These past few weeks have witnessed me working tirelessly to craft a four year schedule projection, and ultimately deciding what topics I feel are most beneficial to my career goals. In the course of my research, I’ve realized that my Criminology major has a requirement for an “Integrated Elective”, which can be satisfied by authoring a Undergraduate Research Thesis. I know that a thesis is extremely stressful, time-consuming, and difficult, but I have never been one to shy away from a challenge. If it wasn’t hard, it wouldn’t be worth doing. Besides, I can find no better way to bring together all that I have done in my classes, thereby proving to myself that I’ve actually learned the material. As for what topic I want to dedicate a year’s worth of my life to, I have absolutely no idea.
Month: October 2017
Onto the Second Half
As I type out this blog post, fall break is winding down and I can officially say that I am 1/16 done with my academic career in college. These past 7-8 weeks have been a complete whirlwind, filled with both highs and lows. However, I can definitively say that I am truly happy here at Ohio State.
One of the highlights of my college experience so far has been the sheer amount of opportunities and assortment of things to do. From attending a forum on Refugee Law and Politics, to watching a star show in the OSU Planetarium, to playing a pickup game of dodgeball a block down from my dorm, I never have a valid excuse to be bored. More importantly, I’ve found that I truly love my classes. I’ve come to the realization that nothing provides me profound fulfillment like learning does, so what better place is there to be than at a college? I actively look forward to all of my lectures everyday, whether they be about the life and death of stars, societal stratification in Lancaster, or the cultural foundations of the Roman Republic. Of course it helps that all of my professors are brilliant and engaged, and there are no more “joke classes” like I was forced to take in high school.
On the other side of the coin, I’ve found myself to actually be a little homesick, something I was not expecting whatsoever when I arrived. I suppose it’s inevitable, when you leave everything you’ve ever known for something new, but it still hurts nonetheless. I’ve been able to somewhat come to terms with it, thanks to a quote from South Park that reads: “Well yeah, and I’m sad, but at the same time I’m really happy that something could make me feel that sad. It’s like, it makes me feel alive, you know? It makes me feel human. And the only way I could feel this sad now is if I felt somethin’ really good before. So I have to take the bad with the good, so I guess what I’m feelin’ is like a, beautiful sadness”. So I guess the homesickness I feel should be viewed as a good thing, as it shows I lived a great life.
Astronomy Midterm #1
The picture above is the answer sheet from what was my first major midterm in college. It was in Astronomy, and I had spent the previous two weeks studying a little bit every day due to the massive amount of material the class covered. In the end, my hard work payed off as I earned an A, placing me around the fifth best score in my class of over 100 students.
Although I’ve only been here a month, I’ve already noticed how different college is from high school. Unlike high school, there aren’t quizzes every week to make sure you’ve learned the material, no set homework assignments, and no teacher holding your hand. It’s up to you to keep up with the material, as every lecture is based around a different topic and assumes you know what happened the previous week. Although it is a lot harder, I definitely prefer this style of learning. I feel like I have already learned a ton even though it has only been a month, and I like the responsibility of being in charge of my own education.
I’ve also noticed how unlike high school, it isn’t realistic to hope for straight A’s in college. This has hit some of my friends hard as they’ve gotten their first midterms back and have seen a 73 on the paper instead of a 100. I know that this will happen to me too, and that it is only a matter of time. So, I figure that aiming for a certain GPA as an academic goal is futile and my goal should be just to try my hardest. If trying my hardest results in me getting a 4.0 GPA, fantastic. If trying my hardest results in me getting a 3.2, that’s fine as long as I honestly tried my best.