Year in Review-Second Year
Sophomore year was a marathon, and it’s not over. The weird thing for me from here on out is when I am writing these year in reviews I will be still in the middle of my year. Welcome to the real world where there is no summer. I definitely grew a whole lot over the course of this year. Some of the things I am involved with now, I never thought I would be qualified enough to even apply for at the end of last year.
Going into fall semester my dad sat me down. He said, “Now I know you like to be busy, but are you sure that you can handle all the things you have going on this coming semester?” Keeping in mind that in high school I juggled 4 AP classes, dance 6 days a week, theater, Student Council, mock government, and a handful of various other organizations. You would think he would know that I can handle lots of things at once. The kicker was class. In high school I was the kid who never needed to study, only put in the bare minimum on homework-I just did the stuff once, I didn’t bother to proofread or anything-and still got straight A’s. My first year here at UC I learned the hard way that I would actually need to try in class if I wanted to get my degree and get the grades I wanted with it. Because of that, dad’s comment was a little bit more warranted. Fall semester I had 16 credit hours’ worth of difficult classes (including my first encounter with the infamous beast that is Organic Chemistry), I was rushing into a sorority which included two demanding weekends of recruitment and then all the obligations of a new member, I had a position in Student Government as Assistant to the Student Body President that I needed to excel in so I could get an even better position next year, I was interning at the Mayor’s Office 10 hours a week, and I had a long-term relationship and friends I needed to devote some time to so I don’t go insane. It was a lot. I knew it was a lot. When I added in the internship around mid-June, I knew that it was probably more than I should have taken on and could easily turn into a terrible mistake, but I was excited. Truth be told, I really missed the scheduled chaos of my high school days. I missed having to block out time for homework and knowing that this is the only time I have to complete it. I missed the almost constant state of running from one thing to the next. I was pumped to be that busy again. So I told my dad, “Well, if it proves to be too much and I can see my grades slipping I can cut back time on something, Student Government or the internship will probably go first.” That seemed to shut him up.
As the semester progressed I was in my element. I had a weekly routine. I was so in the zone that my goal of having all my homework done before Saturday so I didn’t have any over the weekend was retained another semester. Best of all, I was happiest I have ever been since coming to UC. I loved accepting a bid from and eventually getting initiated into Kappa Alpha Theta here at UC. I loved being able to work closely with the Student Body President both helping her as her assistant and working on my own initiatives with her as a close mentor if I needed it. And, I loved working at the Mayor’s Office and getting to know the city that is now my home. End of the semester and I still loved life, I wasn’t burned out. I was thriving as I had hoped I would. I was fortunate enough to come out of that absolutely insane semester with a higher GPA than I had gotten either semester freshman year. Once all my grades were in, I showed my dad my grade report saying, “I hate to say I told you so but, being busy just works for me.”
Spring semester presented new challenges; I transitioned into my first co-op role at GE Aviation and was really thrown into the working world. I still had to keep up with all of my campus responsibilities and sometimes that was a challenge to balance. When you’re in classes you can switch around your schedule as long as you attend those classes, but when you’re on co-op from 8-5 is basically blocked off for your employer. Aside from that, GE is a large company and there is a unique culture that comes with it. As a new employee there is a big learning curve, and I wanted to excel in my role to the best of my ability so I had a lot of learning to do. Now, as I move back into classes, I know I am going to miss the flexibility of work. I really like having projects that are mine to work on and that I need to follow up on, but I also like knowing that I have a manager there to ask questions to if I need help.
To tie it all together, through these experiences I have learned more and networked with more people than I ever would have thought possible at the start of my rotation. At the end of last year I never thought I would be meeting the kinds of people I met this semester. On top of that, in school, I never thought I would have successfully completed a project that allowed all the Student Senators to come to City Hall for a Senate meeting and that the Mayor would be a guest speaker. I especially never thought that I would be in an Associate Vice President role in Student Government, I thought Director of something at best. Finally, I never thought that I would be a potential candidate for the position of Student Trustee, maybe I would have put in an application, but I wouldn’t have put myself as qualified enough to be chosen from 50 applicants as one of 10 to be interviewed. It’s been a great year, and even as I look upon a second semester of Organic Chemistry staring me in the face, I know that if I can get an A in OChem while interning and doing Student Government, then I can do OChem 2 while watching all my friends have summer fun via social media.
