The first year of college for me can be summed up in one word- insane.
Although a lot of people would question my sanity when I say that, I mean that in the most positive sense of the word.
It's true that no one really understands college until they're in the middle of it. Coming into college, I was determined that getting a 4.0 would be just as easy as it was in high school, but then first semester happened and reality sunk in. Naively, I thought that I would stay very close to friends from high school, but I quickly found myself outgrowing a lot of them, realizing in the process who truly mattered to me. I was worried that I wouldn't make the tight-knit relationships that I had in high school, but quickly made friends in college who also grew together as a group. I thought that student involvement was an all-in thing that everyone did, but found quickly that my enthusiasm was unparalleled. I also found myself reining myself in with involvement as classes got harder second semester, and practicing more and more time management.
At the same time, I reveled in these changes.
Although I enjoyed high school, I found it rather limiting. Counselors and teachers dictating academic progress, only a few things to get involved in, having an overbearing mom controlling my social life, and being stuck with the same group of people from 8th through 12th grade was tiring at times.
I was exhilarated with the newfound freedom of college, and the fact that I, yes, I, was in control of my life for the first time, not my professors, not my advisors, not my mom, and that I had almost total autonomy. At the same time, I was relieved for such a large support network being there if I did need it.
Despite the highly unstructured nature of college, I found that I had a great sense of time management and prioritization of schoolwork over other things if need be, getting on the Dean's List both semesters.
I was also astonished at how fluid my once rigid plans for my five years here at UC became.
Coming in, I was dead set on trying to get my Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering with minors in Spanish and French. But one day, looking at minors, I discovered that a minor in Astrophysics would only be three more classes. Realizing that I wanted to take a couple astronomy classes here at UC anyway, and that it would give me a competitive advantage if I applied to organizations such as NASA or SpaceX, I decided to declare it.
I also thoroughly enjoyed the philosophy class I took in my first semester here, and the different perspectives and "What ifs" it presents from the more rigid STEM curriculum. At the time of this writing, I am even considering declaring a minor in philosophy.
Don't get me wrong, I still love learning different languages and about the cultures that surround them- I am even part of the International Co-op program here- but realize that languages allow a more flexible learning style than formal collegiate certification. I plan on learning new languages all my life, but while I'm pursuing my Bachelor's Degree here in mechanical engineering, I realize that I only have a few free classes outside of my major requirements, and want to learn something that I may not be able to outside of the collegiate atmosphere.
One thing that changed dramatically for the better was the spectrum of organizations that I got involved in and being employed for the first time.
I dabbled in a lot of organizations, and decided to keep involvement in several of them for the next year, such as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Society of Women Engineers, Young Americans for Liberty, and the Engineers without Borders Botswana Committee, which is collaborating with NGOs to fund and design clean water projects in Botswana.
I got my first job on this campus, a work-study at UC Communications Services in the copy and print department, which forced me to time-manage even more than a typical student, but often gave me free time to study on slow days and allowed me to get some spending money as well. The first taste of the world of the employed was a favorable one for me, and, fortunately, I can stay in this position any semester I have the work-study award .
I also received a number of leadership positions on campus as a result, both in extracurriculars and in more traditional roles.
In my first year, I was Vice President of the UC branch of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), and will be the Marketing Chair (over advertising and social media) in my second year. Getting involved in ASSE helped me realize how much of an issue safety in engineering is, and I wanted to make sure that I could bring awareness to this on our campus. Staying true to my passion for diversity and culture, I was also a planning board member for Worldfest Week, a cultural festival over 11 days on UC's campus with events hosted by many different groups on campus. I even hosted my own event, which I will explain in more detail later on in this review. I was astonished how easily I was elected president of the UC Astronomy Club for my second year, and am currently planning out all of the club's activities, such as a speaker with real-world astrophysics experience who is now a college professor, a stargazing night in conjunction with Mountaineering Club, the regular meeting topics and several movie nights. For my second year, I will also be an IPAL- a volunteer for UC International to help international students get acquainted with UC, and will also attend all of the international student retreats. I was also inducted into Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society this past year for being in the top twenty percent of students in my major.
Getting involved in all these organizations has allowed me to hone my passions and even discover some new ones, and I believe that continued involvement will continue to give me a sense of fulfillment outside of the classroom.
My two more traditional leadership roles that I am currently completing or will be in the upcoming year are my current job as a Student Orientation Leader (SOL) the summer of 2016 and being a Peer Leader in the fall 2016 semester.
I wanted to do both things for the opportunities they offered for me to give back to incoming students. I loved both my SOL in my small group in orientation and my Peer Leader in my learning community, and wanted to give that experience to other students.
