Semester Reflections

Semester 1

2024 was a great transitional period in my life. As much as I don’t really like change as I prefer to stay in my comfort zone, I found myself ready to start this new chapter in my life. At the University, I was excited to meet various people from all kinds of backgrounds. Though, with UMD being such a big school, I was nervous that I could get lost in the crowd and would struggle finding a set group of people. However, UMD provided me with many opportunities to connect with others and really create a sense of community. For example, I have made great connections with people in my business mentor group. I have also connected with other people in the scholar’s program, as we all live near each other. Although I thought the school could be too big for me, I think that I’ve done a good job finding my people and am excited to meet more next semester as well. 

The workload that I’m provided at the university is about what I expected but also slightly more challenging. Compared to high school, I find that it is less work (at least for this semester), but each assignment has a greater influence on my grade. While I may only have a few assignments for a certain class, I have to make sure I put my best effort into each of them because even just one point could drastically shift my grade. I had to develop an effective study routine for my mid-terms and final exams. As the semester went on, I learned what worked well and what didn’t, and I hope to apply my effective studying skills to next semester. 

My view of Arts Scholars has drastically changed after just a semester in the program. “Art” to me, was mostly just drawings, paintings, and music. I was expecting to mainly just experiment with these types of mediums. However, this program showed that there was much more in the world that is considered “art”, and art that I was also capable of doing. For example, as a part of the Tryatholon event I created a wire necklace. I wasn’t aware of this form of art but loved creating a unique design of my own as well as admiring other’s creations as well. A “Happy Surprise” to me was that I was able to learn a completely new form of art and in the same day create something from it. 

The most though provoking thing I learned from my first semester in Arts Scholars was the Improv Class that we had. I struggle with being a perfectionist and feel like everything I do or say must be perfectly curated, and if it doesn’t come out as I thought it would I tend to get down on myself. However, after learning the rules of improv I took away the beauty of embracing your mistakes and making room for play. I’m going to apply this knowledge in the future by being more vulnerable and willing to make mistakes because that is where I feel that I learn the most about myself. 

I think that my biggest struggle this semester was my time management. I was stuck between feeling like I had no time to do anything at all, or so much time that I didn’t know what to do with myself. At times when I felt like I didn’t have time to do anything, I would make a checklist of everything that was a priority for me to complete. Laying out what needed to get done for me made things a lot less overwhelming. At times when I didn’t have anything to do, I would try to pack my schedule, so I was never bored. However, this resulted in me getting burnt out. Next semester, I know that rest and downtime is important for me, and I will continue to create checklists to motivate myself to complete my tasks. 

Stepping beyond my comfort zone has taught me many lessons this semester. If we always stay within our comfort level, we will never truly know what we are capable of. This semester, I have learned how to be “comfortable” with being uncomfortable. I now know that if I am experiencing signs of discomfort, I know that it is a part of the learning process and that I am growing as a person. 

I think that my expectations have really evolved this semester. I used to set high ones for myself but have learned to set more realistic ones and to not get so down on myself if they aren’t met. I’m grateful that in Art Scholars I don’t only learn things that are applicable to the class but are applicable to my life in general. In order to manage the expectations vs. reality gap moving forward, I am going to continue to aim high but not get discouraged when my goals aren’t being met. I know to readjust my goals if they seem unrealistic but that it doesn’t hurt to try. 

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