Bring it on.
Going into fall semester my dad sat me down. He said, “Now I know you like to be busy, but are you sure that you can handle all the things you have going on this coming semester?” Keeping in mind that in high school I juggled 4 AP classes, dance 6 days a week, theater, Student Council, mock government, and a handful of various other organizations. You would think he would know that I can handle lots of things at once. The kicker was class. In high school I was the kid who never needed to study, only put in the bare minimum on homework-I just did the stuff once, I didn’t bother to proofread or anything-and still got straight A’s. My first year here at UC I learned the hard way that I would actually need to try in class if I wanted to get my degree and get the grades I wanted with it. Because of that, dad’s comment was a little bit more warranted. Fall semester I had 16 credit hours’ worth of difficult classes (including my first encounter with the infamous beast that is Organic Chemistry), I was rushing into a sorority which included two demanding weekends of recruitment and then all the obligations of a new member, I had a position in Student Government as Assistant to the Student Body President that I needed to excel in so I could get an even better position next year, I was interning at the Mayor’s Office 10 hours a week, and I had a long-term relationship and friends I needed to devote some time to so I don’t go insane. It was a lot. I knew it was a lot. When I added in the internship around mid-June, I knew that it was probably more than I should have taken on and could easily turn into a terrible mistake, but I was excited. Truth be told, I really missed the scheduled chaos of my high school days. I missed having to block out time for homework and knowing that this is the only time I have to complete it. I missed the almost constant state of running from one thing to the next. I was pumped to be that busy again. So I told my dad, “Well, if it proves to be too much and I can see my grades slipping I can cut back time on something, Student Government or the internship will probably go first.” That seemed to shut him up.
As the semester progressed I was in my element. I had a weekly routine. I was so in the zone that my goal of having all my homework done before Saturday so I didn’t have any over the weekend was retained another semester. Best of all, I was happiest I have ever been since coming to UC. I loved accepting a bid from and eventually getting initiated into Kappa Alpha Theta here at UC. I loved being able to work closely with the Student Body President both helping her as her assistant and working on my own initiatives with her as a close mentor if I needed it. And, I loved working at the Mayor’s Office and getting to know the city that is now my home. End of the semester and I still loved life, I wasn’t burned out. I was thriving as I had hoped I would. I was fortunate enough to come out of that absolutely insane semester with a higher GPA than I had gotten either semester freshman year. Once all my grades were in, I showed my dad my grade report saying, “I hate to say I told you so but, being busy just works for me.”
Spring semester presented new challenges; I transitioned into my first co-op role at GE Aviation and was really thrown into the working world. I still had to keep up with all of my campus responsibilities and sometimes that was a challenge to balance. When you’re in classes you can switch around your schedule as long as you attend those classes, but when you’re on co-op from 8-5 is basically blocked off for your employer. Aside from that, GE is a large company and there is a unique culture that comes with it. As a new employee there is a big learning curve, and I wanted to excel in my role to the best of my ability so I had a lot of learning to do. Now, as I move back into classes, I know I am going to miss the flexibility of work. I really like having projects that are mine to work on and that I need to follow up on, but I also like knowing that I have a manager there to ask questions to if I need help.
To tie it all together, through these experiences I have learned more and networked with more people than I ever would have thought possible at the start of my rotation. At the end of last year I never thought I would be meeting the kinds of people I met this semester. On top of that, in school, I never thought I would have successfully completed a project that allowed all the Student Senators to come to City Hall for a Senate meeting and that the Mayor would be a guest speaker. I especially never thought that I would be in an Associate Vice President role in Student Government, I thought Director of something at best. Finally, I never thought that I would be a potential candidate for the position of Student Trustee, maybe I would have put in an application, but I wouldn’t have put myself as qualified enough to be chosen from 50 applicants as one of 10 to be interviewed. It’s been a great year, and even as I look upon a second semester of Organic Chemistry staring me in the face, I know that if I can get an A in OChem while interning and doing Student Government, then I can do OChem 2 while watching all my friends have summer fun via social media.
Bring it on.