As I began my first semester during the summer of 2019, I couldn’t help but to feel nervous, overwhelmed, and most of all alone. Being the first person in my family on both sides to go to college left me alone in this process, no one could relate to what I felt because they had never experienced it. My family tried to make it a smooth transition for me but nothing could relieve the uneasiness I felt, I was afraid that I wouldn’t do well, that I would fail and that shook me to my core. Fortunately for me, I had an amazing program to help me called CARE. CARE stands for the Center for Academic Retention & Enhancement and it is dedicated to first generation students who come from low socio- economic backgrounds, their goal is “to contribute to the successful retention and graduation of undergraduate students who have been disadvantaged by virtue of economic or educational circumstances” according to care.fsu.edu. With the help of my CARE ambassador I felt an abundance of support because she was someone who has been in a similar situation as me and was successful in her college career and I felt that I could do it.

    CARE provided me with resources including workshops, discussion panels, and a CARE ambassador to help prepare me for my first semester of college. My first day of classes were a wake up call for me that this is going to be a heavier workload than high school but with the help of CARE I am able to complete my work with less complications because of easy access to materials that I needed for any assignments that were due. Coming into CARE also helped me learn more about Florida State than a regular student may have known or will ever know about. Taking summer classes have allowed me to get a taste of what professors are like and given me a headstart on getting my GPA up. CARE also helped me with the discussion panel they had on dealing with imposter syndrome which is defined as “The imposter syndrome is a psychological term referring to a pattern of behavior where people doubt their accomplishments and have a persistent, often internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud.” according to psychologytoday.com, which I felt I was suffering from.

    Although I have written something similar to a personal narrative, I have never written an actual personal narrative that talks solely about me and my experiences so I was hesitant when I chose this genre and did not know where to start. I searched for many websites online to figure out where I should start and what I should do to help my essay be more interesting  and came across grammar.yourdictionary.com which stated that “Writing an engaging personal narrative essay requires you to focus on both the key points of information to be conveyed as well as the many details which make the narrative essay interesting”. Being in ENC 1101 has helped me learn different genres of composing and has helped build my confidence when it comes to writing and actually showing others my work . I have composed work that I have had no experience doing and have actually been doing a great job of myself. I am glad to have been a part of the summer semester at Florida State University through CARE and would do it over if I had the chance. In the amount of time I have been here, I have taken away lifelong lessons to help me with school and within my personal and professional life.

 

Works Cited

“About CARE.” About CARE, care.fsu.edu/about-care 

Dalla- Camina , Megan. “The Reality of Imposter Syndrome.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 23 Sept. 2018, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/real-women/201809/the-reality-imposter-syndrome.

"Tips for Writing a Personal Narrative Essay." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 July 2019. https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules-and-tips/tips-for-writing-a-personal-narrative-essay.html