Year in Review

[ “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.]

 

Coming to college, the biggest challenge that I faced this semester was adjusting to the completely new and different lifestyle that college entailed. At the beginning, it was very difficult to balance the various aspects of college since it was really important to get involved and get to know other people, but there was also pressure to perform well in classes. Academically, it was challenging to adjust because the classes were set up differently than in high school and of course, college courses are more challenging to begin with. On top of that, we were left on our own to figure out the way that Carmen worked and it felt like each class was set up differently and there was no way to find all the information in one spot. With life being different in nearly every aspect, adjusting to such big change was difficult. In order to deal with this challenge, I worked on prioritizing and organizing. I bought an agenda and organized all my assignments in each of my classes by listing their due dates. I prioritized by setting aside the time that I needed in order to finish my work and ensuring that I was able to finish my work before doing anything else. As a result, the other aspects were worked out because with the remaining time, I was able to dedicate to spending time with the new friends I’ve made.

In survey class, attending seven total lectures were required. Through lecture attendance, I explored many of the majors in the College of Arts and Sciences, majors in FAES, and ones in Education and Human Ecology. I chose to explore these majors and colleges because I knew that I wanted to do something related to science. I had known this fact for quite a while, but the problem had always been choosing a specific field in the vast area of science. Therefore, I attended the lectures for the College of Arts and Sciences when they talked about majors such as Chemistry, Biology, and Neuroscience because I was considering these majors. I was also considering a major in Environmental Science since the class I took in high school interested me and therefore, I attended the lecture for FAES. I attended the lecture for Education and Human Ecology because I thought that Nutrition Sciences could be an interesting option. Attending these lectures allowed me to consider if I genuinely wanted to pursue these majors.

Over the course of the semester, my thoughts about majors have changed. When applying to OSU, I originally put Chemistry as my major. However, I switched to undecided in order to explore my options further. After attending the lectures, I am considering different majors than I was at the start of the semester. I feel that I am not interested in Environmental Science as a major anymore because I was able to find out more about the coursework and experiences that a student majoring in Environmental Science would have and I feel that it is not the right major for me. I also am not considering Chemistry as much as a major anymore because I realized that I am more interested in the way that the human body works as opposed to science at the molecular level. I have been looking into Neuroscience as a major because it appears to consider a higher level of biology than the molecular level.

The majors that I have considered fit with my strengths, interests, and goals because I have always been interested in the field of science. I have also known that my strengths are more focused in the STEM area and that knowledge has been reinforced since I have been at OSU because I enjoy and excel in my science and math courses much more so than my other classes. The majors that I am considering also fit with my goals because I am considering a Pre-Med track which requires a passion for the sciences. At this time, I think Neuroscience as a major fits best because the subject appeals to me and it fits with my interests and goals. Neuroscience is heavily based in science, but it is still a broad major that allows me to learn about areas that a typical Pre-Med track student may not explore. This aspect appeals to me because I know my interests are in the science fields, but I want to become a well-rounded student.

Attending lecture was beneficial in that I was able to learn more about various majors that I wouldn’t have known about otherwise. OSU offers many majors and learning about all of them on my own would have been difficult. Therefore, it was beneficial to have an overview of all the majors that are offered at OSU. I was glad that we were allowed to choose out of the many lectures provided because I knew that there were certain areas that didn’t interest me. The ability to choose only the ones that were interesting was more beneficial because if all of them were required, I would not be interested in going to any of them and therefore, would not be as eager to learn about the various majors. Allowing the students to choose the lectures that they want to attend seems very beneficial to me because it provides more motivation.

Although an overview of the majors offered was beneficial, I feel that some of the majors were focused on much more so than others. We were provided the opportunity to ask about different majors, but it still felt like some of the majors were emphasized a lot whereas others were barely mentioned. I understand that with all the majors offered, it is difficult to talk about all of them in depth, but I wish there was a way that some of the less known majors were discussed more. For example, I attended one of the lectures for the College of Arts and Sciences, which is a college with a tremendous number of majors. At the lecture, I felt that there was a theme of the majors that were talked about since many of the majors that I already knew about were discussed. There were some majors that were on the list provided that I had never heard about, but those majors were rarely discussed. I was particularly interested in Neuroscience, but majors such as Chemistry and Biology were discussed more. I feel that it would be more beneficial if the majors that were not as well known were discussed a little more in depth.

One goal that I have for next semester is to find a research opportunity. I hope to be able to do research in a lab in a field that I am interested in and this will help me with choosing a major because I will be more knowledgeable about my interests and strengths. I also want to find a research opportunity because it is something that I am passionate about and hope to participate in. I hope to find an area of research that I have a lot of interest in and truly enjoy participating in. Being able to participate in this kind of research will be a tremendous stepping stone in exploring and choosing a major because I will further develop my interests and be more aware of the career path that I want to take. In order to find research opportunities, I will go to the Office of Undergraduate Research and seek their help in finding research. I have already done research online about the many research opportunities available at OSU. I intend to email researchers who participate in research that I find interesting. I will talk to my professors to see if the areas of their research are interesting to me.

If I were to go back and talk to myself at the start of the semester, I would advise myself to not be overwhelmed by all the changes that are occurring and that it is important to take a step back and look at the grand scheme of things rather than focusing on and stressing about every little thing. I have come to realize that I am typically the type of person who is high-strung and is easily stressed. Therefore, I would want to reassure myself and advise myself of the importance of viewing the whole picture and not just focusing on a small part. One small failure results in lessons learned and does not affect the overall successfulness of the task at hand. I would want to tell myself that with time, I will be able to adjust to all the changes that are occurring. In general, I would just like to reassure myself because myself at the beginning of the semester was very doubtful and lost. I would also want to explain the way that Carmen works because that was a very large factor in causing stress.

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