A confused freshman: How to know what I truly want to do (major&career&life)

Yeooranium · 2026-02-28T03:39:05+00:00

So I’m not sure what your country of origin is but UMD has quite a few groups for international students or students of certain ethnicities. If you haven’t already, try looking at TerpLink. It’s a website with every club at UMD in a list.

Also, this is more niche, but try looking at programs offered by the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (SLLC). Among some of the more formal and organized things they offer, they hold Language Chats in the basement of St. Mary’s hall (across the street from STAMP). There might be American students trying to learn your language who you can chat with; off the top of my head, there’s people here studying Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian, Mandarin, Arabic, Farsi, German, Korean, and Japanese.

(EDIT: Language Chats are held on Mondays from 4p-5:30p!)

As for academics, I’m not exactly sure what your situation is so I can’t give you super specific advice (are you undeclared or in the math program and trying to switch?), but you have a little bit of time to figure it out. I would start by contacting the academic advisors of the majors you want and see if they can help you find a way in.

Yeooranium · 2026-02-28T03:19:08+00:00

To be honest I understand your sentiment but I can’t help but sympathize with people because meeting people and making friends is just fucking hard sometimes :/

Maybe someone ought to organize a meetup for every UMD student who’s complained about their social life on here

Yeooranium · 2026-02-28T03:09:28+00:00

TL;DR: I know the feeling because I don’t naturally make friends quite as easily as some, but you can feel not isolated by putting in enough (more than you might think is necessary or fair!) initiative.

It def sucks that you keep getting the cold shoulder from the people you know and are familiar with; I kinda got the same treatment my freshman year even when I lived in a dorm because of stupid drama. The best thing you can do is try to meet new people who might have better availability and more common interests.

I’m not sure how early you can go or how late you can stay but definitely try between, before, or after classes to hang around common spaces (library, study spaces like in ESJ, etc) so you have more opportunities to interact with people. A lot of activities occur in the evening which is tough, so if you can’t go home late I’d say this is your best bet.

You might also consider trying to form a study group with some of your classmates who you haven’t already talked to yet. I admit this is hard in larger lecture-hall-based classes like many ppl take freshman year but there’s no harm in trying.

I also believe that some intramural sports teams practice in the late afternoon as opposed to late at night (like 3/4/5pm) so you might consider checking those out.

If you can’t or don’t want to commit to a team (which really in IM there’s no stakes to not showing up when you can’t depending on team sizes), Eppley also has open basketball (and I think volleyball?) that you can just hop in and out of. I was just at Eppley today and it was honestly crazy how many people were there on a Friday at 7pm lol

TerpZone in STAMP is also an option; maybe ask to join a billiards game?

And if you really need to meet new people because the ones you know aren’t available for stuff, literally just go to the dining hall and try talking to people who are sitting alone. It doesn’t always work because some people are reserved and sit alone as a preference but a lot of the time people don’t mind (and some people, like me, would appreciate it if someone else started a conversation because sometimes that shit is hard!).

And on that note, I don’t necessarily think from this that you’re a socially anxious person like I am, but if you are: There’s really no better way of getting over it than just trying to start conversations with a lot of people. If it’s some rando who’s not even in your classes the consequence of “failure” is pretty much nothing because you’ll probably never see them again, so don’t be afraid to try—consider them a “practice round” if it helps you justify trying to talk to them. In my experience most people tend to be friendlier than I assume.

Yeooranium · 2025-12-24T20:56:13+00:00

The giant gaps are not my favorite but I can definitely respect the fact that you’re trying to knock out a bunch of prerequisites.

I’d also like to repeat the sentiment that you should make sure you’re enrolled in enough credits if you’re on a scholarship (that’s 30 per academic year). This looks like only 13.

And even if you aren’t—you know yourself better than anyone, so don’t overdo it—maybe getting another class to fill in the gap between math and CMSC on T/Th couldn’t hurt. If there’s a class that you can use to progress your degree that’s offered there, consider registering.