Working as a Student Orientation Leader is a unique experience, to say the least, with a month of training to learn about the different resources on campus, leading incoming students in various activities in small groups, answering any questions students or parents may have about campus, and overall, acting as the face to the university. It's hard work, but it has opened so many doors for me, giving me opportunities to meet many high-ranking administrators, provosts, and deans on campus, allowing me to rent out the TUC movie theatre for Astronomy Club movie nights, informed me of job openings at the FC Cincinnati games on the weekends, and let me meet amazing people that I would have never met otherwise. This group of people is as diverse as can be, from personalities to majors to ethnicities and backgrounds. However,our differences make us a stronger team, and as I continue to get to know many of them, I am gaining several unique friendships that can only come from working and living (in Calhoun Hall) together.
Working as a Peer Leader, I will be leading a Learning Community of incoming students in a similar major to me (in my case, the students will be in Mechanical Engineering Technology), which will meet twice a week in the fall semester. In this role, I am a mentor of sorts, helping them get adjusted to campus, get to know each other in order to form study groups, introducing them to resources on campus, and being available for them if they need any academic or personal help. I will be starting training for this position in August, and look forward to being a great resource and even friend to these students.
I was also astonished at how quickly I could take part in other unique opportunities here on campus.
I applied to a nationally competitive scholarship- the Boren Scholarship- my first year after hearing about it in my Gateway to Honors class and in my learning community. The Boren Award is a government funded scholarship that allows high achieving students to study a language critical to national security in exchange for the student working for the government for a year after their college graduation. Using my combination of my BS in Mech. Engineering and my minor in Astrophysics, as well as my love of different cultures and languages, I formed a compelling argument. I applied for an experience in Brazil studying Portuguese that would allow me to foster positive relations with Brazil's space program if I was able to work for NASA after graduation. It was a highly competitive process to even get approval from the Nationally Competitive Awards office on campus, including a rigorous screening and interview process. I was one of less than 10 applicants to the program on our campus this year, and although I did not win the funds for the experience, the process itself allowed me to fine tune my application skills for professional opportunities, and helped me fine-tune some of my plans for my major and minor. For my efforts, I was recognized at the UC Student Recognition Ceremony, along with other notable members of the student body. Seeing the accomplishments of many of these astonishing students inspired me to continue to aspire to reach the highest.
I also completed the aforementioned Worldfest Week event completely through my own initiative. Its premise was to ask international students about their perspectives and the obstacles they have to face simply to get an education at UC. I interviewed over 20 students using a camera borrowed from Langsam Library and compiled it into a documentary, learning how to use Movie Maker in order to do it. As I was the only person working on the project, I also had to advertise it, creating a poster to hang around campus, and creating a Facebook event for it. To make it a true event, I decided to make it a luncheon, but needed to secure funding. I reached out to both UC International and UC Student Government, getting them to fund it together. The event was a success, with a lot of discussion afterwards between the American and international students. I loved learning about their experiences, and made so many connections. I also became very aware of the lack of discussion of this on our campus, and, when asked by UC International to become an IPAL, jumped at the chance to create more awareness of international students' problems. For more details on this project, please go to the tab for it under Honors Experiences.
Social life here was definitely a unique experience as well, aided by all the resources here on campus. From just hanging out on Sigma Sigma (and even learning to ride a bike there this year), to the Holi celebration and having chalk stuck in my hair for days, to seeing my first opera at CCM, to meeting different people in dozens of campus organizations, to writing poetry about campus (with one poem even being published in a book sponsored by the library--see my Crafting, Artistry and Poetry section) to simply using a classroom on Friday nights to watch movies and bond with wonderful people, I've had so many memorable experiences here with wonderful friends and made so many connections that will help me in the future!
This isn't to say that I've forgotten in the least about my degree program and how much I enjoy it.
In my first year, I learned so much that I would never have dreamed of, including multivariable calculus, Solidworks, and Matlab, particularly enjoying the first two for their potential real world applications with design and innovation. I joined the International Co-op program, merging my love for engineering and new cultures, and will be taking classes later in my college career in order to spend my last two co-op semesters in Japan. At the time of this writing, I am still searching for a co-op in the Cincinnati area that I can (hopefully) remain in for my first three co-op semesters.
As I wrap up my reflection, I hope that the aforementioned leadership positions this upcoming year energize me for the academic side of the collegiate experience. I can't deny that I'm nervous, especially about being a Peer Leader, but I believe that my past experiences and training for each position will ensure I'm prepared for whatever comes my way. I have a rigorous schedule this upcoming fall semester as well, with eighteen credit hours, including an honors seminar building a drone, as well as two jobs (work-study and Peer Leader), and all my other involvement. Although staring at my schedule, and its lack of free space, offers little support, I realize that utilizing my time-management skills that I improved over this past year, along with prioritization, I can continue to do well in my classes and stay involved in extracurriculars, while still maintaining a social life.
If there's anything that I've been taught this year, it's to keep an open mind and to not force myself to go with a rigid plan all the time. The best things often happen by serendipity. On a campus as large as this one, anything can happen, and I welcome it.