Chapter 3
The First Step: Getting Adjusted
August 2012
I
hear a sound in the distance and it’s something I’ve never heard before, it’s
not my mom’s voice, or the sound of slamming doors……MY ALARM CLOCK!!! My alarm
clock is going crazy at 8am; I think it even shook the paint off the walls. I
would like to say that a gentle touch from my mother is much more pleasant,
“but this is college”, I tell myself. If you really want your alarm clock to be
effective, place it on a shelf or bookshelf that is far away. By placing it in
non-snoozing distance it makes you very angry, but you wake up.
Since
my first class didn’t start until 9:30am I was able to get breakfast. Eating
breakfast is a must do on the first day. Even if you are not a breakfast
person, it is healthy to eat because with a busy schedule you never know when
you will be able to grab another bite. I would also suggest doing a daily quiet
time. Even if you are not religious, a quiet time is a great time to get
organized for the day. Quiet times allow you to be stress free for a set amount
of time. My personal preference is reading out of “Uncommon Life” by Tony
Dungy. The book gives me guidance and hope for my day. Give it a try; it may
just be the motivation you were looking for.
After
breakfast it was finally time for my first college class. A real college class, not an AP class or an
online community college class. A college class in which I would be in a room,
with a real life professor, that has more knowledge on a subject than I have
ever dreamed about.
The
walk to Gardner Hall at UNC was a short, but long awaited walk. I was stressed,
excited, and nervous all at the same time. The class was a first year seminar
called ECON 56: Entrepreneurship: Asia and the West or that is what I understood.
My colleagues and I entered the classroom to be surprised by a gigantic wave of
heat. It was if the professor was trying to loose water weight. The room was at
least 85 degrees, and keep in mind this was in August. I observed the room to
find all four of the window air conditioners off. WHAT!! The sweat had already
been formulating from the walk, and now I have to sit in this flaming hot
classroom. But wait, the story gets better. The class begins by the professor
stating that the class title is no longer Entrepreneurship: Asia and the West,
but just Asia and the West. He informed the class that if you were taking the
class for entrepreneurship then you shouldn’t take the class. For real!! I was
so angry, and put that on top of the sweat beading down my face. Even though I
wanted to leave the class right away I decided to stick it out and see what the
course would include. The professor went on to explain that the class only had
two grades, one was a 20 page paper and the other was a final. Yeah, he was right,
not the class for this entrepreneur. I ended up dropping the class and getting
my Lifetime Fitness, which is a PE class that every student must take to
graduate.
Since
my Astronomy lab was not scheduled until the next week I was free for the day.
The idea of being finished with class only after an hour of instruction is hard
to wrap one’s mind around. I knew
college life would be different than high school, but I could have never
imagined life like this. The college life is the complete opposite of high
school. There are no bells ringing aloud, there is not a daily schedule, the
food in college is 100 times better, and above all you are on your own. I have
only been in college for a week I am beginning to realize how much freedom you
actually have. And don’t worry I am enjoying every second of it.
Learning
to manage your time is probably one of the most important tools you must
acquire to be successful in college. As I begin my semester, in which I am
taking 17 hours, I know that this is a skill I will have to become a master of.
It is also something that high school
doesn’t prepare you for. High schools don’t do this on purpose, but they
actually can’t adequately prepare you for the time management skills you will
need entering college. College offers students multiple opportunities every
second of the day. For example, should I
go to the gym, or should I go study? Or what about the student government club
at 1:30? The first few days seem so crazy. Clubs and organizations hand out
pamphlets filled with meetings and wonderful activities for a student to get
involved with. On top of that you are meeting tons of people, which is another
topic in itself, but we will discuss meeting people later. Time management can
only be controlled by one person and that person is you. As I have quickly
figured out, this is not high school. If you want to become successful, you
have to do it yourself. Mom and dad are no longer there to give you the extra
boost. So study first, and play later. It takes a load of stress off, which
makes your extracurricular activities more enjoyable.
