Autumn Quarter Reflection

At the beginning of the Autumn quarter, it was hard to have expectations for myself. I had never experienced what it is like to take rigorous university courses. I also had not fully experienced online learning. Now that I am currently near the end of the quarter, I feel that I have more of a baseline for university courses and my expectations. I can no longer expect myself to be perfect, as there is so much to adjust to, especially this year.

I have had to adjust to the rigor of the College of Engineering at the Unversity of Washington. I graduated from Rainier Beach High School with my International Baccalaureate diploma. The International Baccalaureate program offers some of the most rigorous courses within high school education. While at times, the International Baccalaureate program was difficult, I graduated with an unweighted GPA of 4.0 on a 4.0 scale. I do not want to dismiss my hard work as a high school student, but I feel that I did not work as hard as my peers to achieve the same result. I have always had a good work ethic, but I have never had to study for hours on end to achieve the learning and the grades that I wanted.

The College of Engineering at the University of Washington is rigorous. There is more content to go through in a shorter time than I was expecting. At this point, almost all of my free time is dedicated to education. I highly value education and I realize that it is a privilege to have the opportunity to attend the College of Engineering at the University of Washington. However, throughout the Autumn quarter, I have realized that I hold values close to my heart that do not have to do with education.

I greatly value my friends and family, as well as learning opportunities outside of my regular courses. I want to dedicate more time to some of these values without compromising my education. It has been difficult to budget my time in the way that I want; it is a learning process that I am continuing to work through.

There is a lot of course work given at the University of Washington. Often, I do not feel that I have enough time to put 100% of my effort into all of my assignments. I have learned to accept this and to put more effort into the assignments that I am truly interested in. I have also realized that my time at university is not just about the end goal. I want more out of my time at the University of Washington than a certain GPA or degree. Upon reflection, I know that I want to learn and master the course material provided to me. I want to take advantage of more opportunities that come with being a student at the University of Washington so that I can expand my knowledge. I hope to continue to learn to value the process just as much or even more than the outcome.

I have also learned how important it is to have a community to rely on throughout university. I am lucky enough to be a part of the Summer Early Enrichment in Engineering for Dean’s Scholars (SEEEDS) 2020-2021 cohort. I feel that my peers within SEEEDS have greatly enriched my college experience so far. I am also grateful to have been accepted into the Interdisciplinary Honors program. I have not connected as well with those in the Interdisciplinary Honors program as I with those in SEEEDS. I do hope to continue to become a part of the Interdisciplinary Honors program community and to make an effort to connect with my peers more.

I have a few goals for the end of my first year in the Interdisciplinary Honors program and the College of Engineering at the University of Washington. I hope that I will have truly mastered the coursework within each of my classes. I also hope that I will have taken advantage of as many opportunities that were available to me and that I will have learned a lot from them. I hope to continue to foster community and relationships with my peers by the end of my first year. By the end of my time at the University of Washington, I hope to have no regrets. I hope that I had pursued anything and everything that interested me, even if it did not lead to a long-term opportunity.

Below is a PDF of my Autumn Quarter Reflection with a word count:

HONORS Autumn Quarter Reflection.pdf

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