Semester Reflections

Semester 2

To begin, I have good news for you, incoming Freshman: it gets SO much better from here. This is a rundown of what’s in store for you next year and some advice. 

I’ll start off with faculty relationships. When you go to college, it’s important to build connections with as many people as possible. Faculty, in particular, are important because they can help you far beyond the classroom and can impart their wisdom. I became close with my Japanese professor (who wrote a letter of recommendation for me) and with my TA for an Art-history class (who agreed to be a reference for a possible internship). Part of this is the amount of time I spent with each (i.e. Japanese class met every day!); but what you can do is at the minimum, come to class! You can ask questions both during lecture and during office hours. If there’s one thing I will do differently in the future, it’s utilize office hours. In terms of connecting with peers, this is also important because you need to be around people going through similar experiences. This makes college a lot easier and way more fun. An easy tip is to initiate small-talk with people. Very few people do this, and I could definitely do it more, but you never know what kind of relationship is in store if you don’t do it. Even if a lot of these relationships don’t go beyond the current semester or even beyond the classroom, having people you can talk to in the moment makes everything better. 

The Arts Scholars program in particular has been great for building community through fostering artistic engagement. I had the opportunity to create a painting and a visual novel, among other things, and try out vogue dancing and slam poetry. We completed various activities throughout the year that helped me understand the role of art in society (to promote ideas, to bring people together). I’m looking forward to creating my own exhibition next year for my sophomore capstone project. My perception of art has changed the most through expanding what types of art I’m comfortable with. For example, I signed up for a workshop on creating visual novels, coming in with no knowledge of what they are. I ended up feeling like an expert by the end of the workshop and I wish I had explored them sooner. Overall, through trying out different art forms, some of the best advice I can give to incoming freshmen is: try new things, and do more of what you love! I got a lot out of Arts Scholars through workshops, field trips, and ArtsFest. ArtsFest was really special because I could look back on all I had accomplished. However, to get the most out of this program, don’t forget it is a Living Learning Community. The activities we did all year were only as good as the people we got to share them with. I believe art is rarely made in a vacuum; its value is ultimately determined by the various people it touches.