This year has been absolutely crazy. No one could have expected the pandemic that would soon overtake every aspect of life, including academics. While schooling online is strained, the pandemic has put a strain on far more places, such as that of social relationships, mental health, professional development, and so forth. No doubt that everything had a bit more challenge this year, but, regardless, life goes on. This year has really put me through the wringer in balancing what it is like to stay and help the house while still being a college student that is exploring their adulthood. However, despite the challenges, I feel that I was able to reflect on myself more and organize my state of being. The challenges of online school only helped teach me discipline in managing myself and getting the motivation to pay attention to a computer screen. Though the flexibility of online classes have their own appeal, keeping a schedule despite the flexibility was a challenge that, when overcome, helped make myself more organized as an individual. Additionally, I explored activities such as the MakeOhio and HackOhio challenges that I didn’t previously consider, which I now absolutely love. I also felt that I was at the time in my life to start considering my future career and how to make it achievable. Academia is very fascinating, something that I want to stay involved in, especially with my involvement increasing as vaccinations roll out. However, I don’t want to neglect my engineering side as well, given how much I enjoyed attending both the Makeathon and Hackathon this past year.

I also feel that, as a student, I’m settling far better into the college teaching style than before. The independence required of students to do well in their respective classes was a confusing experience, but I feel that I have started to really get the hang of how to succeed in classes. Though my future classes will become more and more specialized, I hope that my improvements in studying and communicating will carry over nicely to maintain good grades.

Overall, this year has been a challenging one, but I expect that, in the future, more challenging times will come. This year will then become something that I may think back on as a transition to even busier, challenging, and interesting times.

Coming into OSU as a freshman was overwhelming in many ways. The campus seemed too large, and it required both GPS, signboards, and questions to other students about which building was where and which room was where. I also came in largely unaware of what being a full-time student meant, which is, unsurprisingly, a lot. With the multitude of student organizations I tried to be active in, I realized that there was too much for my time. My major’s heavy course load and my desire to participate in research helped me realize that I could only participate in very few student organizations. I’ve learnt to evaluate and prioritize certain tasks, and I also learned to self-reflect on whether or not I want to continue down the path I’m on. I do wish to remain on the biomedical engineering track, and I intend to apply into the major this coming spring. Additionally, I’m now in training for a research position in a laboratory regarding the kinetics of the human heart. I intend to finish my training at the earliest possible convenience, and I wish to continue to focus on my academic studies. Additionally, I’ve decided to refrain from a pre-medical track, as I still find academia most interesting. However, I am considering double-majoring in accounting, which I will definitely seek my adviser for insight.