2011-2012: Freshman
This year has been a long one, but it's been really fun. There have been a lot of challenges along the way, but I think I've become better for them. I think I changed a lot this year. I really pushed myself hard during classes to get my work done, not only on time but actually ahead of time, to study, and to get the best grades I possibly could. It was tough, but it paid off—I hardly ever had work to do on the weekends, giving me a chance to relax and spend time with friends and family, and at the same time made straight A’s (except for one annoying little A- … I guess I can live with it though).
After this year and from getting in the habit of finishing things right away, I think it’s become a part of my personality and my work ethic. When I’m organizing Beautiful Lengths or working on co-op, I get really irritated when I don’t have anything to do. I like being busy now. And not just busy, but I like for everything to happen immediately, in the sense that I expect people to respond to my emails a minute after I send them, or that when I start working on a project at work, I expect to be able to finish it in my time frame without waiting on anyone else. I became much more independent, and also much more self-sufficient, and self-disciplined. But it’s a balance, because in the real world, you can’t do everything yourself. On co-op, I’m frustrated because I obviously can’t do everything myself because of my lack of knowledge and experience and also, it’s a team environment so I work with other people. They’re busy with real jobs and a much bigger workload, and my projects are really low on their priority list, which gives me a lot of down time, and that’s something I’m learning to deal with. With Beautiful Lengths, I know I’m going to struggle with learning how to delegate and how to let other people take responsibility for our collaborative effort. I’m not sure I would have been bothered so much before I went through this past year. It really changed how I do work.
In addition, I took some challenging classes and really stretched my learning. On a whim, I decided to take an honors seminar on urbanism and observing the city. It was really interesting but I also had a hard time understanding a lot of concepts. The professor spoke in very abstract terms, which I wasn’t used to, coming from a scientific/mathematic background. I don’t think I understood much, even after the course was over, but I really appreciate the experience. During my day-to-day life, I connect things to what we discussed in that class and I’m glad I tried something different. Plus, I got some experience making a poster, which might come in handy later.
I also constantly struggled with whether or not I was pursuing the right degree. I’m still struggling with that, and I think that will be a significant issue for a while. There are times when I think THIS is why I’m here and others when I think this doesn’t sound like me at all. I’m not interested. I should be interested because I’m an engineer but I’m not. I have this idea of what I SHOULD be and the problem is I’m not sure if it’s right or not.
As far as hopes and goals for learning go, I hope I can maintain my high level of achievement without wearing myself out. I hope I can find peace with my choice of major, or find a way to discover my true passion in life.
Basically, I’ve always been a good student, and I’ve always known how to stay on top (or at least very close). I’m not very concerned with my academic learning because I know I can handle that. Right now, I really want to learn more about myself as a person and see how I grow and change and where that will lead me. This year was just the beginning… One down, four more to go.
After this year and from getting in the habit of finishing things right away, I think it’s become a part of my personality and my work ethic. When I’m organizing Beautiful Lengths or working on co-op, I get really irritated when I don’t have anything to do. I like being busy now. And not just busy, but I like for everything to happen immediately, in the sense that I expect people to respond to my emails a minute after I send them, or that when I start working on a project at work, I expect to be able to finish it in my time frame without waiting on anyone else. I became much more independent, and also much more self-sufficient, and self-disciplined. But it’s a balance, because in the real world, you can’t do everything yourself. On co-op, I’m frustrated because I obviously can’t do everything myself because of my lack of knowledge and experience and also, it’s a team environment so I work with other people. They’re busy with real jobs and a much bigger workload, and my projects are really low on their priority list, which gives me a lot of down time, and that’s something I’m learning to deal with. With Beautiful Lengths, I know I’m going to struggle with learning how to delegate and how to let other people take responsibility for our collaborative effort. I’m not sure I would have been bothered so much before I went through this past year. It really changed how I do work.
In addition, I took some challenging classes and really stretched my learning. On a whim, I decided to take an honors seminar on urbanism and observing the city. It was really interesting but I also had a hard time understanding a lot of concepts. The professor spoke in very abstract terms, which I wasn’t used to, coming from a scientific/mathematic background. I don’t think I understood much, even after the course was over, but I really appreciate the experience. During my day-to-day life, I connect things to what we discussed in that class and I’m glad I tried something different. Plus, I got some experience making a poster, which might come in handy later.
I also constantly struggled with whether or not I was pursuing the right degree. I’m still struggling with that, and I think that will be a significant issue for a while. There are times when I think THIS is why I’m here and others when I think this doesn’t sound like me at all. I’m not interested. I should be interested because I’m an engineer but I’m not. I have this idea of what I SHOULD be and the problem is I’m not sure if it’s right or not.
As far as hopes and goals for learning go, I hope I can maintain my high level of achievement without wearing myself out. I hope I can find peace with my choice of major, or find a way to discover my true passion in life.
Basically, I’ve always been a good student, and I’ve always known how to stay on top (or at least very close). I’m not very concerned with my academic learning because I know I can handle that. Right now, I really want to learn more about myself as a person and see how I grow and change and where that will lead me. This year was just the beginning… One down, four more to go.