Year in Review: I
It's hard to believe that I already completed my first year of college. In reality it flew by much quicker than I thought 30 weeks of classes would. But once I was fully immersed in academics, campus involvement and just the collegiate life, time seemed to be the thing I wanted more than anything. To summarize my entire first year into three events is a task that would not do justice to the number of great memories and experiences had throughout my freshman year, but there are certainly three experiences that stand out more than others.
One of the first challenges I had to deal with as soon as I got to college was learning to deal with the large amount of freedom I was given. As soon as my parents left, I realized that no one was no longer going to tell me what to do, when to go to sleep and how long I was supposed to study. On top of that, if I was hungry or needed to do laundry, there would be no one to those things as well. At first, all of this freedom was both a bit overwhelming as well as enticing to a young college freshman like me. I could play video games on the weekdays and stay up super late and even skip classes to sleep in. But with all of these wild ideas running through my head, the real challenge I had presented myself was not letting all these crazy ideas get the best of me and staying organized and keeping my head on straight for an entire year of college. At times I certainly let these wild ideas take control (and what college freshman wouldn't!) and I don't regret that one bit. But more than that, my entire first year was a challenge of trying to find the perfect balance between having fun and freedom, while still being responsible and studious. After completing my first year, I would like to say that I found that balance of succeeding academically while still leaving with many good memories, friends and other experiences. After dealing with this "challenge" once, I hope that finding such a balance every other year will not be nearly as cumbersome.
Another experience that truly had a memorable impact on me was when I was apart of the Hurley-Avant campaign team in the 2013 Student Body Elections. Having been involved in student government throughout high school, I thought I had a general idea of what student body elections were going to be like. But boy was I wrong. In college, I came to find out that elections are a lot more serious and in my opinion, resemble what running an actual campaign would be like. I was able to see first hand how dedicated and motivated both parties and their candidates were to making an impact and promoting change and growth throughout the student body. The candidates would stay up late, wake up early, skip class and any spare moment they had in between all of this, they would be on Main Street encouraging people to vote or introducing themselves to strangers. Observing all of this, I really was able to see how passionate some students were about what they are involved in and the legacy they strive to leave once they leave this university. It truly amazed me and inspired me to try and make a difference and be passionate about what I am involved in during my four years on this campus.
Finally, one of the most important activities I got myself involved in during my second semester at the University of Cincinnati was undergraduate research. I was fortunate enough to be placed in a lab at Cincinnati Children's through the help of the University Honors Program and the Biomedical Research Program. This experience (which is in fact one I am still continuing) taught me so much just in one semester. For one, it really made me become much more organized and efficient with my time and work. My academic schedule originally had a lot of free space and time and seemed to be a "great" schedule by collegiate standards due to the late times I was able to get up at. But that all changed once I got involved with research because the big gaps of spare time I had were now spent with me being in the lab learning and doing procedures. At first it was a tough adjustment and I found myself both a little stressed and unusually exhausted. But as the semester went on, I learned to adapt to my research schedule very well along to also liking research a lot. At times it did make things more stressful but it has taught me so much and especially looking back from where I started to where I am now, the amount of progress makes me feel great and very accomplished and how much I have learned and am now able to do. The thought of how much more I may be able to do in the lab only excites me when I think about it in the future.
Even apart from all of these experiences, I have also made a number of great connections and relationships throughout my first year of college. For one, I made a number of new friends. While I may not have a large number of friends like I did in high school, the quality of the friends I have here are very good and I know that all of the friends I have made at the University are great ones that I will keep until I graduate. Apart from students, my research mentor Dr. Debora Sinner has become a great teacher and friend to me. Throughout my second semester, she was very patient and understanding, while still pushing me just enough to stimulate my thinking while still encouraging me a fair amount. She has made my experience researching in the lab a very enjoyable one and nowadays I enjoy coming into the lab, striving to make a breakthrough or discovery. She has instilled a passion for research into me, which in my opinion is the sign of great teacher and is definitely something I will take away from this past year.
As I look back at this year, I can take away many things. For one, being organized and efficient is the key to being able to stay involved and still maintain a high level of academic success along to having plenty of fun with your friends. This piece of advice I have acquired is the same I would give myself for this upcoming year. The classes will be harder and I am going to be more involved than I have been the previous year. As a result, I need to make sure that I don't get stressed out or overwhelmed and need to remember that you have been balancing school and other commitments for most of your academic career, so it is nothing new for you this time around. And you have plenty of friends around you to help you through it all. Finally, to make the most of my upcoming year, I really need to act on things as soon as they appear. Pushing things off until later only causes complications and eventual backup, leading to more stress. Doing things immediately not only increasing my chances, but it also just frees up more room instead of procrastinating until later. All in all, I'm nothing but excited to see what next year brings, how much I can push myself and of course, I have no doubt it will be better than this first year, which is quite a statement.
