Some reflections on my college experience, from October 2018 to June 2022
Honors 100 Reflections
Assignment 1: Who Are you?
My personal path specifically to the UW and to Honors was, in all honesty, very unexpected. Because I’ve lived in Seattle my entire life and I wanted to explore a new place during college, I applied to many out-of-state schools. I even considered going to college in another country. I also thought that I wanted to be part of a close-knit community in a town or suburb, making my ultimate choice even more surprising. I ended up applying to the UW because I love the campus and amount of opportunities such a school offers, and I thought that it would bring variety to my list of small liberal arts colleges. I applied to the Honors program because of the interdisciplinary focus and number of experiential learning opportunities.
When it came time to make my final college decision, I was torn between the UW and two schools with fewer than 2,000 students each. I ended up realizing that, while smaller schools appealed to me while I was applying, I would almost definitely feel stifled and bored on campus after a year, especially because both other schools were located far from major cities. I chose UW happily with the knowledge that the Honors program would provide a support system and offer small classes and familiar faces, but I would have all the resources of and be able to explore a larger university.
Many of my teachers, from elementary all the way through high school, have had special influences on my journey to UW. When I was in first or second grade, a teacher observed that I loved writing fiction and motivated me to write as much as possible. She offered me feedback on my stories along the way. Her encouragement kindled a love of writing in me, both for fun and for academics. Throughout middle school, many of my teachers found ways to make learning entertaining—full of hands-on labs, projects, and activities, so I always looked forward to school. In high school, my English and history teachers taught me look at events through an interdisciplinary lens and connect what the material we were covering with current events. Knowing from an early age on that classrooms do not have to be dull and that there isn’t necessarily one right answer to a question were the primary factors that propelled me to apply to Honors. Without this knowledge and without having had very positive classroom experiences, I would think of learning as a chore as opposed to a lifelong process.
Another thing that has had an impact on my journey is my love of novelty and exploration. I’ve always considered myself very curious and open-minded, so I love reading about (and seeing for myself) other cultures, ideas, and ways of life. I also very seldom write off an idea without first engaging with it. An additional reason I applied to the Honors program is because I know my classes will push me to see the world in new ways.
With UW’s Honors program, I hope to be able to study abroad as well as engage with the greater Seattle community. I want to be able to connect with other peers in Honors who are very different from myself and come from many backgrounds. Because I’m still deciding what I plan on majoring in, I hope that Honors will allow me to explore a huge variety of subjects (especially because of its interdisciplinary focus). While I am worried that I’ll feel overwhelmed with the number of classes I can take and potential areas of study I can go into, I feel as though Honors classes will help me gauge if a certain area of study could become my major. Throughout college, I hope to be able to pursue more courses that relate to international studies, visual arts, psychology, the environment, and history. I also want to take as many classes with an interdisciplinary focus as possible, because most of the disciplines I’m interested in easily overlap with others. Finally, I hope that Honors will help me hone in on writing and critical thinking skills that I can extrapolate to the rest of my education.
Autumn Reflection
The word I would use to describe how I felt when I arrived at UW was “overwhelmed.” While, as I predicted, I was thrilled by the variety of classes, clubs, and other extracurriculars, I wasn’t sure where to begin narrowing down my opportunities. This sorting-through of all my choices turned out to be the hardest part of fall quarter for me. One of the goals I’d set for myself at the beginning of the year was to give myself a short trial period where I would explore many disciplines before securing myself onto one path. Initially, I’d hoped that my first two quarters in college would serve as this trial. Now, I am even less sure of what I want to study than before I came to UW—and I don’t think this is a bad thing. Instead of rushing to discover my major, I’ve concluded that, the longer I give myself to decide what I want to study, the more beneficial it will be to my growth as a student and as a person. After taking courses ranging from medical ethics to French, I’ve realized that I have a wide variety of interests, and I know I will develop even more from my time at UW. This quarter, I'm happy with how I balanced my schedule: between French 203, QSCI 381, Honors Leadership and Democracy, and my bioethics seminar, I studied a very wide range of disciplines.
My goals have also changed in terms of prioritization of my time. While I still want to always make academics my focus, I hope to give experiential learning, extracurriculars, and social obligations more precedence than I did in high school. Honors 100 has helped me recognize the importance of learning outside the classroom and how an education consists of far more than just academics. Honors 100 has also helped me realize that I should not be afraid to stumble and fall in terms of pursuing a major, and that I should be unafraid of changing my course of study drastically at this point in my college career.
Something that’s surprised me as a freshman is how easy it has been for me to find leadership roles on campus. Because the UW is such a large school, I thought that most leadership roles would be difficult to discover, and, even if I did, they would be reserved for upperclassmen. Instead, I’ve been inundated by numerous potential opportunities. And something that’s surprised me about myself is that I’m not afraid to risk rejection and apply for these positions, despite my apprehension in the past. I recently applied for a leadership role with Unite UW as well as a role as a stage managing position for a UTS production. Even if these positions don’t work out, I’m unworried because I know that I will soon discover a new opportunity.
A resource I hope to explore further is departmental advising for disciplines I’m interested in. I definitely know that I will use this resource my time at UW, especially as I narrow down further my potential majors. Through Honors 100, I’ve also learned about undergraduate research, which I hope to investigate, especially psychology research and working with the university’s child development services.
By the end of my time at UW, I do not want to feel as though I have been limited in terms of the classes I’ve taken and the activities I’ve participated in. I still hope to consider the humanities an integral part of my life, even though I want to delve further into several STEM subjects. By the end of my first year in Honors, I want to notice improvements in the way I write and think academically. I also want to become more fluent at noting the interdisciplinary nature of various phenomena, and applying these observations in real life. Because my end goal for a career is diplomacy related, I want to gain an even greater perspective of international events and how to facilitate diplomatic relations from the courses I study. Overall, I hope that my education at UW gives me both the chances to succeed and the chances to fail gracefully. I want to become more resilient, constantly redefine who I think I am, and not pigeonhole myself into one potential path, goal, or mindset.