Joining college is a lifelong dream for many families around the world. It is mainly a dream when one is either the first from that generation to go to college or when they come from low socioeconomic income background. The aspiration is always to perform exemplarily and find a job that will change the lives of everyone back at home. However, college campuses come with unprecedented challenges. In this essay, challenges met as an undergraduate computer science student are explained with the hope that they form a solid reflective background for the good times in the future. Amidst striving for betterment, social influence embodying financial and socioemotional challenges hives my studies.
A college life that is full of social influence affects the scores in academic life. Since the second semester of the first year, I have struggled to balance my books and friends. It is in college where social networks are built. It is also in college where most young adulthood experiences are shaped (Moeller & Seehuus, 2019). With these two beliefs, maintaining the social order that I want for my future and balancing it with many challenging courses in Computer Science is very difficult. I went from having excellent grades in the sophomore year when I could bury myself in the computer labs and library to having the grades reflect precarious outcomes. The ridicule from peers who think differently creates a real emphasis on anxieties on a person (Moeller & Seehuus, 2019). Their view of whom they thought I was affected my social integration skills. The reality of college is that without solid moral standing, everything begins falling apart, beginning grades, friends, and most of all, self.
Lack of financial support during college is attributed to challenging impacts on the person. School fees for a computer science degree are incredibly high, and without the financial stipend from student loans and family, one could develop mental illnesses. Sometimes I debated deferring the semester to find a job to support myself, at least for a few months, before resuming classes. However, I have often used federal loans to clear fees while struggling for accommodation and personal maintenance fees. It is also very challenging to concentrate in class while hungry. Most conceptual skill, such as making friends of the opposite sex, becomes a problem when one acquires low self-esteem regardless of the contributing factors (Barutçu Yıldırım & Demir, 2020). The level of personal insecurities from lack of money leads to severe depression, and I also struggled to myself from falling into that. During the last two semesters, I focused on what I could manage, and my grades have practically improved. The previously challenging courses like algorithms and data structures, software development, and programming are similarly improving. In other words, choosing the core struggles to solve leads to desirable outcomes.
In conclusion, my choice during the last two semesters to focus on academics changed how I relate with faculty members and genuine friends. A senior lecturer in one of my courses was astonished at how I passed his class to the point of recruiting me to a technology startup firm. The firm similarly offered reasonable payment during the internship. From experiences of disillusionment to a paid internship, the change is good. It is the kind of change that starts by making a radicle decision to focus on what counts. My academics count, and they have saved me.
References
Barutçu Yıldırım, F., & Demir, A. (2020). Self-handicapping among university students: The role of procrastination, test anxiety, self-esteem, and self-compassion. Psychological Reports, 123(3), 825-843.
Moeller, R. W., & Seehuus, M. (2019). Loneliness as a mediator for college students’ social skills and experiences of depression and anxiety. Journal of Adolescence, 73, 1-13.
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