Semester Reflections

Semester 2

This semester has felt so much different yet similar to the first one. For one, I’ve attempted to be more open in class/with my community. I’ve gone to office hours, especially for organic chemistry, and I’ve gotten to know my teachers by sitting at the front of class and participating regularly. Even if I didn’t get to the level of closeness I wish, I hope to do better next semester and build upon current connections. 

This also correlates with my connection to my peers; although I didn’t connect as much with my professors as I did with my peers (which is to be expected), I feel as if I connected very strongly with my peers this semester. I met and got close with a lot of new people I didn’t expect. In contrast to the last semester, I've met so many amazing people in my major/field of study that I can rely on. Even those I’m not particularly close with, I’ve had the fortune to work closely with and learn from. In addition, I’ve kept in touch with several friends from last semester and I spent much more time with my roommate, and I feel as if these lasting connections really helped me enjoy this semester much more than the last one. 

Of course, there will always be obstacles such as dealing with people you may not vibe with or dealing with situations where you’re forced to separate, but that all comes with experience. I’ve definitely learned a lot this and last semester about dealing with hard situations. I believe that no matter what happens between people, there’s something to learn from. Whether it’s from someone’s positive traits or learning from the negatives of another, you can always learn from others and build upon yourself. 

One thing I’m grateful for is the Art Scholars community. Something I worried about coming into college was the time to indulge in the arts. Although I certainly don’t engage in the arts nearly as often as I did before, being in Arts Scholars gave me time to allocate to the arts and I’m so grateful for that. The art cubby in the Bel Air lobby is also so wonderful and I love making use of it often, especially late at night when I want to play piano. I hope to spend more time creating things next semester and hopefully exploring new outlets, which I wasn’t able to do much of this semester. 

In addition, I learned so much from my peers in Arts Scholars, especially when touring everyone’s work during Arts Fest. The creativity and passion that goes into each project is truly wondrous and it’s really uplifting to see such beautiful work with so much love in an era where art appreciation is dwindling. Art Scholars also make great use of challenging and having scholars really engage with art in so many different forms, holding so many different feelings and meanings. I think the opportunities they provide can really shift someone’s perspective. Overall, I think the workshops, TRYathlons, and field trips were all super beneficial because it gave scholars an incentive and opportunity to indulge in so many different outlets and it really gives you inspiration to try something new. I know I got inspired by the creativity of Jaha Koo: Cuckoo because of how he utilized the rice cookers to tell a story while keeping it relevant and using it to elevate the experience. There truly are endless ways to make art. If incoming Art Scholars take the time to see these experiences as an opportunity to learn and absorb that creativity, they can definitely get the most out of their experience in this program.