Semester Reflections

Semester 1

My first semester of college pushed me in many ways as a person. When I was in high school, I viewed university life as a confusing and overwhelming process that involved a great deal of work, stress, and anxiety. This may be true to some extent, but I have been able to connect with so many people because of these pains. I would ask random people how stressed out they were for midterms and they always agreed, and I always enjoyed this human interaction. The way classes are structured was strange at first, but I feel that I have grown used to it. The only thing that I will say is that it felt strange that I would not be taking the same classes for an entire year and during the spring I would be taking completely different classes. My work load felt similar to high school, however, I feel that I have more time, because I don’t have 7 to 8 classes a day and then homework on top of that. There was a lot of workload around midterms and finals when there were a lot of exams, projects, and homework, and trying to figure out when to study between everything. 

In high school, they never brought up divisive topics, but in Art Scholar we had the entire class on privilege. There is a need for these conversations to be normalized in order to help us accept that we have certain privileges that make life easier for us, and how we can use these privileges to make life easier for those who are less fortunate. One of my favorite events was the choose your own adventure because it made you go and explore more of the campus. I attended the musical prom at the Clarice. I enjoyed the musical very much and found it to be an amazing experience. The songs were a hit and the show was very humorous as well. I enjoyed the break from work, despite the fact that it was work. Despite all these wonderful experiences, I thought that we would be creating something for the community as part of this program. I hope that in the future semesters we can make an impact on our community through art. 

The performance, Food for the Gods, was extremely thought-provoking. It provided a tremendous insight into the many hate crimes and police brutality that affect the African American community. The scene that impacted me the most was the scene with the women in the red dress and I was moved to tears when she said, “They would have been safer in me...” because I could feel both the pain of the actor and the severity of the pain that many African American families experience when their children leave the house and they do not know whether they will return alive.

One of the biggest challenges I faced during this semester was the loss of my dog. While attempting to maintain a normal academic schedule, it was difficult to learn how to grieve. It was difficult for me to continue working when I wanted to give up, but I had friends who supported me throughout the process. I felt less alone after hearing their own stories of loss and how it even occurred during school. When I felt alone, I realized that there are always people who are willing to reach out.