The most important change you go through in college is growing up. During these four years people grow up a lot, in ways they could not have if they were still at home. Having all this freedom that college provides, gives us the space and time we need to grow up and become independent individuals. By allowing ourselves to go through this huge change, we learn how to do a lot of everyday things which make us more independent, allowing us to grow up. These things can be land anywhere on a range of simple tasks, from doing your own laundry to knowing when it is time to go to bed because you have class the next day. Continue reading “Getting Old”
Project MyStory has given me many things to take away this semester. I learned that my words can reach out to others and inspire them. I was never really confident in my writing, I would often write things in a notebook and they would never see the light. Project MyStory was the first outlet where my work has been publicly shared, and I actually wasn’t embarrassed to have my work read. Not only did I received positive feedback on my writing from my friends and family, but also another student at the University, a stranger. One reader sent me a message on Facebook and told me about how my experience in choosing my major had inspired him. He said he liked reading about how I worked hard even with struggles in front of me, this gave me hope. It was my second post and I didn’t think anyone was reading my work or that anyone cared to read it. This message gave me motivation to write better and to write more for those who I could potentially inspire, just like the student who sent me a message. I hope other readers have also gained the same inspiration and motivation that this student told me about. I hope they gained useful knowledge in how to survive freshman year without gaining the Freshman 15 or how to last without losing their mind over a bad rooming situation. But most importantly I hope my readers realize that any change that college brings can be managed and overcome with hard work and thought. 
One HUGE challenge for a lot of kids in college is getting their work done and studying. In high school, studying and getting your work done on time was barely an issue to the average student. But in most high schools, you went to the same classes every day and saw the same teachers every day. There was no forgetting in high school, there wasn’t a party every weekend that you just had to go to, and there weren’t huge lectures halls where you blended into the crowd. You simply sat in a room and heard what you had to do before the next day. They made sure you were reminded. In college, your class might not even require attendance, which tempts most of us to just stay in bed and sleep for another 55 minutes on Friday morning. But in high school, you were not exhausted on Friday mornings because you partied too hard on Thursday nights. You may have had dinner with your parents and did your homework. In high school, tests didn’t have chapters 1-6 and required readings 1&2. It was just one chapter, maybe two of American History, which you were just studying in class every day for a month and probably only need 30 minutes of actual studying to get an A on the exam. I had a lot of ideas about how to study in college, but nothing really worked for me. This was definitely not high school.
I finally discovered something that will help me never forget a due date or an exam that is not as annoying as checking my laptop all the time. The Blackboard App. For freshman and most of sophomore year, I didn’t even fully understand what The Blackboard App could do for us that our professors don’t. If you download The Blackboard App on your smartphone it can send you updates of every time your professor changes something in the course. These updates can range anywhere from test dates posted or syllabus updates to graded work or class discussion
Kate E.
Class of 2018
Major: Communication
Minor: Journalism and Philosophy
Spring 2016 Blog Theme:
My name is Kate Engert and I am currently a sophomore here at the University at Albany and I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. That is the truest statement I have ever written down in my entire life. Every day, for 10 years growing up, I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. Every day! That probably sounds crazy but there’s so many ways to assemble a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Any type of peanut butter and jelly would do, grape jelly, strawberry jelly, and even peanut butter all the way from creamy to extra chunky. I’m not even picky with the bread, white, wheat, a bagel, anything would be good enough to fill my peanut butter and jelly needs. It’s the perfect sandwich and I know it will always be my favorite sandwich. Maybe it’s because I personally don’t like change. I did however end up eating different sandwiches for lunch other than peanut butter and jelly eventually. But not all changes are as simple as choosing a different sandwich for lunch.
This blog is called Metamorphosis. Metamorphosis is the processes in which a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. During Metamorphosis the caterpillar goes through a lot of physical changes and finally once the processes is done becomes a butterfly. We go off to college, most of us at the age of 18, although 18 is considered an adult, we are still children. Our minds are still developing and we don’t exactly know the right things to do yet. During our college careers we change so much and mature physically, mentally and emotionally. 
For a lot of students college is their first time being away from home and having all these responsibilities and it can be hard. A caterpillar works its whole life up to the moment it builds its cocoon and starts its transformation. Freshman year is our cocoon. Corny, I know; but it’s a beautiful way to think about all the changes we deal with, all the stress, all the hangovers and everything else, we know in the end we will be okay and break out of the cocoon into successful adults.
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