 All right All right, what is up guys, it's Nicholas Che back with another video today We are talking about my first semester of college. I just wrapped up finals, so I'm officially done for the semester Luckily, I only had one which is microeconomics a lot of my friends have like three or four which kind of sucks But I'm done now just relaxing for the next two weeks So Princeton has this thing called intersession Which is basically a week off between the first and second semester and since I finished my finals early on in the exam Schedule I basically have two weeks where I'm just chilling. So I'm planning on going to Boston in New York later this week And then for the rest of that I'll just be grinding out videos I'm working on some projects while I have time because I'm not going home. I'll just be staying on campus All right, so let's talk about my first semester I know a lot of people have been kind of asking about You know how the classes have been house of social life house extracurriculars and so today I thought I just do kind of an unfiltered unedited like very genuine reflection on my first semester at college At Princeton in the Ivy League what it's been like for me whether it's met up to my expectations going into college and Just to kind of give you guys some insight on how I think my first semester has been all right So first and probably most importantly how are the academics right and so classes are hard and by that I mean Relatively hard like I don't want this stigma of like Ivy Leagues are just this Barment of homework and tests and quizzes and you're gonna be studying every single day And you're gonna want to hate yourself and because at the end of the day yes It's a lot of work, but I don't think it's unreasonable or unmanageable if you if you know what you're doing with time management Which just about every kid here does or it's supposed to then you'll be perfectly fine I think everyone does a really great job of balancing academics extracurriculars social activities And I'm just maintaining your well-being and health while you're in college So the very first semester Princeton kind of only allows undergraduates to take four courses Just so you're not overburdened with anything so I took writing seminar Which is a requirement for all undergraduate freshman French 101 and a lot of photography Which is all film and then microeconomics equal 100 so I can give a little review of what I thought about each class writing seminar Was really great. I had a great professor. I learned a lot. I grew a lot as a writer It was just it was a lot of work having to write a bunch of research papers But there were topics that I was interested in so my second one was about legalizing marijuana My first one was about whether or not we have free will and then my third one was About supreme like the hype around supreme and hypey some things like that. So I mean, it was a really great class I learned a lot from it French 101 was it was a little hard. I have no French experience I didn't take any in high school or anything like that. I tested out of Spanish. So instead of going further in Spanish I decided okay, why not try and be quadling well So I know English Spanish Korean and so now I'm taking French 102 next semester Just to build on that proficiency level analog photography was a really awesome class I got to have 24-7 access to the dark room So I would go in at midnight be able to develop and print all my photos We were given like 35 millimeter and medium format cameras to help and learn shooting Analog photography is really difficult process way different than digital In that you have a lot more work to do to process the final image and then even then it doesn't look like the Way you want then you have to go back and literally redevelop and reprint the whole picture It's a big process, but I learned a lot I think it's kind of a critical skill for every digital photographer to know how to shoot film 35 millimeter film at least Because I mean that's the fundamentals of photography You become a way better photographer if you know how to do that and then the film the photos just look a lot Better for me at their crystal clear They're super tax sharp and that grain vintage film look is something that can't be replicated digitally no matter what kind of editing you do Micro economics was a bitch. I'm not a fan of it I think I'm switching out of majoring in econ haven't decided what I want to do yet But I mean the professor wasn't the best the lectures weren't the best meaning I didn't go to all of them and Yeah, I mean if you're interested in economics, it's a great course But it's a lot of like self-teaching, but it is an introductory course like eco 101 meaning that the class size is like 100 150 people Meaning that yes, you're not gonna have individual time with your professor But we have preceptors which are smaller PhD students that kind of break up your classes into smaller groups So yeah academics were definitely a bit of a struggle and took some time to get adjusting to I Wasn't pulling all nighters like the latest I really go to bed is like 1 or 2 a.m Maybe and that's just because I like getting my sleep I don't think it's efficient or worth it to be pulling on nine years because at some point You're not gonna remember and retain that information that you're learning. So there's really no point I think a lot of people get stressed easily here meaning that like yes It's a hard and rigorous environment, but it's all a mentality. You know, I mean it's like You can't let yourself get phased out by everyone else who's working and being stressed out You know, I mean I think one of the biggest realizations. I've had is that you don't always have to be stressed Like stressed is this mentality. It's a state of mind, you know So for me this semester my course load wasn't too heavy compared to my roommate Who's an engineering student and has a lot more, you know science STEM heavy courses with a lot of Problems sets and homework and tests and quizzes. I had a lot more laid-back, which I'm grateful for But at the same time he was working a lot more hours than I was which isn't a bad thing I've come to the realization that, you know, everyone works differently Everyone prioritizes their time differently and as long as at the end of the day you're being efficient And you know what you're