My
first Friday on campus was probably something that I will never forget about my
college experience. The fun started on Friday morning at 12am. I live in the
dorm Joyner, which is one of the Living Learning Communities here at UNC. Once
a month at 12am every male participates in Topless Friday. Topless Friday is
just what it sounds like, but I had no idea how fun it would be. To be honest I
was imagining it was just ten weird guys running around with their shirts off,
but I was in for a huge surprise. A HUGE surprise. As Thursday night was coming
to a close I was contemplating if I should even do it or not, but I decided to
anyways. Finally, it was time to meet everyone in third floor Joyner for the
experience that would forever be enriched into my memory. As thirty of us piled
into the elevator I stood in awe at the number of people that were partaking in
this event, and then….. the door opened. Girls lined the hallway, 100 more guys
stood waiting for the new members to join. Everyone was cheering us on as if we
were finishing a race, high fiving and cheering is all I remember because then
there were bag pipes. My RA began to play the bag pipes. He is a fantastic bag
pipe player and his bag pipes rang off the sound of greatness. People kept
entering the hall until it was jam packed with college students. The clock hit
11:55 and everyone was instructed to be quiet because it was time for the
Pre-Topless Speech. I really don’t remember what the speech was about, but it
was given by a man in a kilt and it sounded like the speech from the movie 300.
The speech gave the hall even more excitement and I know people could hear us
from that ugly school in Durham (sorry if you’re a Dukie). It was that loud in
there. After the speech we all watched the clock until it hit 12am. It was go
time, time to partake in my first ever Topless Friday. I believe 200 guys were
packed into that tiny hallway and we all ripped our shirts off in celebration
of Friday! We ran out of the third floor and quickly ran through the other
floors that were in need of a Friday chant, “Frriiiiday” we slowly and quietly
repeated. Since I live in a relatively small dorm the chants didn’t last that
long, but there was a twist to this Topless Friday. We were all going to run to
the Old Well to keep enjoying the last few minutes of Topless.
The
Old Well is one of the most significant monuments in Chapel Hill. It is where
students can get a quick sip of water, but most importantly it is the water
fountain that is supposed to give you an extra bit of luck. Every year
students, freshman through seniors, drink from the Old Well on the first day of
class and before their exams. It is a tradition that has and will forever be a
part of the history of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Now
back to the exciting part. All of the guys and some girls, whom were wearing
sports bras, had made it to the Old Well. We all gathered around the Well and
sang the Alma mater. Wow, what a tradition to be a part of. Topless Friday
seemed like a joke to me at first, but it is now a must do every month. So if you
are by some chance driving down Raleigh St. in Chapel Hill on a Friday at
midnight, don’t be surprised if you see a couple hundred screaming and
shirtless college students.
The
lesson behind this is that I want you as the reader to get involved with tradition.
I know that you may never get to encounter a Topless Friday, but there are
traditions at every university. Opportunities feel college campuses, so go and
find them.
If
I was to define college in one word it would be opportunity. One of the most opportunistic
traits of college is meeting people. I have actually found that this is the
most enjoyable thing so far. During this first week I have been able to meet so
many people. I have met so many people that it is hard to even remember the
names of half the people. Trust me this will happen to you. All of the names
run together, but reaching out a hand to meet someone could be a game changer.
By introducing yourself to someone it allows you meet new friends and make
connections with classmates that would have never been made otherwise. Before I
stated that I was nervous about the whole college thing and I wasn’t sure if I
would make the right friends. However in just under a week I realized that now
was not the time to be shy. I needed to reach out and meet new people. By
meeting people, in which I don’t mean just saying hello my name is, but
actually hang out with that person. By getting to know people you are able to
become a better people person, and if you know anything about being successful
in this life, you must be able to work and interact with people. I also got to
meet up with the people I met at orientation and they have turned out to have
the same interests as me and we have hung out a bunch. During my time here in Chapel Hill, which is
coming up on two weeks, I have created friendships that may last a lifetime, I
don’t know. But what I do know is that I stepped out of my comfort zone and
interacted with people that I didn’t know. I took the first step and now I will
let God guide me to the right group of friends that are right for me. Step out
of your comfort zone, for most it is a really tough thing to do, but in the end
it is worth it. I found that it is easy to meet people by either going to the
gym or attending convocation. Most of the people I have met have come from
playing basketball in the gyms here on campus. I also met a couple of people at
Freshman Convocation. Convocation is just a ceremony that welcomes you to
college and gets you motivated for your first semester. I really enjoyed my
time at convocation because I met a girl that I eat dinner with about every
day. Like I said before college has more opportunities than anyone ever could
tell you, so it is up to you to meet people and find those opportunities.
