Coming into college I had no idea how it would go. I am five hours away from home and I got home sick within the first week. I had to adapt to an unfamiliar environment and familiarize myself with it, because I was going to be here for the next three years. I would often catch myself drifting away from the group because I didn’t know anyone. I met new people from transition week, which really helped me get out of my shell. I grew up with the term ‘close mouths don’t get fed’. I knew that I wanted to make friends, but no one would know if I didn’t speak up. I began to communicate with everyone and once you start doing that you will realize that everyone is learning how to get out of their shell as well. It is greatly beneficial that you open your horizon because you can find a lot of opportunities through people you might have just met. You all learn to build together and get ready for your career. I became friends with a girl, and we ended up doing community service together to get hours for our classes. She had the same major as me, so we both stayed in touch. It is now senior year, and we can walk across the stage together and go on to conquer wonderful things in our career.

You will meet some of your lifetime friends in college.  

Chloe Williams

As a child, we all wondered, ‘what do I want to be when I get older’. Well now is the time to finally decide. Picking a major can be challenging because you are limiting yourself to a specific study. You must study this one thing for the next four years and maybe after depending on what you want to do. I want to pursue a teaching career and once I graduate, I will take a teaching certification course and then I will be qualified to teach. I chose to teach because it makes me happy. When picking a major you should do something that makes you happy and that you will look forward to doing in the future. I taught yoga at a kid’s camp with students from pre-k to eighth grade. It was a broad experience and taught me how to see the teacher’s viewpoint and the students. I realized if you have a passion for the job then it will come easy to you, and that’s what teaching did for me. Once I was in a classroom with my own class, I noticed I was at peace, and this is what I wanted to do with my career. I learned to care for each student and their personal needs. All children do not take in the information you give them the same so you may have to adjust how you present information to some students. I had one student who needed to be the center of attention all the time and once I got to know him, I realized it was because he was at home all day sitting in front of a television and not socializing with other students. I began to gain teaching skills and I was extremely excited to see that I was growing into my career.  

There are many services that you can receive help from. We have a resource page where you can reach out and get any information that you may need to succeed. The first year I used the math clinic and the writing clinic. It was so nice to receive help in areas that I struggled in. Getting used to taking college classes may be hard but it is not impossible, you just must make use of the resources around you. The math clinic and writing clinic is where students who have already taken the class come in and go over your work and give you the key information to pass the assignment. This has helped me abundantly in ways that I cannot measure. There were times where I wanted to give up on an assignment but instead, I went to the clinic to get a clear understanding of the material. There is also a source called handshake which also allowed me to apply for my internship in the Office of Undergrad Recruitment. There are many job opportunities, you just must find one that fits you.

I hope my story helps you see how college isn’t so scary. Tarleton was the right choice for me and maybe it will be for you too! FUTURE TEXAN!!!  

Chloe Williams

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