When I arrived at the UW in
September, I had many questions that needed answers: How will I organize my
time, will I find a good social group, what sort of activities and classes will
I take part in, etc etc. Now that I near the end of my first quarter here, and
my outlook on my university life has become clearer, in part thanks to Honors
100, I have found that, while many answers to those questions have been
presented to me, at the same time many new questions have cropped up.
The question of time organization
is probably one of the most important ones, as it opens up many issues that I
have discovered in regards to my plans here at the UW, and for that reason I
will consider it first. This goes beyond figuring out my schedule: it’s a
question that touches on my long-term plan here, and of the opportunities that
are available for me. As someone who is planning on getting a major in Biology
and going into medicine, I recognized that the requirements for my goal would
be heavy, and thus my opportunities outside of my regular coursework would be
slightly limited. However, I was still planning on having enough extra room to
fit in a varied amount of interests outside of my Biology major: I wanted to
take part in a varied amount of clubs, go on a study abroad program, engage in
volunteering programs, and take interesting courses that are outside of my main
focus of study.
However, I quickly learned that it
wouldn’t be so clear cut as that: when I made a rough My Plan for Honors 100,
and saw just how packed my schedule would have to be in order to complete not
just my Biology major, but also the Honors program requirements and a minor in
Mandarin, I became worried that I would have no chance to experiment with my
learning and consider classes outside of what was required of me. Later, as I
signed up for my courses for the next quarter, and saw how busy my schedule
was, I started to doubt my ability to take part in extracurricular activities,
such as my plan to volunteer at the Swedish Medical Center winter and spring
quarter. However, while I was worried about this for quite some time, I came to
realize that even with my course requirements, I would be able to find time for
all the things I wish to accomplish during my time in college: I realized that
the Honors program, while definitely adding a great deal to the things I needed
to do, would give me a chance to take courses on topics outside of my intended
major, and even help me find study abroad programs that can fit with my long
term plans. And while I am still unsure about my ability to start volunteering
at a medical center, I have been able to find time for activities such as pen
and paper games. So, while the activities I take part in may not be as broadly
varied as I had initially intended, after this quarter I am confident that I
will be able to do everything I aimed to do while in college.
The question of becoming a part of
the UW community is probably one of the most important ones when it comes to
this quarter. My social skills have never been to good, and finding a good
group of friends and peers has always been a difficult process for me. For that
reason, the prospect of finding my place in a campus as huge as UW absolutely
terrified me at the start of the quarter. Now, I can say with confidence that
those fears were completely unneeded, and that I have found a stable position
here in this community. A big part of this is thanks to the Honors program: I
was able to find people in the Honors program that I could connect with well,
and was able to start my social life through that. Another big part was actually
the limited number of extracurricular activities I was able to take part in:
since I found that I was unable to take part in as many clubs as I had intended
to, I ended up throwing a great deal more effort and passion into the ones that
really interested me, and found a great group of people in the Pen and Paper
and Gaming community. Generally, I just found that getting into the UW
community was a very natural thing: be it in my dorm, in my classes, or
anywhere else, I found that I was able to feel like a part of a community, and
definitely did not feel like I was isolated.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a review
about my first quarter if I didn’t talk about my courses: outside of Honors
100, I took Honors Calculus 124, Chemistry 142, and a History of Science
course. Each one of these courses taught me something about college courses,
and what I should expect from future courses I take at the UW. The History of
Science course was rather unique among the classes I took this quarter, as it
was the only one that was not a class required for my Biology major. Because of
my long-standing interest in History, especially regarding natural
philosophies, this class ended up being my favorite of the quarter, especially
for the required reading. In this course, I learned a great deal about more
specialized college courses, as well as how to write college level essays and
take part in discussions with peers with much more experience than I (the
course had a high number of Juniors and Seniors, many with History majors).
Chemistry ended up being the most mundane of the courses I took this quarter:
this does not mean it was not that interesting or that I did not learn
anything, its just that it was the one the most similar to my High School
courses in terms of topic. Despite that, I did experience many new things with
this class: I learned how to handle extremely large classroom sizes (let me put
it this way: the size of the class was more than the graduating classes of my
middle and high school combined), and
had a very enjoyable first quarter with college level Labs. Finally, there was
Calculus, easily one of the most difficult classes I have ever taken, and
especially considering that mathematics have always been a weakness on my part.
Thanks to that class, I learned how to handle difficult college level classes,
to not be surprised to not do as well as I thought I would do, and to praise
the curve after midterms.
In the end, I found this first
quarter to be one of finding my bearings: now that I have found a balance and
feel confident about my position and plans for college, I expect the rest of
the year to see a steady but sure growth in my actions. I intend to start
taking more difficult courses and challenging myself with my education, to
still aim at starting volunteering, to take a more leading role in the clubs I’m
a part of, and of course become the best Dungeon Master this world has seen.
That last one is a priority.
No comments:
Post a Comment