Residential Life with Summer Scholars
Rafael Estrada
College 101
Journal Blogging: 1
I never would have thought how much fun living at college would be, until I stayed at Scott’s Residence Hall for a week with the Summer Scholars Program at UNO. During my stay at Scott’s Hall I experienced college life first hand. This new “life” was working hard and playing hard. I had to juggle class work with activities such as the Dance Party, Mojo Hunt, HPER and much more. My goals were to experience college life to the fullest and do my best at Camp Carol.
Camp Carol was such a wonderful experience. I learned things about myself and it was the first time I reached out of my comfort zone. During my participation at Camp Carol, I was recovering from an eye surgery that arouse from an accident with an airsoft gun. My doctor told me it was not a good idea to participate, because I could hit my head and injure my eye again. I felt the need to participate, because I do not like being limited to do something. I took my precautions throughout the two days at camp and had no accidents. Even though I was considered “handicap” in a way I performed all the activities at camp to my best ability. I realized that even with my injury to my eye and my heart disease I was not limited to doing anything in this world. In a way, I regained confidence in my ability to perform challenges that without my team I would not be able to do. Those two days I bonded with strangers that I have not even met before. I shared sweat, blood and nutritious food with them.
Living with people you do not know is definitely an experience that people have to go through to understand how human beings are able to coexist with each other. My dorm buddies were Miguel, Garyth and Paul. I knew Paul from school and he is also one of my best friends. At first I was not comfortable with Miguel or Garyth, but after talking to them at Camp, partying with them in Scott’s Hall and eating with them in the cafeteria, you can say we grew on each other. After a few days of sleeping in the same suite, we started to bond, we talked about things that had happened to us, things that were bothering us and how this experience was affecting us. During the mornings we woke each other up if one of us was still sleeping, we watched out for each other, sat by each other and even walked to class together. Garyth was definitely the most outgoing person that I have ever met, the one thing that I learned from him was to have confidence in anything I do. During our stay in Scott’s Hall, my dorm buddies and I worked hard and played hard, we did not play too hard because we had to wake up for class and stay awake during class.
Working hard and playing hard was tested during my first day of class, this is when I noticed my junior year had paid off in teaching me time management and joggling course preparation. I had no trouble during the three days of class, I was on time, stayed awake, took notes and did all my homework. To me, homework comes first, then it is hanging out with friends, but some summer scholars did the opposite. I believe I have the right work ethic to be successful in college, and this experience with Summer Scholars at Scott’s Hall proved it.
Written by Rafael Estrada
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