Semester Reflections

Semester 1

My residence in Bel Air has been very eventful. I live on the fourth floor, so my legs have gotten exponentially stronger. I’ve made many friends this semester by just hanging out/ studying in the lounge and cooking. I didn’t think I would cook a lot at college, but I use the kitchen at least once a week. Now, I don’t think I could live without a kitchen. Living here has been very different from high school. The main difference is living in a walkable community, having a roommate, and needing to buy my own groceries. It is a little daunting to be in charge of my snack supply, but I keep finding new yummy snacks at Trader Joes. I would like to live in a single dorm room next year. I don’t mind communal bathrooms, but it would be nice to have my own space. This year is definitely a change from the last eighteen, but it is manageable.

My workload has been similar to high school. I went to a college prep school, so my workload this semester is actually less than some of my years in high school. I am a fire protection engineering major, so I am taking a lot of STEM classes, but I took a lot of those types of classes in high school, so it is manageable. I was definitely prepared for the workload, but not for lecture exams. The “desks” in lecture halls are laughable. There is something about being cramped and having five pieces of paper I need to reference at the same time is very stressful. I’ve started to get used to them, but it is definitely the biggest change from high school. It is also weird to only have a class for one semester, but now winter break feels like a break. 

Art scholars has been a very fun and educational experience. I really liked my TA group and how efficient we were about finishing the assignment and then going into detail about our thoughts on the assignment. It was a very nice bonding experience that I don’t think other groups had. I am very grateful to my TA, Jenna, for making sure everyone was engaged. I wasn’t expecting some of the workshops we had, especially the vogue dancing lesson. It was very fun and I could tell some people really liked dance (I was not one of those people). Even though I looked like a baby goat trying to dance, I still enjoyed the energy of the workshop. There were a lot of times where I was doubting my place in art scholars because I am not “good” at art. But, this semester I learned that “good” is a relative term, and it is ok to just appreciate art as is. 

One of the biggest challenges I’ve had is time management. I ended up taking on a project at the end of the semester that was very time consuming. I was the sound designer for a student club (32 bars) production of the Adams Family. Tech week was manageable in high school, but I’ve realized that I cannot sacrifice my sleep schedule with a college course load. I also felt a sense of duty because I signed up for the position earlier in the semester, and had already made the sound effects. I got through the show/ tech week, but I got very sick and very behind in some of my classes. Next semester, I am going to focus on my academics more and make sure I know the timeline of any extracurriculars, so that I don’t get stuck in a 6:30-11:30pm tech rehearsal again. I love sound engineering, but I’d rather just watch a show than fall behind like that again.