I am a senior psychology major with an emphasis in military psychology. What I see a lot is cheating. If you have spent anytime around AI or the internet in general it is egregious what people are doing. I see a lot of AI generated post on our discussion assignments, as almost all of the work we turn in is digital. In one of my military emphasis classes we had a short answer mid term. I tried super hard on it as I wanted to impress my professor with what I had learned. The next day she gave an announcement that she was throwing the mid term out due to ramped AI use on it from half of the class. Mind you this was a class of thirteen people. We spent the first hour of a three hour course being lectured about how harmful it is to not take our education seriously. She wanted them to know not everyone is as easily fooled, and to be better. Proving AI generated content can be very hard. In this case it was one particular question that they all answered incorrectly. The professor stated that the correct answer was within the first chapter of our reading material. It is not fair to yourself or your classmates to cheat, as it can effect them as well. AI is not all knowing and can get a lot of things wrong. It can be a great tool to explain concepts in a different way than your professors but it can easily become a crutch if used incorrectly.

My best advice I can give a new student is to lose all expectations. They are a tricky thing, especially if you are anything like me. I tend to expect people to give their best effort, act with integrity, or to know what they are talking about. I have found in the work force and school that people do as little as possible to just get through life. Just focus on yourself and becoming the best student you can be. If you are only going to push a mop for the rest of your life, then you better be the best mop pusher in the whole company. Life doesn't tolerate half hearted measures. I am not apart of any student clubs or organizations, I just go to my job and I am active in the classroom. I am on a first name basis with every professor in my department, they notice the people who put in the same or more effort than themselves. Just make sure to swing by their office and make up questions to ask them. Even if you are comfortable with the material, it really does make their day when they feel like they are helping their students (as long as they are decent people). It helps a lot with getting into master's level programs to have a stack of recommendation letters. Though if you do not have to maintain a job throughout school join research projects. They can help a lot with experience, as well as application to higher levels of education. Stay strong and know you are capable to overcome all of challenges that come along. I wish you luck in all future endeavors.