Taking my first steps into a whole new experience at UTEP as a freshman was both exhilarating and nerve wracking. My life was off to a fresh start where decision making would definitely come into play—this time it would be my choice to make all the positive decisions for myself—while beginning to start with my career in both psychology and multimedia journalism.

My first week was fast-paced, a huge eye opener, everyone had an automatic destination whether it was to their classes, the student union or the library to study. I didn’t realize the number of students and professors there were in one University.

Plenty of opportunities presented themselves both socially and academically at Miner Welcome Week with different clubs and organizations so that all new students would be able to join in on any new social events at school such as an LGBT club, an ultimate frisbee club, or even a political science club. The same went for academics, receiving lectures from my professors working on deadlines and time management was a huge new step into my new adult collegiate life.

Internships are starting to play a huge role in my academics and it is something that is advertised everywhere on campus whether they are on fliers, posted online, or spoken about by students or volunteers.

Throughout the week I was able to experience a new organization initiative named “UTEP Edge” which consisted of many volunteers and participants who were already a part of the organization to inform the new students what they may be interested in. Job mine, study abroad, and the University Career Center are some of the resources UTEP has to offer, which is very useful in a sense that job searching will not be difficult due to the vast amount of resources. Study abroad is also available for students who obtain a minimum of a 3.0 GPA and are in good standing at UTEP.

Therefore, my mindset was open to new organizations and to try new things that probably wouldn’t have caught my eye before. I have met so many new people with all sorts of different majors and minors, here at the University my choices are mine to make on the achievements or goals I would like to earn or set for myself.

There will be many challenges to face head-on-and time management is something that an incoming freshman such as myself must practice—but once the opportunities arise the possibilities are endless.

Victoria Garcia may be reached at [email protected].