When I first arrived at Ohio State, I experienced a wave of nervousness that I believe is typical of freshmen. That subsided fairly quickly as I met people and got into the swing of classes. I was also worried about balancing my studies with a part-time job, since I did not work through high school. After managing successfully for a couple weeks, I decided to pick up an internship with the Clinton Campaign. It was a wonderful and informative experience, and I will likely at least volunteer with a campaign in the future, but splitting time between classes, work, and an internship was definitely stressful. It was doable, however not something I intend to repeat often. As the year continued, my time management skills also improved, a trend that I hope continues throughout college. Having these different responsibilities added to my self-confidence, because I proved to myself that I was able of handling multiple commitments. Next year, I also hope to become more involved with student organizations, something I probably should have focused more on this year.
I entered college having an extremely specific career goal, which has remained the same. What I was not certain about, though, was exactly how I wanted to format my academic experience. I knew I wanted to major in International Relations & Diplomacy and minor in Spanish and German, but since I took courses at OSU during high school, that would only take me three years. About halfway through this year, I resolved to take four years, adding a degree in Economics.
Overall, I have not noticed any major changes in myself over the year. I have become more independent and even more sure of my overall goals.