Semester Reflections

Semester 1

Leaving for college, I didn’t quite know how to prepare. I was moving to a new state knowing nobody, getting ready to spend the next 9 months living with a stranger. I had met a few people at orientation, but there was no way of knowing if or how those potential friendships were going to play out. I had no idea what was going to happen. Thankfully, it went better than I had expected. Of course not everything was perfect and there were some bumps in the road, but the foundations from this first semester feel solid and have given me something to look forward to for the next 4 years. Classes have been challenging, though not unmanageable. The flexibility of a college schedule compared to a high school one has made a massive difference in my day to day function and wellbeing. Not being forced out of bed at 6am to spend 7 hours in the same building has been refreshing, to say the least. While of course I haven’t loved every moment of a 3 hour lab or the 4th lecture of the day, I have had an overall positive experience and a fulfilling first semester that has left me feeling like I have learned something new in every class. Colloquium was focused more on the impacts of art as opposed to art itself, which I did not initially expect. While there were a few workshops, I expected them to be a bigger aspect of the class than they ended up being. The activities outside of the classroom ended up being more enjoyable than I expected, especially the Craft and Chats. I was hesitant at first, especially given that the events I attended were not ones focused around mediums I was comfortable with, but they ended up teaching me new things I would not have otherwise learned. They ended up enhancing my overall experience in Scholars and I had more fun with them than I initially thought I would. The hands-on learning aspects of Scholars ended up being the most influential for me. Workshops, Craft and Chats, and TRYathlon activities all taught me new skills I would not have learned otherwise. While classroom discussions can be interesting, having new experiences to enhance them has made learning more enjoyable and impactful. They also encouraged (and sometimes forced) me to learn something new. If given the choice, I never would have tried Vogue dancing, though the workshop we had in class gave me the opportunity to try it anyways. While I did not love every experience, trying something first hand as opposed to reading or talking about it was much more fun and I know I will remember those moments for much longer than the times when I was sitting in a classroom. Having to manage my own schedule and balance freedom with responsibility has been a challenge, though I feel I have managed well enough. I have always had issues with time management and procrastination, and next semester I want to focus more on completing tasks early instead of last minute. Since getting to college, however, I have become much less stressed by workloads and have made more time for myself and activities I enjoy. Of course the first semester hasn’t been perfectly smooth sailing, though I hope the rest of my years here will continue on the same positive path.