After completing my freshman year, I think by far one of the most amazing things was how fast the year seem to fly by. Living on my own for the first time was a really interesting experience as I had to mature and learn to be self sufficient on top of studying and balancing classwork. One thing I learned this year was the necessity of having a strong work ethic and regimented schedule in order to balance school and social life. Getting involved with several student organizations such ENCompass and Neuroscience Ambassadors as well as with the fraternity Beta Theta Pi left me on a tight schedule and forced me to prioritize and taught me that I’d make time for things that I was passionate about. As a result, I maintained a great GPA all year and surpassed my original expectations that I had set for myself. While my first semester felt a little bit rocky in terms of getting into the swing of things, I came back for second semester determined to improve upon myself and I feel comfortable in saying I was successful in this pursuit. In addition, a lot of this possible was due to my support structure at school which included great friends that always knew how to motivate me or lift me up when I was down. I’m excited for this summer as I start my research internship on TBI at the Framingham Heart Study as well as volunteer with Project Weber/RENEW.

[ “Year in Review”  is where you should reflect on the past year and show how you have evolved as a person and as a student.  You may want to focus on your growth in a particular area (as a leader, scholar, researcher, etc.) or you may want to talk about your overall experience over the past year.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]