So tomorrow is my first science class (gen bio 1) since about 2001, and my first class since choosing to hit the premed trail. I’m super excited, but nervous at the same time!
Anyone else get a case of the jitters just before diving in?
What do you think? Of course, we all feel that way…but it is also very exciting. Enjoy it!
Hello SleepingJune,
Your post does bring back memories dating four years already.
There I was, sitting next to 18-19 year olds, in a bio-101 class, feeling somewhat silly, truth be told!
Things will work out. Enjoy the learning.
Ron
Hey SleepingJune!!
You will do great I am sure… I had similar feelings last week before starting Calc I. Now I am 4 classes into it and already back into the groove. The first night I was excited about having homework… silly silly me LOL. (I am LOVING being back, honestly!!)
Last week was definitely a transition… but it went smooth and quickly. I am sure you will find the same. I am 33 and I thought I would feel so much older than I actually do. I am not the pink elephant in the room that I thought I would be!!
CONGRATS!! on taking this first step. We are going to have a BLAST! Get a good night’s sleep and take 'em by storm tomorrow!!
GM
June,
Samesies! I started Bio I yesterday. Inauspiciously, I sat in the wrong classroom and looked like a total dweeb when I realized I was in Immunology.
I previewed the readings for this coming week and discovered that I remember exactly 0% from high school chemistry (seriously, what the f*ck is an ionic bond?!) But, ultimately, though I’m nervous, I feel confident that I can hang. When I looked around the room I noticed most of my classmates GChatting and playing Minesweeper. I think as non-trads we’re uniquely engaged and motivated to master this material in a way that a lot of undergrads might not be.
In short, I echo the first-day uncertainty and anxiety, but I think we’re gonna’ be A-OK.
Give em’ hell!
So June How’d ya do???
Absolutely!!! Excitement is good…use that energy to push you forward and you will get there.
I started back in my summer term Tuesday and I was actually excited to go to Algebra, mostly because it’s my last remedial math class! How exciting is that! I finally will get to do math with the big college kids! I think we all as non-trads are excited about college in a way that most of the traditional kids are not, we don’t take it forgranted because we realize that it’s a great privilege and not a right to be able to get an education. I say most because I think some of them realize it. I don’t want to pigeon hole all of them.
I was recently off for a week between spring term and summer session. I didn’t even know what to do with myself. It was almost a relief to start school again. I really enjoy learning and I find that I am enjoying my pre-med journey.
Even if you feel silly in a classroom full of college-age students, that feeling won’t last. Regardless of age, everyone is in the same boat. Over the last year, I’ve actually made friends in my classes and enjoyed a sense of community with other pre-meds. You, too, may find that almost everyone (even the young ones) have an interesting story to tell, and most of them will respect what you’re doing.
Work hard and enjoy the ride. After the first week or so, you will calm down and start to feel right at home.
Definitely. Been there. It hit me one day that I could be the other students’ mom. That was strange. Enjoy your class! BIO I is fun. 
When I was in Calc today, the girl next to me mentioned that she graduated from HS in 2005. That means the first time I took Calc she was in KINDERGARTEN. This was the first time in the last 2 weeks that I actually felt old. Other than that, I am having a blast. Uh… aside from the crazy amount of homework I have, then again I am even enjoying that for the moment!
I have my first Bio exam tomorrow!!
It’s amazing how fast summer school moves–we covered all of proteins and nucleic acids in the two days before exams.
Yet, I’m realizing that I can totally do this. The drive to succeed is so much more profound for me now than when I was in undergrad. It’s rewarding to actually–excuse the cliche–give 100%.
GL to everybody embarking on the pre-med odyssey this summer.
- slambo Said:
I have my first Bio exam tomorrow!!
It's amazing how fast summer school moves--we covered all of proteins and nucleic acids in the two days before exams.
Yet, I'm realizing that I can totally do this. The drive to succeed is so much more profound for me now than when I was in undergrad. It's rewarding to actually--excuse the cliche--give 100%.
GL to everybody embarking on the pre-med odyssey this summer.
It's amazing how fast summer school moves--we covered all of proteins and nucleic acids in the two days before exams.
Yet, I'm realizing that I can totally do this. The drive to succeed is so much more profound for me now than when I was in undergrad. It's rewarding to actually--excuse the cliche--give 100%.
GL to everybody embarking on the pre-med odyssey this summer.
I know! I have 6 hours of lecture and 8 hours of lab per week for my bio class...it's intense, but well worth it! Go go go!
Sometimes I get really excited reading about those of you who are just beginning this journey.
For some encouragement: when I returned to college after 15 years in 2004, my previous math class was Algebra I by correspondence when I was in 9th grade (in 1975 - yup I’m old). I had one semester of high school Biology. That was it. That first year I took General Biology, General Chemistry, General Physics (I’m still certain that Physics is a foreign language), Accelerated Pre-calculus, and Histology. And ended that year on the dean’s list - much to my shock. I would pre-read, post read, take frantic notes… I had moved back home with mom and had a half hour drive in to class every morning. I’d get in the car at 6:30am, tell myself “don’t you quit - no matter how daunting, how terrifying, how overwhelming, don’t you quit”. It was that scary for the entire first year. But I didn’t quit.
And I have the amazing privilege of reading, and re-reading, and re-re-reading my acceptance letter thats sitting on my desk right now.
How exciting is this journey we’re all on?