The Challenges of College: An Interview with College Student Aletta Bartok

College is what comes after Blake. Unimaginable, right? Well, today we have an interview with a college student who goes to the University of Minnesota, just about 20 minutes away from here! Her name is Aletta Bartok. Here is the interview:

Mimi: Hey Aletta, we have a few questions for you today about college. But to start it off, how about you talk about the college submissions? How do you exactly get into a college?

Aletta: First, you go into a college submission website, and you write about why you want to go there, and after that, you submit it to that college and you wait to hear back.

Mimi: Wow, that sounds like a lot of work! So, Aletta, when does this process start exactly?

Aletta: Unbelievably, this whole ‘college process’ starts in 10th grade.

Mimi: Is it difficult for you to find food in college? Are there certain places that you go to every time or do you just try a new place every new time?

Aletta: If you are living in the dorms, you should have a meal plan.

Mimi: Er, what exactly is a meal plan?

Aletta: A meal plan is where you pay for going to the dining hall and eating X amount of times.

Mimi: Was it hard to adjust to a new environment?

Aletta: It took like about a month. Actually, the biggest part that was weird was sharing a space that was half the size of my room with size of my room with someone else, and you have to fit as much as you can into that little space.

Mimi: Is there free time in college? Is there ever a time when you just don’t have anything to do or do you always have homework?

Aletta: Um, I always do have homework but doing homework all day just isn’t good for your mental sanity, and you have to be smart about when you do your homework.”

Mimi: OK, last question, how many classes do you have per day? Is it random or organized by week? How does it work?

Aletta: No, it doesn’t change. Every week it’s the same schedule, and on Monday I have 4 classes, Tuesday I have 2, Wednesday it’s 5 classes, Thursday it’s 3, and Friday it is also 3. So, it’s not too bad but the length of the classes change all the time.

Mimi: Thank you for your time, Aletta, and have a great day!

What you should have gotten from this interview is that first off, to get into college you have to start planning at least 3 years ahead. Once you get in–if you do at all–you have to learn to adjust to a new, small space, manage your free time, and figure out a meal plan. And on top of that, you have homework and changing class times. What a doozy!