Chapter 3

 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 27^th 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 30^th, 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 27^th 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.