doing and you have a schedule, then that's all that matters Let myself be okay with the fact that I don't always have to be studying Even if it isn't ideally that doesn't mean that I should kill myself in the library I mean, obviously yes, your grades and your GPA are very important But so is your mental health and your well-being. I've heard this conversation Someone said, hey, do you have something to be doing right now? And he said yes, Princeton I always have something to be doing which I mean it makes sense like that ring true for me It's like if you're not doing one thing There's something else on your mind that you could be doing which isn't a bad thing Whether it's studying or hanging out with friends or eating or you know making time for your extracurricular It's like you should prioritize your time schedule it so that you're most efficient. Okay moving on to extracurricular So I did get heavily involved this semester, which isn't a bad thing I enjoyed all the clubs and extracurriculars that I'm in right now So first off, I'm in the Princeton University orchestra. I put clarinet We have rehearsals Monday Wednesday Friday, but since there's six of us We're not always required to go to every rehearsal So usually I only go to like one or two rehearsals for an hour or hour and a half each And then I play on like one or two pieces of each concert Which is a nice gig to have I'm keeping up my musical ability making sure that I don't lose that touch for clarinet I'm in Simpo, which is this breakdancing group. We have a show coming up. So I'm getting ready for that It's a lot of fun met a lot of cool people through that I am director of production for this group called blaze, which is kind of like the elite hip-hop group on campus They kind of cultivated the best dancers and so they focus on Concept videos and so I'm gonna be in charge of filming all that over the next semester I'm really excited. It's a huge project They brought me on the team and I'm excited to start working with them for that I direct a few segments for a club called Princeton Tonight Which is an actual TV show that is aired on New Jersey television new pranks. We bring an artist We do a lot of different things around campus, and it's really great program I've also done a lot of photo and video stuff. So I've done a lot of like freelance Video works that you've probably seen on my channel for a lot of the dance groups That's got my name out there a lot of people are really impressed with the work I've been putting out which is awesome I do headshots also and then photography I've been you know just asked to take event pictures or headshots or LinkedIn pictures, which is good business for me Okay, next up is the social scene my friends who I've been hanging out with so yeah when I got to campus It was definitely a big change coming from my high school where I knew a lot of people I had a solid group of friends I had the boys and then I had you know just different groups of people that I was hanging out with but now coming here it's definitely a Mind shift in that like there's thousands of people and you can't be friends with everyone So the people you do meet you're gonna have to like cherish those friendships and make those grow stronger I've met so many great people all around the world People that I never would have had the opportunity to meet unless I came to Princeton And you know everyone's super smart everyone's super talented Everyone is very you know nice and kind and genuine as a human being which is a great Change coming from my Texas public high school where you know people weren't as open-minded people weren't very You know open to other ideas or beliefs and things like that. So coming here where it's a fairly liberal school. It's been A nice refreshing change to not have to worry about you know always being judged or stereotyped or anything like that Compared to high school. I don't feel like I'm being you know looked at differently or you know judged or in any way Like I think all that bullshit is out of the way, which I'm super grateful for my friends I've been hanging out with you know just different people my roommates the people that you meet during orientation week People you meet in your classes in your extracurriculars and yes, it's hard to find that group and I still haven't found my group of friends Which isn't a bad thing. I'm only my first semester in that stuff doesn't really happen until like sophomore Sophomore even junior year where you really find that close group of friends But I mean it's alright I've met a lot of great people and grown a lot as a friend and as a person And as an intellectual which is obviously the most important part of a college education I mean other than that like the parties are great. The social scene is awesome. Like like yeah, I miss my friends I miss my family. I miss being home And even though it's the first semester I did go home like two or three times but like spring semester We only have one break for spring break and I probably won't be going home So I'm not going to see my family until June which is a little bit of a bummer But I mean I FaceTime them every now and then and it's nice to just stay in touch So yeah, those are kind of my big accomplishments this first semester I'm kind of proud of how far I've come I did you know surpass all my expectations that I had set for myself and my goals Which is a great feeling to have as far as like gpa like I really don't know what I'm ending with I probably wouldn't share that anyway, but you know, that's my first semester I hope this has provided some kind of insight and this whole youtube thing. It's definitely blowing up I really feel like I'm able to have like a genuine conversation with my audience and you guys and my fans And my supporters who have been with me since you know, I've been under 1k 2k 3k And now I'm at 8k about to hit 10k, which is insane. Thank you guys for the support Please comment down below any video ideas you have for the next two weeks I'm just gonna be cranking out videos. So I had them ready to upload Anything you guys want me to talk about I'm you know, well versed in a lot of different things fashion technology Photography videography college. So I mean anything along those lines. Leave them down below. I'll try to get to them Thanks for watching your boy. Nick. Shea. I'm out