I went into my second year excited fr what it will bring me and was not disappointed. I began the year as a peer mentor for my scholars group. I love helping the first years find their way around campus and teaching them all of the tricks I learned from the previous year. I was a co-handler with my roommate and throughout the year we handled two different dogs, Beetle and Groovy. Beetles even went on to be a service dog and is happily placed with a family. Groovy is still in training with my roommate! I took my first set of zoology major classes and quickly learned that I did not enjoy them, so I switched my major. I will now be pursuing a dual degree in both Psychology and Biology. Hopefully, by the end of my four years, I will have two Bachelors of Science. I worked at the College of Veterinary Medicine and learned valuable lessons about parasitology as well as the overall journey to a DVM. I also made many connections that I am very grateful for. This, combined with my new knowledge of the journey to graduating vet school, also helped me to realize another goal of mine, which is to become a clinical psychologist. I still need to obtain more information about the career and other potential careers in the field, but I have found a new love for psychology.
My second semester was full of new excitement and challenges. I started Organic Chemistry, which pushed me to think in a completely new way than either of the General Chemistries did. I took three psychology classes, including one called Primate Cognition which has been my favorite class in college so far. The biggest struggle I have had though, as many others have had, is coping with the effects of COVID-19. It interrupted a semester that was going really well and forced me to move back with my parents. I quickly learned that home is not the best environment for me to be productive and I quickly fell behind in my classes. While I have finally finished them all and can say I did catch back up, it was far from easy. I missed my friends and especially struggled during finals because I was use to spending hours studying in Thompson Library with everyone. I did not realize how much just being around people who understand how difficult college is helped me through my classes until then. We frequently reminisced over text and facetime about the fun we had studying for finals together. I am beyond excited to be able to see my friends again and to move back to campus so that we can continue to have fun together, even when we are in the midst of a stressful situation such as finals.
Overall, I really enjoyed this semester despite the abrupt disruption to my routine because of COVID-19. I was making new friends and becoming closer with those of whom I was already friends with. I learned a lot about myself and my goals for the future and was able to gain experience and connections I would have never thought possible for a second-year undergraduate a year before. I am excited to see where the next two years take me.