One of the first challenges I had to deal with as soon as I got to college was learning to deal with the large amount of freedom I was given. As soon as my parents left, I realized that no one was no longer going to tell me what to do, when to go to sleep and how long I was supposed to study. On top of that, if I was hungry or needed to do laundry, there would be no one to those things as well. At first, all of this freedom was both a bit overwhelming as well as enticing to a young college freshman like me. I could play video games on the weekdays and stay up super late and even skip classes to sleep in. But with all of these wild ideas running through my head, the real challenge I had presented myself was not letting all these crazy ideas get the best of me and staying organized and keeping my head on straight for an entire year of college. At times I certainly let these wild ideas take control (and what college freshman wouldn't!) and I don't regret that one bit. But more than that, my entire first year was a challenge of trying to find the perfect balance between having fun and freedom, while still being responsible and studious. After completing my first year, I would like to say that I found that balance of succeeding academically while still leaving with many good memories, friends and other experiences. After dealing with this "challenge" once, I hope that finding such a balance every other year will not be nearly as cumbersome.
Another experience that truly had a memorable impact on me was when I was apart of the Hurley-Avant campaign team in the 2013 Student Body Elections. Having been involved in student government throughout high school, I thought I had a general idea of what student body elections were going to be like. But boy was I wrong. In college, I came to find out that elections are a lot more serious and in my opinion, resemble what running an actual campaign would be like. I was able to see first hand how dedicated and motivated both parties and their candidates were to making an impact and promoting change and growth throughout the student body. The candidates would stay up late, wake up early, skip class and any spare moment they had in between all of this, they would be on Main Street encouraging people to vote or introducing themselves to strangers. Observing all of this, I really was able to see how passionate some students were about what they are involved in and the legacy they strive to leave once they leave this university. It truly amazed me and inspired me to try and make a difference and be passionate about what I am involved in during my four years on this campus.
Finally, one of the most important activities I got myself involved in during my second semester at the University of Cincinnati was undergraduate research. I was fortunate enough to be placed in a lab at Cincinnati Children's through the help of the University Honors Program and the Biomedical Research Program. This experience (which is in fact one I am still continuing) taught me so much just in one semester. For one, it really made me become much more organized and efficient with my time and work. My academic schedule originally had a lot of free space and time and seemed to be a "great" schedule by collegiate standards due to the late times I was able to get up at. But that all changed once I got involved with research because the big gaps of spare time I had were now spent with me being in the lab learning and doing procedures. At first it was a tough adjustment and I found myself both a little stressed and unusually exhausted. But as the semester went on, I learned to adapt to my research schedule very well along to also liking research a lot. At times it did make things more stressful but it has taught me so much and especially looking back from where I started to where I am now, the amount of progress makes me feel great and very accomplished and how much I have learned and am now able to do. The thought of how much more I may be able to do in the lab only excites me when I think about it in the future.
Even apart from all of these experiences, I have also made a number of great connections and relationships throughout my first year of college. For one, I made a number of new friends. While I may not have a large number of friends like I did in high school, the quality of the friends I have here are very good and I know that all of the friends I have made at the University are great ones that I will keep until I graduate. Apart from students, my research mentor Dr. Debora Sinner has become a great teacher and friend to me. Throughout my second semester, she was very patient and understanding, while still pushing me just enough to stimulate my thinking while still encouraging me a fair amount. She has made my experience researching in the lab a very enjoyable one and nowadays I enjoy coming into the lab, striving to make a breakthrough or discovery. She has instilled a passion for research into me, which in my opinion is the sign of great teacher and is definitely something I will take away from this past year.
As I look back at this year, I can take away many things. For one, being organized and efficient is the key to being able to stay involved and still maintain a high level of academic success along to having plenty of fun with your friends. This piece of advice I have acquired is the same I would give myself for this upcoming year. The classes will be harder and I am going to be more involved than I have been the previous year. As a result, I need to make sure that I don't get stressed out or overwhelmed and need to remember that you have been balancing school and other commitments for most of your academic career, so it is nothing new for you this time around. And you have plenty of friends around you to help you through it all. Finally, to make the most of my upcoming year, I really need to act on things as soon as they appear. Pushing things off until later only causes complications and eventual backup, leading to more stress. Doing things immediately not only increasing my chances, but it also just frees up more room instead of procrastinating until later. All in all, I'm nothing but excited to see what next year brings, how much I can push myself and of course, I have no doubt it will be better than this first year, which is quite a statement.