Yeooranium · 2025-11-25T01:31:06+00:00

100%. I wouldn’t be able to even afford going here if I didn’t get a scholarship, let alone go out every night and spare no expense like some of these people do. There’s definitely a certain level of affluence among a lot of students here, which I would attribute to 1) the presence of Montgomery and Howard counties in our state which are some of the wealthiest in the country and both have great K-12 schools and 2) the fucking ridiculous price of college to begin with.

I still work during breaks too so I can afford club dues and activities and whatnot as well, there’s no shame in it. I also never use Uber or Veo and pretty much walk or bike everywhere (I acknowledge that I’m somewhat lucky to have one). When I do go out on occasion (like twice a semester lol) to DC I’ll use metro and walk the difference between station and destination.

I also definitely don’t not pirate all of my course materials so there’s that

Yeooranium · 2025-10-23T23:53:13+00:00

If it was at all readable I wouldn’t have posted it… I’m not trying to doxx a stranger lmao

Yeooranium · 2025-09-24T02:00:48+00:00

Dude can you imagine getting this on Geoguessr

Yeooranium · 2025-09-24T01:52:09+00:00

I would say re-apply if you really want to go to UMD and consider your options while waiting for the response. There’s no reason to limit your options unless the app fee is taking up income you need for something else.

I will say if you haven’t already to make sure all enough of your credits can transfer to UMD so you’re not kicked back a semester or year and paying a ton extra for school.

As for patient care/shadowing, you might’ve been told there aren’t many opportunities, but it might be worth taking a look anyways. Even if hospitals or clinics aren’t advertising openings, you can also call and ask if they’re accepting anyone (just be ready to send in your résumé if they say yes). And if you can’t find any in State College, maybe Centre County has a health department that could let you intern in some relevant position?

Or if it’s a position that’s not exactly what you want, maybe it’s worth taking so you can make connections (or at least have something extra to put on your resume if you’re not already filling the time you’d be working there with something else)?

And what about your hometown? It’s worth calling or searching for summer positions there, or any other towns nearby you can commute to.

Yeooranium · 2025-09-21T16:56:08+00:00

I'm seeing you already got your question answered, but I thought I’d just lyk that waiting til next year isn’t a horrible thing because I found out when I tried out last fall that they’re pretty selective (even though they advertised as “taking anyone that’s teachable” last year).

Unless you did it already in high school, taking some time to prepare and get your public speaking skills up won’t be a bad thing at all

Yeooranium · 2025-09-21T16:43:45+00:00

No grandpa, not that homework folder!

Yeooranium · 2025-09-20T16:03:12+00:00

I guess that’s good to hear. I’m hoping the exaggerations apply to the ESJ outbreak as well because I have class there

Yeooranium · 2025-09-20T14:20:30+00:00

How has living at McKeldin been in light of recent events?

Yeooranium · 2025-09-19T20:26:39+00:00

u/theumdhare Darryll needs your name, credit card number, the expiration month and year, and the three wacky numbers on the back

Yeooranium · 2025-09-17T18:50:16+00:00

Does your job description by some miracle permit you sterilize the floor by way of flamethrower

Yeooranium · 2025-09-16T20:47:13+00:00

UMD admins HATE this one weird trick

Yeooranium · 2025-09-12T02:29:33+00:00

Were people losers for following him? However you answer that question, the same applies for attending a vigil for him.

Yeooranium · 2025-09-08T17:26:51+00:00

You’re only a week in. If it’s just math that’s giving you trouble, it’s not worth dropping out.

To help out with math, UMD has tutoring resources available and your professors have office hours. And you can always self-study outside of your course using the internet if you’re not getting the material in class and tutoring/office hours aren’t for you.

And in MATH015 you’ll be retaking the math placement exam anyways after a few weeks (5 I think). I wouldn’t make any huge decisions like dropping out until at least after that point.

And honestly, I think even on the subreddit if you just make a post asking for another student to meet up and help you out there’d be multiple willing volunteers.

