I knew I was going to be going far away from Pittsburgh, and so I was really looking forward to being independent. 我也很高兴能认识新朋友，探索新的环境. 我没有去过北卡罗来纳州很多次，所以无论是在校园里还是整个州，都有很多新的探索空间.

Definitely being far away from home and only knowing a few people. I went to orientation and met some people there, and we stayed in touch—which really helped me out in the long run. I actually ended up becoming really close friends with them later, 但我真的不知道我要做什么，因为有太多的未知. 我只是对离家出走所带来的所有新方面感到非常紧张.

总的来说，我是一个害羞的人，所以被扔到一个必须一直与人交往的环境中，这样你就可以认识新朋友，这是一个挑战. You’re going to new classes, and it’s a new campus, and of course I’m attending a public school so the campus is really big. In the first few weeks, 我把自己放在那里，比以前更外向了. 这是非常具有挑战性的，但也是非常有益的，因为我认识了很多新朋友，我找到了自己的最佳状态. [What did you experience on campus that helped you do that?] On my campus, 第一周有很多活动，所以我几乎参加了所有我能参加的活动. 有一个叫RecFest的活动，重点介绍了学生可以参与的不同俱乐部和各种不同的活动. 我最终通过这种方式找到了橄榄球，我在第一学期打了橄榄球. That was a very good way to get to know new people.

Rugby is definitely one of them. I had never played a sport before so that was new, 这很好，因为这是俱乐部橄榄球，所以他们接受所有想玩的人，而且没有太多的核心训练. 我一直想做运动，但我从来没有抽出时间去做，所以我发现这是一个很好的起点. 我也很喜欢大学的年终活动，他们把它叫做沃尔夫斯托克——模仿伍德斯托克. There was live music and a bunch of activities and food. I went with my friends and it was outdoors on one of the campus fields. It was very summer vibes, 在做了大量的学习之后，四处走走，放松一下也很有趣.

Second semester I joined a horticulture club, so I learned a lot about plants and met new people through that. 他们邀请了很多客座演讲者，所以听到积极从事园艺事业的人的演讲真的很酷. 我还加入了一个名为WISE的乡村社区，它代表的是STEM和工程领域的女性. 我和村里的其他成员住在同一层楼，所以我套房的每个人都主修STEM或工程学. 我有一个导师，有很多活动，比如有趣的艺术和手工艺品. 两个学期我都加入了大学合唱团，因为我高中的时候都在唱诗班，我想坚持下去. 我真的很喜欢唱歌，因为我以前唱过，所以很熟悉.

It was honestly pretty smooth. I didn’t have a lot of trouble keeping up with my classes. 澳门新葡新京官方肯定让我做好了准备，因为很难平衡所有的课程和社交生活, and clubs and activities. 我做了很多练习，所以很容易就能在班上名列前茅. Most of my classes were big lectures which were very different from Ellis, but my English 101 class was split into small sections. 我非常了解我的教授，可以和她在更私人的层面上交谈. 我更多地参与了那个班，因为它是一个更小的环境，感觉更像澳门新葡新京官方. I also had an advisor for freshman environmental science majors. 我和她有很多会议，可以问她任何问题，所以我也和她有很多联系.

Definitely my patterns of studying in high school helped me. I would say if you’re in a class with people you know, study with them. Speaking it out loud is helpful. I did that in high school and I think a lot of people at Ellis do that. 对于一些课程，有很多记忆和记忆卡帮助我. A lot of times it’s just assessing what different classes need. Lean on the Ellis experience but be open minded to new ways of studying.

I missed the tight-knit, close community. 澳门新葡新京官方是一个非常小的环境，所以我非常了解老师. I also missed being in an all-girls environment. That was definitely a big change, being in class with men all of a sudden. I think that because I’m a woman I connect to women better. There’s a basic commonality there already because of life experiences, 女性倾向于相似的思考和行为，这使得他们更容易将经历联系起来.

I’m actually going to cosmetology school. I’m taking a gap year from college to go to Bella Capelli Academy, and then planning on going back to North Carolina. 我一直想去美容学校，我在高中的时候就想过. 当时我正在念大学，我想找一份能让我多维持一点生活的工作, and that would allow me to have a career while I go to school. 我觉得上职业学校是个不错的选择，而且我真的很喜欢做美容工作. 我想我会非常喜欢做这件事，我也会得到一些有用的经验. I’m just trying to keep an open mind, honestly, 请记住，学习并不总是一条笔直的道路，但最终一切都会解决的.

I know how nervous they are. It’s a really new experience. I was really nervous, and didn’t know what the future held at all. I would say, keep an open mind, be open to meeting new people, open to new experiences, and to trying new things. At Ellis, I had a nice groove. 我有我的朋友，我知道我在做什么，然后突然间我进入了一个新的环境. Sometimes it’s easy to do the same things you’ve always done, but I pushed myself to go outside of my comfort zone. 我参加了橄榄球比赛，学会了如何变得更外向，我认为这对我真的很有帮助. Even if you’re nervous about that, 它总是成功的，你会发现一些你真正喜欢的东西.