I
believe I have got a bit off topic, so I will get back to the school work
asset. What did I tell you, time management is a big deal at college. My first
semester consists of Introduction to Africa, English, Decision Models for
Economics, Astronomy, Lifetime Fitness, and Introduction to Ethics (which I am
not taking through UNC). I am taking a total of 17 hours, 14 of which are here
at UNC and the other three are through a community college back home. I have a
loaded schedule Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, which include four classes and a
light schedule Tuesday, and Thursday, in which I have two classes on Tuesday
and one class on Thursdays. I am not sure if this is the best way to schedule
your classes, but it is the way I went about doing things. My reason for
loading up on M, W, F is because I was already used to having classes like that
during high school and I wanted to maintain a healthy work habit. I didn’t want
to have too much free time that it allowed me to slack off. So if you are one
of those people that are highly motivated I would suggest pulling a pretty
heavy load your first semester. Even if one of the classes you are taking is
through a community college. However, colleges and universities explain that it
is alright to take the minimum full-time requirement of 12 hours, but that is
not the path I took. If you have no idea what community college classes entail
I will try to give you a brief overview. Community college classes are college
level classes that are offered online and a student can be “dual enrolled” at two
colleges. In my case and for most people, the community college you will attend
will be through an online program such as Blackboard. By having the class
online, you get to set your own schedule just as long as you meet the due date
requirements. Another plus with taking a community college class is that the
grade you get in the class does not affect your overall GPA. It just counts as
a credit. I decided to take Introduction to Ethics because of the stories I had
heard from the current students at UNC about how tough philosophy based classes
are here. Community college classes are much easier than that of an upper-level
university like Chapel Hill. However, I would not take a class that pertains to
your selected major. Some universities will not give credit for an upper-level
major course, but always check with the admissions office at the university and
they will inform you about what and what will not transfer. As of right now the 17 hour schedule has not
been too hectic and is very easy to manage. I just thought it would be a good
idea to get ahead now rather than trying to catch up my junior and senior year.
In order to graduate on time you must take 15+ hours every semester.
I
mentioned that to be a successful college student you must be able to manage
your time. Over the past two weeks I have actually become quite good at
managing my time. I am finding time to study, to eat in the dining halls, and
most importantly to have fun. One way to manage your time is to do your
homework first and if possible get ahead of the class. Never, ever wait to the
last minute to turn in an assignment. On the first day of class I was given a
syllabus for each of my classes. The syllabus lists all of the assignments for
the semester, so you should never be surprised by a midterm. I have found that
Sunday’s are a great time to do homework and to do my readings for the week. It
is a good idea to do your readings before your class starts because if you go
into a lecture without having read the text; the lecture will sound like a
foreign language. If you don’t know already you will have to read, read, and
read some more in college to be successful. Another positive aspect of working
ahead is that you have more time to explore and attend extracurricular
activities. After finishing my work on Monday August 27th my eyes
were opened as I heard one of the most inspirational testimonies.
Firstly
I need to tell you how I ended up at UNC. Before deciding on attending The
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill I was planning on walking on to the
Pfeiffer University tennis team. It was a small division 2 school in
Mesinheimer, NC. Throughout my high
school career I had fallen in love with the game of tennis and was dead set on
playing college tennis. So during my junior year I began emailing coaches and
scheduling visits. I attended four universities in North Carolina and Pfeiffer
was the school that stood out the most to me. I was offered a chance to walk-on
to Pfeiffer in November and verbally committed in January. Now you may ask, how
did I end up in Chapel Hill? Well I applied early to UNC and I received a
letter in January telling me that I had been deferred, which meant wait-listed.
