An Unusual Introduction to College

Surviving as a Student in 2020

Trying to focus on education in the midst of a global crisis is not an easy task. Everyday there are new worries being thrown at you– the paralyzing thought of your family catching the virus, the ever-changing political climate, and the possibility that the state of our world may be our "new normal–" all on top of making the grade. Not a day goes by where I don't read a post made by yet another student wondering how they're gonna survive until the end of the semester. It's comforting to know that none of us are alone, but also disheartening to hear about the extent of our struggle. Then, I start to think about how strong and resilient this generation of students has become. Although the outside world is in chaos, we are still making an attempt to learn and become better-educated people. Nobody prepared us to learn in the situation we are in, yet here we are, continuing to make an effort at whatever extent, to reach our goals. Although it may not feel like it, the work we are putting in right now is a major achievement in itself. Sometimes I wish I would have come to this realization at the start of the quarter instead of near the end of it, because I probably would not have beat myself up over the little things; however, if I had the chance to redo any of my experiences, I wouldn't take it. The pandemic has taught me a lot about not only other people, but myself, and those things that I learned are too valuable to take back.

My transition to university life has been nothing close to conventional. "Zoom University" jokes aside, spending the quarter in my room, staring at a computer screen, was not the most ideal start to college. It isn't exactly what I anticipated to be the running start to the marathon that is undergraduate education. Regardless, I want to express how lucky I feel to even have the opportunity to go to college. As a first generation student, I am on a path that many of my family members could not walk on. Regardless of the situation we are in as students, going to UCI is the culmination of our hard work over the last four years of high school. Although there were a few tough moments throughout the quarter, I have learned to make the most of remote learning. After all, challenges bring opportunities.

I could definitely say that I have been challenged in Humanities Core. I've always loved reading and writing, so I was happy to get the chance to think deeply about a diverse body of texts. I came into the quarter thinking I had hit a plateau with my writing skills, so I was pleasantly surprised by the opportunities this course has given me to grow. Back in high school, I never had multiple drafts of a paper or even a comprehensible outline. I have come to learn how important careful planning and revision is. I used to spend hours on the first (and often final) draft, picking apart each word and sentence. Now, I learned not to be so rigid and to let the ideas flow, knowing that I can fix it up a bit later. I used to worry about not meeting the page minimum, and have come to realize that now I might have too much to say. Presenting my work in a multimodal format has allowed me to add a personal touch to my writing. I appreciated the chance to be less formal and give readers an idea of who was behind the writing and the thought process that goes into it.

Had I read these texts 6 months ago, I would have never picked up on the explorations of human agency or use of animals to demonstrate what a good ruler does. It's crazy to think about how much my perspective has evolved in as little in ten weeks. The most influential topic we've explored is human agency. The question of how much control we have has not only impacted my personal thought process, but has allowed me to think deeper about my writing. I was able to address the multiple layers of this complex inquiry in a piece of writing that I was proud of. As I continue through this course, I hope to keep an open mind to all the ways that these forms of literature and culture can shape not only my writing, but my worldview.

Learning and Growing

Fall quarter has taught me what it is like to not be a perfect student. I'm an extreme perfectionist, and in all honestly, I have gotten used to always making the grade. So, you can imagine just how stressed I was when the first couple weeks of the quarter weren't necessarily going the way I had hoped. I was really hard on myself, not giving myself much room to makes mistakes and learn from them. Then, I realized that it was me, not my grades or my schoolwork, that was the culprit behind my stress. I didn't need to get a perfect grade in order to feel proud of the work I had put into an assignment. I wasn't going to get a high score on every single test, and that was okay. I decided to instead focus on learning and personal growth, and let the grades come to fruition on their own. Things started to get so much better, and I was actually excited about learning again. So, I did bad on a test, but then I excelled on a couple more. I stressed myself out over some assignments, but I really enjoyed others. I had some long days where I was stuck at my desk, but also happy moments with my family. I learned how to be kinder to myself, as well as how essential it is to give myself some grace when things don't turn out as well as I expect them to.

In an effort to instill more optimism into my life, I've decided to make the best of our current situation. I must acknowledge how lucky I am to be able to do so, as I realized how many things I took for granted pre-COVID. I want to continue to push myself to not only further pursue my interests, but to seek out opportunities to grow in areas that I'm not confident in. I hope to expand my knowledge of cultures different than my own, as well as different genres of literature than my typical reads. In these upcoming months I hope to continue to grow not just as a student, but as a person.

As intimidating as it sounds, there is no going back to the way things were before COVID-19. Too much has happened since the beginning of March to return to life as it was. Humanity has had the chance to stare its greatest fears in the face. We have all been threatened in some way: by the virus, our politicians, our law enforcement, and even our own neighbors. Each and every event has been eye-opening to injustices that have existed long before the pandemic began. The only way to come out stronger from these last eight months is to learn from them. We have all been given the opportunity to learn how to be kinder to each other, to be more open-minded, and to be willing to accept change; we mustn't miss out on it.