Entering college was like starting a new life for me. Since I moved to a new state where I didn’t know anyone, I had to start from scratch. CODES has become my family. Now, they are people I eat with and study with. They are always there for me, helping me and checking up on how I am doing. During my first semester in college, I faced many challenges. Some were academic, and others were mental, but I made it through the first semester. CODES has taught me so many things I didn’t know that have changed my mind on approaching problems and being more open-minded.
My first day at school was when most freshmen moved, but I had already moved in the day before. COEDS training was long, but it gave us all a chance to talk, get to know each other and learn where we came from. To my surprise, I met a girl from Georgia. She lived in the state beside me, Alabama. It was funny. We instantly talked and stayed together the whole day. As time passed, I got closer to Sonia and Marques, people I enjoy spending my time with.
In my CODES 121 class, I was given a group project, my first college project. We wrote about how nature can help with mental health. We took many pictures and talked about how many students suffer from mental health problems and anxiety because of school and how surrounding yourself with nature can help clear your mind, take a breath, and relax. Many people think it’s easy, but to my surprise, many people don’t take mental health seriously. As I struggled with mental health myself, I found taking walks in the school garden very calming and relaxing. As a college student, I got overwhelmed and homesick. I had to find self-motivation and be positive.
My experience with CODES has been nothing but exceptional. I got to visit our partners, JJKFANs and Heartlands Conservatives, which gave me a better understanding of their goals and what they do. Traveling to East St. Louis, I understood the struggles of land and its history. I learned from COED that not all problems have a solution. Some request us to view all aspects that can be affected if there were a change for the better good of the problem, but that can cause a significant change. With that, I work with my groups in CODES 120 and 121 to help develop ways to solve the issues and goals with our working partners.
