Going into college, I assumed I’d be able to continue my good habits from high school. This included staying involved, getting enough sleep, balancing social life with school, actively learning through classes and homework, studying thoroughly, and doing well on tests. But almost right away, it seemed as if I forgot how to be a proper student. All of my hard work and dedication that I had in high school seemed to slip away. I no longer knew how to study and live an unorganized life, and my exam scores showed it. To be frank, it was a rough semester. As an engineering student, I was aware that everything I was doing would be hard, but I thought I was more capable of being sucessfull. There would be days where I swore it would never get better and I would never be a good student again.

Though the majority of the semester was unsuccessful and I had seemingly no hope for the future of my college career, I feel that I finally learned how to manage. It isn’t perfect, but I improved a lot in my everyday habits. My studying and time management is slowly but surely getting to where it needs to be, I am learning my strengths and weaknesses to learning, and I am finding different methods of getting things done. The main thing I learned: college is not like high school. What I thought was me being a perfect student in high school did not translate well into college. Much like in computer coding, using the same code in a different programming language won’t get you anywhere, and this applies to using the same mentality in high school as I did in college. Adjustments are hard, and for me, it seemed to take longer than most to adapt to this new lifestyle. But I am now confident that I will improve every semester as long as I keep a positive mindset.

This transition contributed a lot to my personal development. I learned that being adaptable is vital to success and that bad times don’t last forever. It helped me realize that everything in life won’t be clear-cut like they  previously were and that I will stumble along the way. I am thankful I went through (and am still going through) these struggles because I know it is making me a stronger person. Life is full of ups and downs and twists and turns but as long as you put in effort and learn to adjust, you will pull through.

Finding things to get involved in at college can be a daunting task. While trying to manage the core stuff such as school work, taking care of yourself, and managing a healthy social life, joining extracurriculars seems to put one over the top at times. Initially, I joined a few very low commitment clubs that meet just once a month or once a week for about an hour. Though this was technically getting involved, I didn’t feel like I was truly committed and invested into anything.

As an aspiring engineer, I have been told numerous times to get involved in something that will complement my major and prepare me for a career one day. This being said, I decided to join a project team called Supermileage. This team essentially is building a mini car that will compete against other schools to see who can construct the most fuel efficient vehicle. The meetings last about 5-6 hours and happen twice a week, so the level of time commitment is high. At first, being a part of the team made me feel very useless. I don’t have the skills that these 3rd or 4th year mechanical engineering majors do and I spent most of my time getting stuck on problems and trying to figure things out. Though this was discouraging, I received full support from the team. They advised me that the learning curve is steep, but once I get over it I will be moving fast and accomplishing things frequently. And this has been true. Each meeting, I am accomplishing more and more and slowly getting the hang of things.

2017-2018 car

It is refreshing being a part of a team that is working towards a common goal. I also am grateful to be a part of something that lets me discover and explore myself as an engineer and putting my learned skills to use, while also learning about professionalism. In the classroom, we learn principles, fundamental, and techniques of engineering, but seeing how they can actually be used is very exciting and allows me to understand exactly what I’m getting into with my major. I hope to continue with this project team for the remainder of the year and also throughout my years as a student at Ohio State. I plan to continue to gain skills and knowledge while also moving into leadership positions some day. I encourage any major to get involved in something that develops them further as a professional and prepares them significantly for their career. Whether that be undergraduate research, internships, clubs, project teams, or anything related, it is very beneficial and, at times, can teach you more than a class ever could.