YEAR IN REVIEW 2014-2015
Stressful, busy, productive, rewarding - those are just a few words to describe my sophomore year of college. This year was an eye-opener for me in many ways and was a true learning experience. I learned a lot about personal strength, resilience, and most of all the art of multitasking! Balancing academic courses, leadership positions, extracurricular activities, and a part-time job was not easy, but a challenge that I have learned valuable lessons from.
Coming into college from a college-preparatory high school made my transition to freshman year a very easy one. I was taking courses that were actually easier than my high school senior year classes, I was only working 8 hours a week, and had no leadership positions. So when my sophomore year started, and my load got heavier, I finally felt like a “college student”. At times I was focusing so much of my attention on my student worker position and my positions in two University clubs that I was forgetting about my coursework.
At one point, I fell so behind in a class that one of my professors had to contact the Undergraduate Director of the Communication Sciences and Disorders program to let her know that I was at risk of earning below a “C” in his Anatomy and Physiology of Voice and Speech Production course. This was a rude awakening for me because I had never received less than a “B+” in my college coursework. One night when I got one of my exams back with a grade of 70%, I just broke down and cried. I remember feeling so hopeless and overwhelmed. My Undergraduate Director even called me that night and told me that she expected so much more from me. Even though her high regard for me made me cry even more, it motivated me assess what I was doing wrong.
From that point on, I began to get more organized and focused. I realized that my time-management skills needed a re-boost, so each Sunday I would plan out my week. I made sure to make note of everything I had to do spanning my academic, work, and extracurricular activities, utilized a dry-erase whiteboard that I could hang up on my dorm room wall and see everyday. I kept this practice up and saw an almost instant transformation in my grades and efficiency in how I used my time. I ended up getting a 96% on my Anatomy exam and ending the semester with a 3.769 and making Dean’s List.
I see that experience from fall semester as a sort of anecdote or representation of my sophomore year as a whole. I started off the year with a few hiccups but at the end of spring semester I feel that I had a good hold on balancing the many different facets of my life. I ended the year successfully by moving up in the executive ranks of two University organizations, earning a 3.867 GPA and making Dean’s List, and also earning research positions with the McNair Scholars Program and the UC Women in Science and Engineering Program.
So what has my sophomore year taught me? It has taught me that the road is not supposed to be easy. The journey will have tough spots but it will make for a more successful destination.
Coming into college from a college-preparatory high school made my transition to freshman year a very easy one. I was taking courses that were actually easier than my high school senior year classes, I was only working 8 hours a week, and had no leadership positions. So when my sophomore year started, and my load got heavier, I finally felt like a “college student”. At times I was focusing so much of my attention on my student worker position and my positions in two University clubs that I was forgetting about my coursework.
At one point, I fell so behind in a class that one of my professors had to contact the Undergraduate Director of the Communication Sciences and Disorders program to let her know that I was at risk of earning below a “C” in his Anatomy and Physiology of Voice and Speech Production course. This was a rude awakening for me because I had never received less than a “B+” in my college coursework. One night when I got one of my exams back with a grade of 70%, I just broke down and cried. I remember feeling so hopeless and overwhelmed. My Undergraduate Director even called me that night and told me that she expected so much more from me. Even though her high regard for me made me cry even more, it motivated me assess what I was doing wrong.
From that point on, I began to get more organized and focused. I realized that my time-management skills needed a re-boost, so each Sunday I would plan out my week. I made sure to make note of everything I had to do spanning my academic, work, and extracurricular activities, utilized a dry-erase whiteboard that I could hang up on my dorm room wall and see everyday. I kept this practice up and saw an almost instant transformation in my grades and efficiency in how I used my time. I ended up getting a 96% on my Anatomy exam and ending the semester with a 3.769 and making Dean’s List.
I see that experience from fall semester as a sort of anecdote or representation of my sophomore year as a whole. I started off the year with a few hiccups but at the end of spring semester I feel that I had a good hold on balancing the many different facets of my life. I ended the year successfully by moving up in the executive ranks of two University organizations, earning a 3.867 GPA and making Dean’s List, and also earning research positions with the McNair Scholars Program and the UC Women in Science and Engineering Program.
So what has my sophomore year taught me? It has taught me that the road is not supposed to be easy. The journey will have tough spots but it will make for a more successful destination.