In Review: Year 1
Since coming to UC, I have grown tremendously as a person. I have learned a great deal, both inside and outside the classroom. College life has brought me a variety of challenges as well as blessings. The University of Cincinnati has provided me with so many opportunities for my career goals and for fun. The Honors Program has given me some tools to help me on my journey, including an amazing group of people who inspire me with their positive outlooks and unique accomplishments and push me to be the best I can be.
One of the biggest challenges I faced as a freshman in college was learning to balance everything. There was what I could do, what I should do, and what I would do, and they did not always line up neatly. My parents were very strict and made sure my life in high school was very structured and ordered. I kept extremely busy and excelled in all that I did. I took ten AP classes and didn’t get a single B in high school, graduating with a 5.0. I was in the marching, symphony, and steel drum band at school. I was in the bell choir at my church. I danced at Craven Dance studio. I was a member of our state champion Speech and Debate Team. On my own for the first time, I was free to make my own schedule and do exactly what I wanted. As an accomplished student in high school and a National Merit Scholar on a full ride scholarship, I had a great foundation on which to build my college experience at the University of Cincinnati. I love to be my best and push myself and thus, even on my own, I kept myself busy with school, the bearcat marching, pep, and concert bands, the Honors Program, the Society of Women Engineers, Bearcat Buddy tutoring, and Tau Beta Sigma Honorary Band sorority. I run almost every day, read for pleasure, and keep in close contact with my friends and family at home. Balancing the large time commitments, especially band, with studying was a challenge. College offers less structured class and more open on your own study time than high school and it took me time to get used to this. Study habits must be adjusted. I am a quick learner but college classes, especially for chemical engineers are tougher. I needed to spend more time on individual study and learn to better use study resources and text books than I did this past year.
One of the most important decisions I made was to do band in college. After logging the hours and dealing with all of the drama and effort in high school, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to continue band in the years to come. I almost decided not to, but I realized that I simply could not live a life without music in it. Although I am highly logical with what some call the engineering mind, I am also creative and music is a great way for me to express that creativity. Although at first I thought being an engineer in band would be strange, but after only a few introductions, I realized that a very large portion of the UC band is actually engineers! I also feel that everyone in college should do an activity that they enjoy not related to their major just to let off steam. Band was fun and offered me a way to productively use my time when I didn’t and or couldn’t do any more studying or homework. It also offered me a group of friends who share the same passion as I do. Many of the band members I marched with were also in my academic classes and we studied together. Band took an extensive amount of my time and energy, but it was extremely fulfilling for me.
One of the best experiences I had this year was Workfest 2013. Workfest was one of those experiences that happens once in a lifetime and as cliché as it is, changed me. For my first honors experience, I decided to travel with the University of Cincinnati Honors program to Whitley County, Kentucky to join with kids from several other schools and states for what is called Workfest: An Alternative Spring Break. I've done plenty of volunteering work before including building houses with Habitat for Humanity, teaching Sunday School, helping out at Altercare Nursing home, and Bearcat Buddy tutoring, but each volunteering experience brings something new to the table. I had also gone on week long mission trips to serve in the past, but again each is its own unique experience. Meeting and serving with people I didn't know was actually one of my favorite parts about Workfest. It was so powerful to see how total strangers can come together and work hard all day and laugh together for the benefit of others. I am so blessed and I feel that is important for me to give back to the community in need. However, I often let busyness, fear, and laziness hold me back from volunteering more. Working with a group helped me to forget about the excuses and simply do what I came to do. That’s why it’s important to find friends or a group when volunteering. It can help you to stay motivated and keep on volunteering for a long period of time. Although I will not do Workfest again as I wish to let others enjoy the experience, I hope to always volunteer. I would like to continue being a Bearcat buddy tutor and will happily jump on another volunteering opportunity like Workfest.
