Year in Review-First Year
First year was a waking contradiction, and a journey powered by a continual strive for balance in my life. Much like the popular Starburst commercials, my freshman year was full of pairs that don’t seem to go together, but helped me grow as a person. After my first year I can say that I have become both more and less talkative, that my confidence has both increased and decreased, but that my love for my major and the University of Cincinnati has only grown stronger.
Coming into my first semester I was that person who would just talk all the time. I chalk it up to nerves, but I would always share too much or command the conversation, and neither in a good way. It was pretty evident to me that I did not need to be sharing or talking this much. Everyone does not need to know everything about me, and most of them don’t care to know. It’s also pretty important to listen just as much as you talk because everyone has a really interesting story to tell. Learning this lesson is only proving itself more valuable as I continue to move through college. During my honors seminar-Conversations About Life-listening allowed me to gain some great insight on the issues discussed in class, and as a bonus stopped me from saying something misinformed I would have regretted. As I prepare to become an Honors Retreat Leader for 2014, I know that as the leader I will have to facilitate the conversation in my small group and not dominate it. Interviews also became much easier once I knew when to stop talking, as the search for my first Co-Op wrapped up I knew just how much information to put into an initial answer so that the interviewers would have what they needed without getting lost in my extra details. These interview skills allowed me to land both an amazing Co-Op opportunity and a Student Government Cabinet position. Learning when to listen has allowed me to become friends with some seriously cool people, and I know that if I continue to talk and listen in the appropriate proportions that my experiences are only going to get more amazing.
It probably seems pretty strange to say that my confidence decreased and call it a good thing. Yet I know that I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the little shot in my confidence I got this year. In high school, I did hardly any work and got all the fabulous grades anyone could ask for. I learned in college that I couldn’t just go to a class and absorb the information by osmosis or something; I had to learn how to study. It’s an age old conflict and struggle. The struggle is between a college social life and studying, with the added distraction of Nexflix in the new modern age. Oh, I went into each semester with only the best of intentions. However, Netflix and friends proved too much of a distraction and I came out of the year praying for the grade gods to bless me with good marks. The stress caused by the magnitude of my prayers and the amount of studying I had to do to even give said prayers a chance of being heard is more than I ever want to have to deal with again. Now my confidence is of a completely different type. No longer do I walk into a classroom thinking that I am going to succeed simply because I am better than the system. I now walk into a classroom confident that by putting the work in and actually buckling down and studying I will get the grades I deserve because I worked for them. Those grades feel way better than the ones that you get just because you’re good, and they feel a million times better than the ones you get because you prayed and stressed over them.
Freshman year was a ride for sure; of course I faced the usual bumps: roomie conflicts, extreme distaste for the cafeteria food come January, and late night studying-well programming-sessions. Even though it was a struggle, I wouldn’t trade any minute of my first year. I learned some extremely valuable things about myself and I know that the next four years are going to be even better.
Bring it on.
Coming into my first semester I was that person who would just talk all the time. I chalk it up to nerves, but I would always share too much or command the conversation, and neither in a good way. It was pretty evident to me that I did not need to be sharing or talking this much. Everyone does not need to know everything about me, and most of them don’t care to know. It’s also pretty important to listen just as much as you talk because everyone has a really interesting story to tell. Learning this lesson is only proving itself more valuable as I continue to move through college. During my honors seminar-Conversations About Life-listening allowed me to gain some great insight on the issues discussed in class, and as a bonus stopped me from saying something misinformed I would have regretted. As I prepare to become an Honors Retreat Leader for 2014, I know that as the leader I will have to facilitate the conversation in my small group and not dominate it. Interviews also became much easier once I knew when to stop talking, as the search for my first Co-Op wrapped up I knew just how much information to put into an initial answer so that the interviewers would have what they needed without getting lost in my extra details. These interview skills allowed me to land both an amazing Co-Op opportunity and a Student Government Cabinet position. Learning when to listen has allowed me to become friends with some seriously cool people, and I know that if I continue to talk and listen in the appropriate proportions that my experiences are only going to get more amazing.
It probably seems pretty strange to say that my confidence decreased and call it a good thing. Yet I know that I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the little shot in my confidence I got this year. In high school, I did hardly any work and got all the fabulous grades anyone could ask for. I learned in college that I couldn’t just go to a class and absorb the information by osmosis or something; I had to learn how to study. It’s an age old conflict and struggle. The struggle is between a college social life and studying, with the added distraction of Nexflix in the new modern age. Oh, I went into each semester with only the best of intentions. However, Netflix and friends proved too much of a distraction and I came out of the year praying for the grade gods to bless me with good marks. The stress caused by the magnitude of my prayers and the amount of studying I had to do to even give said prayers a chance of being heard is more than I ever want to have to deal with again. Now my confidence is of a completely different type. No longer do I walk into a classroom thinking that I am going to succeed simply because I am better than the system. I now walk into a classroom confident that by putting the work in and actually buckling down and studying I will get the grades I deserve because I worked for them. Those grades feel way better than the ones that you get just because you’re good, and they feel a million times better than the ones you get because you prayed and stressed over them.
Freshman year was a ride for sure; of course I faced the usual bumps: roomie conflicts, extreme distaste for the cafeteria food come January, and late night studying-well programming-sessions. Even though it was a struggle, I wouldn’t trade any minute of my first year. I learned some extremely valuable things about myself and I know that the next four years are going to be even better.
Bring it on.