There are many first steps in our lives. Some we anticipate and can’t wait to take on
our own. Some that our family or friends
can’t wait for us to take; they wait and wait, hoping to be on hand when the
day is at hand. As a new Mom, I
anxiously awaited the day my son would take his first step. Each wobble along the couch was a potential
first moment. While I was anxious that
day, nothing compared to the nervousness and queasiness that accompanied my
first day in a college classroom.
I don’t
recall a great deal about the first day for each class, but, man, my first math
class in college left a lasting impression…and it wasn’t how to find sin or
cosine. I took the class later in the
day, around 5:30. When I walked in my
professor was a small man with glasses who barely looked up. He wasn’t even half the issue (well, at
least, not then). The class was
full. I was running late (a personal
flaw that haunts me even now). Not only
was the class full, but almost all the students were older than I was. As a newly minted high school graduate turned
into new college student, I had no idea what a “non-traditional” student was or
the fact that the people in the class wouldn’t all be new to college. I wasn’t quite sure what to do or how to
act. These folks, including the few
students who looked my age, were not newbies to college. Since I had taken college prep classes in
high school, I tested into a higher math than the students who were in the
class with me. Most of them had worked
their way up from College Algebra into this course. They knew the drill. I was woefully unprepared, even though I had
been an excellent student in high school.
What do
I remember most about that day (night, actually)? I felt out of place. Off my rhythm. Out of step.
Except that I was in step. I just
had to find my footing. Walking into
that classroom was about as difficult as anything I have ever done. But, I did it. I made it through that Math 154 class. You will do it too. You have already taken so many steps to get
here: applying, filling out the financial aid, talking with your advisor. Don’t let stepping through that classroom
door stop you. Take that first and often
hardest step. After that, it’s a
breeze. Not until graduate school, did I
feel that anxious about entering a classroom.
In fact, after that first semester of college, I couldn’t wait for the
Schedule of Classes to come out for the next semester. I had a turquoise folder where I kept all my
Plan of Study information and I would gleefully pour over the Schedule to see
what I needed and what I could take just because I was interested (I know, I
know. I like school! I can’t help it. I have been at it since I was a young girl
making my younger sisters play school. I
was the teacher. As if you needed to
ask!). I still have that turquoise
folder filed away. One little folder
houses the story of many first steps. I
hope one of yours is into my classroom.
Dr. Brooks’ Student Success Tips for the First Day:
·
Walk in
prepared with notebook, folder(s), pen, paper and book if you have purchased
it.
it.
· If you are
feeling nervous, sit in the front. This
way you have fewer people who are looking directly at you if you have to
talk.
·
Make a
friend! Introduce yourself to
someone. You will feel better on Day 2
if you have someone you can say “Hi” and chat with to break the tension.
© 2012 Jane E. Brooks
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