Reading+Response+1+by+Alaina+Carson

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Rebekah Nathan's book "My Freshman Year," was very interesting and a great way to research college life. As a college student, I think the most interesting part of this would be the fact that she enrolled in college and lived as a freshman. Instead of just writing her thoughts on what life could be like as a student today, she wanted to participate in her experiment which gave her the best results. The importance of Nathan's experience is how so much has changed since her days in college and how she can give insight to people like our parents who have no clue on what we have to deal with. She compared college life to her experience with living overseas, which is a good way to explain how teenagers transition into college students. Nathan went to a village where she had to meet new people, learn the neighborhood, and adapt to a new society. As a freshman in college we basically had to do the same because for most teenagers it was our first time being on our own and taking on major responsibility. As time passes, she realized how the fun in the beginning soon faded away once the semester got started. All of the changes and sacrifices students make to stay on track soon started to affect Nathan as well. For example,"Bombarded with lists of books to get (or return) and first assignments, I found it hard enough to keep track of my own life, let alone the activities of numerous others (p.31)." This proves that college can be overwhelming, even for a successful anthropologist. Some join extracurricular activities or join clubs to get there mind off school and because its something they enjoy. However, most students she interviewed had to stop doing certain things because it was hard to balance everything out. I can agree with that because school and work took up most of my time when I first started college. Ive learned to deal with school and maintain a social life.