Autumn Quarter 2020 Reflection

Exploration. This has been a word that I’ve been somewhat subconsciously mulling over throughout this quarter, starting with my Early Fall Start class about the “Impact of Food on our Brain and Behavior” (to give STEM one last go before mentally settling into the humanities path I’ve committed to, and to figure out what eating “healthy” truly means) and leading to becoming a contributing writer (not yet hired) for The Daily, UW’s campus newspaper. My parents encouraged me to see college as a time to try new things and take risks, finding my interests and strengths and not being afraid to go after them, and I enjoyed making several lists of all the courses, RSOs, major/minor programs, and other activities that might help me discover where my passions are. But as this quarter comes to a close, I’ve come to realize that I can’t do everything. While one more Zoom webinar on an interesting topic or one more interview for The Daily might not appear to take up much time, it all adds up. I’ve been challenged to practice better time management, printing out a weekly hour-by-hour template to schedule study time, using a monthly calendar to write out all my assignment deadlines, breaking essays into stages of brainstorming, outlining, drafting, and revising. This has been my biggest challenge this quarter—balancing several commitments at once and learning, as one friend encouraged me, that’s it’s okay to say no to the things you want to do but don’t have time for. On the other hand, I’ve also been pleasantly surprised by the sense of community I feel at UW—even on Zoom! Contrary to my fears, professors are decidedly not scary, distant, or unapproachable, but many of them have offered students personal advice and taken an interest in our own academic journeys, which makes me feel so grateful and supported. I’ve also found that it is definitely possible to get to know other students on Zoom and become friends, meeting with my HUM 101 project group regularly and discussing papers weekly in my wonderfully small, seven person HONORS 230 A class. This sense of community, as well as the many other resources available to students such as the writing centers and academic advisors, has made my transition to UW much easier than I expected, even though the amount of work compared to high school has been overwhelming. In Honors 100, I’ve learned more about this idea of exploration and the value of engaging in interdisciplinary conversations, trying out Honors-prefix courses that have nothing to do with my major, and considering experiential learning opportunities, all of which I hope to investigate further. This year, I especially hope to commit to writing regularly for The Daily and actively participating in mobilization efforts for Tent City Collective, an RSO preparing for UW’s hosting of the Tent City 3 encampment this winter. I still have several long-term goals that are yet untouched: studying abroad, finding ways to serve in organizations that support immigrants and/or those in need of shelter, and developing my career interests in education/academia and writing/editing. I had a really enlightening conversation with a UW alum who works with UW Advancement and the College of Arts and Sciences through the Huskies@Work program, and learned that it might be very helpful to also explore communications, marketing, and/or administrative work through an on-campus job. I plan on seeking either an internship or on-campus job after this year in order to gain work experience and figure out how my interests in the humanities align with the real world. Trying to explore everything has been overwhelming, and I’m starting to realize that anxiety about what the future holds and my attempts to plan the next few years to pieces are keeping me from focusing on what’s most important: building relationships, making mistakes and growing from them, letting my faith guide everything I do. A while ago, my mom was telling my siblings and I about the dangers of believing the illusion that you can control your life—that if you just plan it out, take all the right steps, talk to all the right people, you can expect to achieve success. I find myself falling into this illusion, and I hope to work on letting go of things I can’t control, circumstances that are fundamentally unpredictable, and take joy in my journey with all of its twists and turns.

a flyer I designed for TCC's 2021 winter quarter stay at UW