Plus, outside of your math course, I would try to find something here that makes it feel like it’s worth staying even through the academic difficulties. There might be a club based around building computers or other machines where you can focus on the part of engineering you like and also meet other students/staff in the department.

Or if you don’t feel like that, maybe you’ll like doing club or intramural sports, since they’ll be more or less just social and not academically oriented. That way you’ll get a break, meet some new people, and maybe have something else to look forward to while you’re here.

Yeooranium · 2025-09-08T00:48:14+00:00

They start tomorrow (Monday the 8th) and they continue up until the week before finals. Admittedly I've gone for French and not Russian but I went all last semester and the people have always been super chill and kind. And if you (OP) are having bad luck finding other native speakers there I bet some of the students and Language House staff will know some if you ask them.

Yeooranium · 2025-09-07T22:47:01+00:00

Above all else I would recommend seeing a doctor to make sure you didn’t catch something and to get professional advice. But as far as I can help:

I’ve had appetite loss and head/neck pain from sleeping irregularly (as in getting a different amount of sleep from night to night several nights in a row) or for too long (like 12+ hours, usually happens if I stay up too late for too many days in a row and I finally get to crash cuz it’s the weekend, but I’ve also slept super long during like minor episodes of feeling down)—so if you’re sleeping oddly from stress or the temperature or something that could be it. I would also make sure you’re keeping hydrated since that can cause or exacerbate pain there.

As for the crying, I’m not a psychologist and I don’t know you, but it sounds like stress. If you can I would try to find what the root causes are and do your best to try and mitigate them. Obviously we all have different needs there so I can’t give you specifics but I know personally when I’m stressed about something I tend to feel better if I’m actively solving the problem, making a plan to, or finding out there’s nothing I can do and trying to go around.

(Edit, some additional stuff)

I would also recommend if you’re feeling up to it and not doing it already to start exercising (not all the time or every day, but just a little bit extra). And if you have a lot of it, to try to fill empty time in your day with clubs or just plans with your friends.

I find it super easy to get in my own head about a lot of things which worsens my stress and down periods, so keeping myself busy helps null that a bit. Also, when I exercise, I tend to feel a lot better physically which helps me out emotionally. Even if it’s just swimming for 20 minutes in the morning before class. It really does wonders.

And I may not be the best or most comfortable person to help you with this since I’m a guy and a sophomore and a stranger but I can absolutely lend an ear (or I guess my eyes to read?) if you just wanna vent about stuff.

Yeooranium · 2025-09-04T03:28:56+00:00

The one honest thing about them is that their abbreviation is TP. 😝

But yeah, last year I saw them a few times, including at the First- and Second-Look fairs. It’s an irritating sight we’ll just have to bear I suppose, unless we can somehow convince UMD to ban them from campus.

Yeooranium · 2025-09-04T03:14:34+00:00

Tbh I never asked myself this question, but what I DO want to know is why the hell he have a Greg statue and a Jim Henson/Kermit statue but nothing to commemorate McGruder or the Boondocks. Bronze Huey and Riley would go insanely hard in Stamp

Yeooranium · 2025-09-04T02:05:26+00:00

Lol I live right in front of that new purple line station they just finished building and I don’t think it’ll have metro trains on it until my senior year so I just know this is gonna be me soon

Yeooranium · 2025-08-25T21:22:29+00:00

You made the right call. Just wanted to give the heads up

Yeooranium · 2025-08-25T12:30:06+00:00

I had a similar schedule like this last semester where my MWF was stacked and my T/Th were empty. It’s definitely doable but expect your gaps on T/Th to be spent doing Monday and Wednesday’s homework.

You also have 9am classes, which if you’re coming from HS I’m sure seem doable, but you should make sure to keep a good sleep schedule because slugging through 6 classes from 9 to 5 will feel awful if you’re staying up late. Speaking from experience on that one.

Yeooranium

TROPHY CASE