The Transition

“Other things may change us, but we start and end with family”
--Anthony Brandt

I’m not the most gifted or the smartest by any means….but, I will out-work many! Coming to college I had average test scored and a good GPA, but I knew going in I would be sitting next to some of the brightest students in the area. So I knew I had to step it up.  I worked extremely hard to receive a 3.8 and 3.7 GPA my first two semesters at MTU. The best suggestion that I have for an incoming or first year student is to set a great foundation with a high GPA early! It is much harder to get a higher GPA later on in your college career.  The way that I did it is through the use of Learning Centers, I had one for each class. Doing so held me accountable weekly to get my homework done. 

It seems the further I get into my degree, the more pressure to succeed my family places on me. When I was in high school, I was expected to get fabulous grades; in college, I was to be involved in student activities, get good grades and take care of myself. Now, during my fifth year in college I am expected to not only support myself financially but also remain involved, keep good grades and complete my degree. 

Despite completing my B.S. in Biomedical Engineering this past fall semester, I am supposed to be (according to my family) earning the big money from a full time job. Rather, I decided to stay here and complete the prerequisite courses for the Masters in Business Administration degree, which I begin this summer. During college I had 3 co-ops which always supplied me money for the year, in the first 4 years of college I have asked my parents for a grand total of $300! A co-op is a type of internship which mainly engineering’s or science majors accept and work for a company for a few months, either in the summer or during a semester. Now, since I studied abroad last semester in Japan, it hit my pockets really hard in terms of cash. I am so used to bringing in a ton of money in the summers between selling Mary Kay (an independent business that I own) and co-oping I make great money in the summers! Now that I am twenty-two, they have cut me off. It has taken me a long time to finally swallow this huge pill and accept the fact that they expect me to take care of myself. Therefore, now I work 40 hours a week while taking these 12 credits. No, I don’t recommend students to do this, but sometimes you have to do what you gotta do to get by!

Reflecting on my first year of college I felt as though it was an out of body experience. Much of the time everything was so new and exciting, that I really could  not to take it all in. At times things felt strange, and I think this was because I was being tested continuously. I was being tested in terms of character and in the end, defining myself and who I was and was going to be.  During your first few weeks in college many people are trying to figure you out. Men want to see how far they can go: and the girls wan to see if you are their “type” of friend.

Your first years in college may or may not be as mine were, either way here are some suggestions to consider while you are in transition. First, get out as much as possible, this does not mean party it up, just get involved and put your self in situations where you are likely to meet new people. As you get older people are a lot less likely to be interested in meeting new people.

“Summer Youth Porgrams…they were so much fun, I went twice!”

“Dan Morgan at Summer Youth Programs 2000, we ended up both coming to Tech too, the very only person I knew coming to MTU”

 “The summer in Houghton I live for”

“The real Houghton they should show in the brochures”