I was shocked, but relieved because I thought then that I was destined to be a
Pfeiffer Falcon. Within a week of receiving the wait-list letter from UNC I
decided to verbally commit to Pfeiffer. It wasn’t for another 2 months would my
world be flipped around.
On
March 30th, 2012 my dad called me asking why we were receiving mail
about housing at UNC. I told him I had no clue and that I didn’t get in so it
didn’t matter. He didn’t like that answer because he had always wanted me to go
to UNC. He supports me in everything I do, but he also liked the cost of UNC
over Pfeiffer, and he might just be the biggest Tarheel fan I know. Since I was
dead set on going to Pfeiffer I never thought about looking on my UNC applicant
account to see if I had been accepted through the wait-list. So just to make my
dad happy, I checked it. If I was to thank one person for getting me to the
place I am today it would have to be my dad. He was the attentive one that
found it odd that we were receiving mail from Carolina and persuaded me to
check online. As I read the words “congratulations” I felt shocked, excited,
and stressed all at the same time. I didn’t know what to say, so I just stared
at the screen in disbelief. I mean I knew I was smart enough to be accepted,
but not getting in the first time really deflated my spirit. However, I now
realize that I am truly blessed with the opportunity to be a Tarheel, and my
dad is happier. The reason behind sharing that story with you is that I didn’t
realize how special this opportunity was until August 27th at FCA
(Fellowship of Christian Athletes).
One
of the biggest attributes of going to school at Carolina is that it has
produced remarkable people. By attending FCA I was able to meet one of
Carolina’s finest. Hubert Davis was the guest speaker for FCA. If you don’t
know who Hubert Davis is I will refresh your memory. He played basketball for
the Tarheels in the 90’s, later went on to play for a couple of teams in the
NBA, worked with ESPN for seven years during March Madness, and is currently
the assistant basketball coach at UNC. Coach Davis came to FCA to share his
testimony with the group. His testimony was so powerful I actually had to go
tell him after the meeting was over. The main idea of his testimony was that
when you experience situations in your life that your timing is not God’s
timing. He explained that before being offered the job at UNC he had a huge
summer plan. His family was going to go on a mission trip to Africa, and they
were going to spend some time at their beach house. However, none of these
things happened. He told us that Coach Roy Williams, the UNC basketball coach,
called him one day and told him to come by his office. Coach Davis told us, “I
had no idea what he was about to ask me.” He said he walked into Coach
Williams’s office and Roy asked him a question that would forever change his
life. He asked, “Hubert, can you do me a favor?” Hubert said he told coach he
would do anything for him, and then Coach Williams asked him to be a coach at
UNC. Hubert told us that he was speechless. He said that he couldn’t even
answer Coach Williams. Hubert went on to explain how the opportunity to be an
assistant basketball coach at UNC was something that he couldn’t turn
down. The only thing that was holding
him back was the plans he had with his family. If he took the job, the plans
would be gone. No mission trip, no beach trip with his family, and no more
ESPN. Coach Davis felt like he had to let go of his plans and let God do the
rest. As I sat there I felt like I had been in his place before. No, I wasn’t
being offered a chance to coach basketball at UNC, but I was offered a second
chance at UNC. I now realize that it was God’s will for me to be here. With
that being said, I am going to try my hardest to make the most of every minute
of it. Do you remember when I said that becoming a college student hadn’t hit
yet, well Hubert Davis made it hit.
Never
forget the opportunity that college gives you, but make sure to manage your
time wisely. The first weeks of college will seem overwhelming, but with time
you will come to realize that these are the best moments of your life. Also, when
your life isn’t going like you planned it out to be, don’t worry because God has
control of your destiny.