The amount that I have changed in one year surprises me. I have grown in ways and gone in directions that I had never imagined in high school. Before college, I had a definite type A, never got a B, check and double check perfectionist personality. Now after a year of ups and downs and all arounds, I feel that I am much more down to earth. I realize that having a perfect image or the perfect grades does not necessarily make a person better and that a constant chase of perfection can be very unhealthy. Though I have a lower GPA than I did in high school, I have learned so much and a better, smarter student than I ever was. I am more confident in myself because I know that I don’t need to hide behind a mask of perfection. I am a capable student, a loving friend, and a strong person. I follow my passions for chemical engineering and making music. I value volunteering and do all that I can to give back to the Cincinnati community which I am growing to love.
So where will I go from here? There are still many possibilities before me and the details of my future remain unwritten. I do know that I will be co-oping at L’oreal in the fall semester of 2013. I have always loved L’oreal products and I am so excited to contribute to their wonderful creations as a chemical engineer. I am curious to find out what exactly it is that I pledge that I want to do for the rest of my life and eager to begin my hands on experience as an engineer in the working world. L’oreal is a world renowned company is known for treating their employees well. I couldn’t have asked for a better company to begin with for my career as a chemical engineer.
After co-oping with L’oreal in the fall, I will return to class in the spring. Although my GPA of 3.204 for my freshman year is good and the grades that I have earned are very good for the hard classes that I took including organic chemistry and differential equations, I think that I can do better. I definitely learned better study habits this year and hope to apply them to get a higher GPA my sophomore year than I did my freshman year. I learned that going to class, while an essential part of the learning process, is only the start. Individual effort and research is an even more important part of learning in college classes. If I don’t understand a concept, I must take the time that I need and use resources that are given to me including my textbook, the internet, tutors, classmates, and whatever else it takes until I understand it. And it won’t be a matter of if I don’t understand, but when I don’t understand as my classes get more and more challenging. As a person who learns easily and expects to understand right away, this seemingly obvious concept was new to me. Coming to terms with my pride and admitting that I may need to seriously study to understand is a big deal for me. I hope that I will continue to improve and having realized what it takes, to work harder and smarter than I did before.
There are so many clubs and amazing groups of people at the University of Cincinnati and I would like to explore and possibly join more in the year to come. My future at Cincinnati is looking bright and I look forward to my sophomore year!
One of the biggest challenges I faced as a freshman in college was learning to balance everything. There was what I could do, what I should do, and what I would do, and they did not always line up neatly. My parents were very strict and made sure my life in high school was very structured and ordered. I kept extremely busy and excelled in all that I did. I took ten AP classes and didn’t get a single B in high school, graduating with a 5.0. I was in the marching, symphony, and steel drum band at school. I was in the bell choir at my church. I danced at Craven Dance studio. I was a member of our state champion Speech and Debate Team. On my own for the first time, I was free to make my own schedule and do exactly what I wanted. As an accomplished student in high school and a National Merit Scholar on a full ride scholarship, I had a great foundation on which to build my college experience at the University of Cincinnati. I love to be my best and push myself and thus, even on my own, I kept myself busy with school, the bearcat marching, pep, and concert bands, the Honors Program, the Society of Women Engineers, Bearcat Buddy tutoring, and Tau Beta Sigma Honorary Band sorority. I run almost every day, read for pleasure, and keep in close contact with my friends and family at home. Balancing the large time commitments, especially band, with studying was a challenge. College offers less structured class and more open on your own study time than high school and it took me time to get used to this. Study habits must be adjusted. I am a quick learner but college classes, especially for chemical engineers are tougher. I needed to spend more time on individual study and learn to better use study resources and text books than I did this past year.
One of the most important decisions I made was to do band in college. After logging the hours and dealing with all of the drama and effort in high school, I wasn’t sure that I wanted to continue band in the years to come. I almost decided not to, but I realized that I simply could not live a life without music in it. Although I am highly logical with what some call the engineering mind, I am also creative and music is a great way for me to express that creativity. Although at first I thought being an engineer in band would be strange, but after only a few introductions, I realized that a very large portion of the UC band is actually engineers! I also feel that everyone in college should do an activity that they enjoy not related to their major just to let off steam. Band was fun and offered me a way to productively use my time when I didn’t and or couldn’t do any more studying or homework. It also offered me a group of friends who share the same passion as I do. Many of the band members I marched with were also in my academic classes and we studied together. Band took an extensive amount of my time and energy, but it was extremely fulfilling for me.
