Gaining Confidence and Comfort in College

Transitioning from high school to College always contains struggles no matter the situation. For me, moving away from my family made it especially harder. Arriving at Texas A&M in College Station, I felt out of place for a while. I didn’t make many friends and isolated myself in my room most of the time. Change is scary. I was worried that I would never feel comfortable asking for help or using the resources my campus provided. I missed my family and home dearly so my first semester was tough. However, as I opened up, I became increasingly comfortable being on campus. I became confident in what I was doing and why I was there.

After my first semester, I realized that I had to do a better job of keeping myself accountable to my goals. I felt that I had no one else to go to. I had to grow up and adjust to living on my own and managing my time dedicating it to school. I had the typical student responsibilities I expected that were similar to high school, like completing homework and attending classes. As a college student, I realized I also had a responsibility to myself to be financially and emotionally stable.

One thing that I didn’t live up to was giving myself that time to socialize and relieve my stress with friends. I missed out on many night outs and university events because I was stressed out on assignments and exams that I didn’t give myself time to experience my university's traditions. I missed out on many football games, silver taps, and socializing with my fellow Aggies. I drove home often because my family missed me and I missed home. I learned that I couldn’t keep doing that because of what I was missing out on campus.

Someone who really pushed me and supported me when I was down or felt like giving up was my boyfriend. He didn’t get the chance to go to college, but he helped me succeed in college by helping me manage my time and do my best. I would spend several days without speaking to him because he didn’t want to be a distraction and would help me study on other occasions. Although he was a hundred miles away, it felt like he was with me when I needed his support.

When I started college, my mindset was to make my family proud and have a 4.0. I didn’t fully live up to it but that was my goal. Coming to terms with shifting expectations and new realities will throw you off. For me, living on my own and having to take care of everything myself was harder than expected. Although I felt I was very organized, it took a lot to focus and show up to class, study for every single one, buy groceries, call my mother, attend meetings with organizations. With my first year done at A&M, I am more confident than ever before and know what I am capable of.

College may be overwhelming at first, but it is a great experience and there is so much to learn. Every campus is different and there are different people, but you will fit in somewhere. You are not alone. Although people want to take care of everything themselves there are resources that are there to help there is no need to stress yourself out if you reach out for help.

Beytsabet Garcia is a contributing writer for the Alumni Stories Blog Series. Nana is currently a rising sophomore intending to major in Construction Science at Texas A&M University at College Station.