Year 1: A Learning Experience.

The Spring 2019 semester has been over for almost two weeks now, and I’ve been home doing a lot. Finally, I have this moment to sit down to recollect on all the things that I’ve learned and experience during my freshman year at Wichita State University. It’s been one interesting year, from dealing with long travels, celebrating my first birthday without my mommy (we share the same birth date), to dealing with the ridiculous weather the state of Kansas can bring you. So here is a list of things I learned during my freshman year:
 

• Always be ready for anything academically. 

This was one of my first challenges as I completed my official check-in to the university. I was told, that I had to take placement tests for English and Math, before I could enroll into classes for the fall semester. Now, English and Math doesn’t seem to hard when it comes to a simple placement exam, however at this moment I had been out of school for two years. Luckily for me, my SAT scores saved me when it came to math and I’m actually good at English. After that day, I was always on the lookout for any random assessment. 

• Make some friends. Be social once in a while. 

If you really know me, dealing with big social settings and having to interact with various different persons is something that I’m always doing, but honestly and truly dislike. I can be considered the most social, anti-social person there is. My reason for this, is that if a place is too dense, or if I start to overthink, I tend to get small anxiety attacks either during or after the event. It’s honestly a mess. However, I’ve pushed through it a couple times and had the opportunity to create professional and personal relationships with some really good people on campus. Always take the opportunity to talk to the person you sit next to in class (after you figure out their thought process of course) or go to various student groups and interact with the organization. It’s also really good to create strong relationships with your professors because those recommendations can push you a long way. 

• Skin-folk isn’t always kin-folk. 

Now, this is something I’ve known since I’ve been politically and socially aware about a lot of things. However, dealing with my, I would like to say, intense living situations, I personally experienced classism first hand. Within the on-campus apartment that I lived in for the year, one of my roommates and I were probably on the lowest levels of the class structure. We weren’t able to dwell in some of the luxuries the others had, we weren’t also able to get the nicer jobs as well. However, the definition of elitist was from a person I originally thought I would have more in common with due to international status and being people of colour, but oh how was I wrong. Her way of thinking and her treatment of other’s personal space made it known and visible that all her life she had someone, as in literal maids, pick up after her. It honestly created a lot of tension within the room and made me dislike the elite even more. 

• Food Deserts. 

I always knew the terminology of food deserts. I always used the situations of food deserts to explain and debate when the big and loud “stop eat meat” vegans start to go off and refuse to acknowledge why that would be harmful to poor people, thanks to capitalism. What I never truly experienced before is living in a straight forward food desert, as living on such a small island the classifications of its kind of vary. Food deserts are areas, usually low-income areas, that usually have no access to fresh food. The stores in this area are usually the Family Dollars, General dollars and other forms of convenience stores, who do not sell fresh meat and produce. Wichita State University, to my surprise, is in a food desert. After you pass the grandness of the campus and the new innovation campus, you enter into a visible low-income neighborhood, which, I’m going to be completely honest, blew my mind. Being in this food desert makes it harder for students to live on campus to get the fresh food that they want. Many students who do not have cars, have to rely on friends, ride services or delivery services, just to get groceries from major supermarkets such as Walmart or Dillions, which are a good ten minutes away from the campus by car. This can become a burden but emotionally and financially on a lot of students, especially none of these services are actually cheap.  The school also has deal with not trying to gentrify the area and kick those who live there out but that’s another dilemma.

• Ramen is not it, but the dining hall isn't either. 

I am emotionally, mentally and physically tired of Ramen Noodles. No matter how many ways I decide to get creative with the simple noodles, I am tired of it. Yes, it fills you up when there is literally nothing else to eat, and you cannot afford anything else and its negative degrees at 9 pm and you do not want to walk into campus to eat another burger. I am tired of ramen noodles, but I know I will need them when August comes around. I’m also tired of the dining hall. It is really a hit or miss and for the last couple of months it has truly been missing. How in the world does my can chicken concoction I made right after Hurricane Irma taste better than the one they served to eat? Why is the rice hard enough to become a lethal weapon? Who are approving these recipes? The only thing I truly miss is the ice cream machine. 

• Take Mental Breaks. 

I don’t think I have to go as much in depth with this but take a break. Like seriously, do it. You need it. We all need it. 

• I'm a bigger basketball fan than I thought. 

Who told my mother that it was a good idea to send me to a Division I school, with a great basketball program? My basketball obsession has jumped from a 100% to 2000%. How? It’s because we get into those games free with your student id. I’ve personally been to almost all of the men’s and women’s basketball home games that I could’ve possibly attend and try to catch every away game possible. I find myself reading stats, discussing plays and just being extremely emotional about the sport. I have faith in both teams, and I cannot wait for this upcoming season. I am also going to say this now, loud and clear for everyone to see, that the Wichita State Men’s Basketball team will be a top seed in the American Athletic Conference, and we will be at the big dance, not the little middle school dance where we were this year, no we will be at the BIG DANCE, next season. 

• White people are different. 

I don’t need to explain this really but attending a predominantly white institution, I’ve seen and heard some things that I wish I could not see and hear ever again. Also, going to a school with a lot of people who grew up in small, rural towns, and think they are super liberal and progressive is somewhat amusing. Majority of them swear to the heavens that they all have the best intensions, especially with their interactions with Black people and other POCs. However, that underlining racism is there and present and it’s dangerous.

Now of course, there are more things that I’ve learned, but those are super personal and/or can be elaborated in a separate post, as well as certain topics in this list. I personally tried not to get too political with my reasonings in this list, but then I am me and it was going that direction if I wanted to or not. ​​Feel free to share this post and start the conversation about your college experiences.