One of the best experiences I had this year was Workfest 2013. Workfest was one of those experiences that happens once in a lifetime and as cliché as it is, changed me. For my first honors experience, I decided to travel with the University of Cincinnati Honors program to Whitley County, Kentucky to join with kids from several other schools and states for what is called Workfest: An Alternative Spring Break. I've done plenty of volunteering work before including building houses with Habitat for Humanity, teaching Sunday School, helping out at Altercare Nursing home, and Bearcat Buddy tutoring, but each volunteering experience brings something new to the table. I had also gone on week long mission trips to serve in the past, but again each is its own unique experience. Meeting and serving with people I didn't know was actually one of my favorite parts about Workfest. It was so powerful to see how total strangers can come together and work hard all day and laugh together for the benefit of others. I am so blessed and I feel that is important for me to give back to the community in need. However, I often let busyness, fear, and laziness hold me back from volunteering more. Working with a group helped me to forget about the excuses and simply do what I came to do. That’s why it’s important to find friends or a group when volunteering. It can help you to stay motivated and keep on volunteering for a long period of time. Although I will not do Workfest again as I wish to let others enjoy the experience, I hope to always volunteer. I would like to continue being a Bearcat buddy tutor and will happily jump on another volunteering opportunity like Workfest.
The amount that I have changed in one year surprises me. I have grown in ways and gone in directions that I had never imagined in high school. Before college, I had a definite type A, never got a B, check and double check perfectionist personality. Now after a year of ups and downs and all arounds, I feel that I am much more down to earth. I realize that having a perfect image or the perfect grades does not necessarily make a person better and that a constant chase of perfection can be very unhealthy. Though I have a lower GPA than I did in high school, I have learned so much and a better, smarter student than I ever was. I am more confident in myself because I know that I don’t need to hide behind a mask of perfection. I am a capable student, a loving friend, and a strong person. I follow my passions for chemical engineering and making music. I value volunteering and do all that I can to give back to the Cincinnati community which I am growing to love.
So where will I go from here? There are still many possibilities before me and the details of my future remain unwritten. I do know that I will be co-oping at L’oreal in the fall semester of 2013. I have always loved L’oreal products and I am so excited to contribute to their wonderful creations as a chemical engineer. I am curious to find out what exactly it is that I pledge that I want to do for the rest of my life and eager to begin my hands on experience as an engineer in the working world. L’oreal is a world renowned company is known for treating their employees well. I couldn’t have asked for a better company to begin with for my career as a chemical engineer.
After co-oping with L’oreal in the fall, I will return to class in the spring. Although my GPA of 3.204 for my freshman year is good and the grades that I have earned are very good for the hard classes that I took including organic chemistry and differential equations, I think that I can do better. I definitely learned better study habits this year and hope to apply them to get a higher GPA my sophomore year than I did my freshman year. I learned that going to class, while an essential part of the learning process, is only the start. Individual effort and research is an even more important part of learning in college classes. If I don’t understand a concept, I must take the time that I need and use resources that are given to me including my textbook, the internet, tutors, classmates, and whatever else it takes until I understand it. And it won’t be a matter of if I don’t understand, but when I don’t understand as my classes get more and more challenging. As a person who learns easily and expects to understand right away, this seemingly obvious concept was new to me. Coming to terms with my pride and admitting that I may need to seriously study to understand is a big deal for me. I hope that I will continue to improve and having realized what it takes, to work harder and smarter than I did before.
There are so many clubs and amazing groups of people at the University of Cincinnati and I would like to explore and possibly join more in the year to come. My future at Cincinnati is looking bright and I look forward to my sophomore year!