier good, bad, easy, rough because it will all make me a better peson.

My college experince has definately opened up my eyes to the fact that my future is truly up to me. if i want to make things happen in my life it is me who has to take the initiative. I have learned that to succeed in college it takes a commitment. i have to be able to make sacrifices sometimes to get what i want. College has been valuable to attend because not only does it determine what kind of future i have and determine what kind of job i will be able to get, but also it builds my own character. College has shown me who i am. It has shown me what i believe in, what i value, and my own characteristics have come out because of my college experience.

College taught me how to become an adult. I definately do not take for granted the degree that I earned, but I learned how to become financially independent and a contributing member of society in college. I learned how to juggle work, classes, bills, a boyfriend, a social life, a dying car, and volunteer hours AND keep up a 3.66 GPA WHILE planning for the future. Being thrown into the "real world" is usually something that happens to most students after college graduation. I was thrown after high school graduation. I learned that money isn't everything and I could live on canned tuna fish and WonderBread and STILL have an excellent quality of life! My drive toward a quality career after college taught me how to focus on my quality of work. Not many Fine Arts majors obtain an overal GPA of 3.66 and graduate with Honors. Without attending college, I don't think I would be as much of a quality member of society/functioning adult. College acted as my training wheels. Now I can ride out life without the risk of falling.

College helped me develop from a kid to a young man and from a young man into a man. I learned life lessons both inside and out of the classroom and met some of my closest friends to date in college. The knowledge I gained in the classrooms has helped me in the beginnings of my career. The knowledge I gained outisde of class has helped me in life. One thing that is priceless about the "college experience" are the memories, of good, bad and ugly. Everything I encountered in school has had a hand in shaping the person I am today.