College seems like a scary, unknown step for many students, but really, our imaginations are what get the worst of us. Ariana Ortiz, former Pembroke Pines Charter and CHAT alumni, is a freshman at Florida State University. She explained, “You have a clear idea in your head of what you expect college to be like and I was way off, especially since my first year of college was online, the experience was for sure unique. My classes weren’t as tough as I expected, which was great!” Overall, she feels there’s so many great people to meet and your perspective of the world widens, it was no longer just the small South Florida bubble she grew up in.

   Ariana explained her day in school as “mundane”, as it was online, but she hopes next year it’ll be more exciting. She lives off campus at an apartment complex, so her mornings begin with her cooking herself breakfast and drinking coffee through her first zoom class of the day. Classes tended to finish early for her, so she would spend the rest of her day getting some lunch and heading over to campus or the study rooms to get some homework done. Once that was all done, she spent the rest of the day hanging out with her roommates or going out for the night. Her biggest tip for college is “to do all the school activities you can! College is so much fun and there are so many unique opportunities that a lot of people pass up. I think everyone should take advantage of the fun things. College is the best 4 years of your life”. Ariana sees the fun and freedom behind college, an experience she initially didn’t believe possible. College isn’t meant to be just work, it’s where people find themselves and their independence.