My first year of college has been very enjoying, satisfactory and self motivating. But at the same time it was the time of adjustment, recognition and learning.
Starting the freshmen year at a whole new place, around new people, all alone in a different continent, it was a phase of big change in my life. One of the best ways I deal with this change was that I never let me get tensed about any situation. I never lost the best part of my personality, never giving up. I took part in a lot of organizations and events, met a lot of people and explored a lot of opportunities to realize my goal in life and the things which interest me. This whole year was invested in this drill of self realization.
In honors 1010, when we were asked to discuss the ‘This I believe’ statement I was very confused and I kept asking myself- What does I believe in? This was the question which no one could answer for me. I had to search for the answer myself. I kept thinking and evaluating myself but couldn’t get the answer. One day in our class activity when we were asked our best and worst past experience that was the time I first time looked back in my life and realized all the experiences that had helped me to come to UC. In that way I realized – What I Believe in. In the same way, I reflected back on what I really am and what I want to be in life. Finally I could come up with my self portrait. So, I think reflection is one of the best way in which I can learn about myself, cherish my past and be prepared for the present and the future. Since then I thought that I will keep reflecting on all the important experiences.
I would some up this whole year by using just three words for events, experiences and challenges. Relay for Life, Bearcat Buddies and Bearcat Brunches have been the three most significant events. They opened my soft side to community service to me. Relay for Life is an event to fund raise for cancer research. Cancer was the main reason why I joined this organization and being part of that event helped me to relive a day for my loved ones who fought cancer. On the other hand, bearcat buddies was so inspiring that educating people has become a motto of my life. Bearcat Brunches were another fun time on campus. I enjoyed the role of an ambassador and talking to people about their interests, my experiences and sharing the reasons why I love UC.
The three most influential experiences were taking part in the biomedical research mentorship program, getting involved with a number of organizations and studying abroad in Paris for a week. These experiences helped me in realizing three different sides of myself. First, I realized the kind of work which doesn’t suits my personality- hard core research. I am a very extrovert person and professionally want to work somewhere where I can play the role of a leader, get involved into a lot of different fields and do some fields work. Though I don’t know what will I be doing professionally, but I know it for sure what I might not be doing. Second, I had a very weird habit of taking part into whatever I find and then later realizing it was a waste of time. It was useful to go through that phase but now I know that I really need to prioritize things and put my time into the things which interests me. Third and the most important, I gained confidence in myself. For the study abroad seminar in Paris, I had to do a lot of those things which I couldn’t imagine myself doing and the lessons I learned on the path of all those processes helped me to realize that if I stay calm and confident I can do a lot of things all by myself.
Lastly, the three challenges which changed me were- the trouble with the food, first a little but later a lot of homesickness and then being worried to be fit. Though I thought that I might be suffer from cultural shock for a while but I was not even close t cultural shock but faced very new kinds of problems. Being a vegetarian kid spoiled by her mother’s home cooked food, I suffered a lot while searching for good options of food. Ultimately I started to learn to cook my own food. After going through a lot of disastrous experimentation, I finally ended up cooking passable Indian food. This was not only a great achievement but also added to my self confidence of dealing with tough situations by myself. All those days of festivities, colorful celebrations and lively days of Indian festivals celebrated at home reminded me of the importance of being around your relatives and friends and that led to those dark days of homesickness. But I also tried to convert this homesickness to my motivation to make my parents dream come true. The last challenge was to get rid of my laziness and try to be fit because a healthy body leads to a healthy mind which is the greatest asset for my life. I am still in process to find a solution to this challenge.
Even though I suffered through in those challenging days but I have always been carefree enough to forget the bad times and cherish the good ones and this is the reason why I could make my first year of college a big success.
For the coming academic year, I will try to be more and more motivated and inspired to explore my goal of life. Prioritization and time management will the two strong wheels I will ride my bike on. And learning from my experiences I will try to enjoy my days rather and cherish the moments when I miss my home but won’t cry out of homesickness. I will also try to eat well and stay fit so as to keep my brain active and sharp. Starting next semester, I am really looking forward to play my role in university honors and learn a lot in my class of Conservational Biogeography and explore my second major which is Environmental Studies. The most important advice I would like to give myself is that for these coming years, I have to be very strong and active for my holistic academic development.
Escaping troubles is impossible but I will walk through the challenges with a broad smile.
Starting the freshmen year at a whole new place, around new people, all alone in a different continent, it was a phase of big change in my life. One of the best ways I deal with this change was that I never let me get tensed about any situation. I never lost the best part of my personality, never giving up. I took part in a lot of organizations and events, met a lot of people and explored a lot of opportunities to realize my goal in life and the things which interest me. This whole year was invested in this drill of self realization.
In honors 1010, when we were asked to discuss the ‘This I believe’ statement I was very confused and I kept asking myself- What does I believe in? This was the question which no one could answer for me. I had to search for the answer myself. I kept thinking and evaluating myself but couldn’t get the answer. One day in our class activity when we were asked our best and worst past experience that was the time I first time looked back in my life and realized all the experiences that had helped me to come to UC. In that way I realized – What I Believe in. In the same way, I reflected back on what I really am and what I want to be in life. Finally I could come up with my self portrait. So, I think reflection is one of the best way in which I can learn about myself, cherish my past and be prepared for the present and the future. Since then I thought that I will keep reflecting on all the important experiences.
I would some up this whole year by using just three words for events, experiences and challenges. Relay for Life, Bearcat Buddies and Bearcat Brunches have been the three most significant events. They opened my soft side to community service to me. Relay for Life is an event to fund raise for cancer research. Cancer was the main reason why I joined this organization and being part of that event helped me to relive a day for my loved ones who fought cancer. On the other hand, bearcat buddies was so inspiring that educating people has become a motto of my life. Bearcat Brunches were another fun time on campus. I enjoyed the role of an ambassador and talking to people about their interests, my experiences and sharing the reasons why I love UC.
The three most influential experiences were taking part in the biomedical research mentorship program, getting involved with a number of organizations and studying abroad in Paris for a week. These experiences helped me in realizing three different sides of myself. First, I realized the kind of work which doesn’t suits my personality- hard core research. I am a very extrovert person and professionally want to work somewhere where I can play the role of a leader, get involved into a lot of different fields and do some fields work. Though I don’t know what will I be doing professionally, but I know it for sure what I might not be doing. Second, I had a very weird habit of taking part into whatever I find and then later realizing it was a waste of time. It was useful to go through that phase but now I know that I really need to prioritize things and put my time into the things which interests me. Third and the most important, I gained confidence in myself. For the study abroad seminar in Paris, I had to do a lot of those things which I couldn’t imagine myself doing and the lessons I learned on the path of all those processes helped me to realize that if I stay calm and confident I can do a lot of things all by myself.
Lastly, the three challenges which changed me were- the trouble with the food, first a little but later a lot of homesickness and then being worried to be fit. Though I thought that I might be suffer from cultural shock for a while but I was not even close t cultural shock but faced very new kinds of problems. Being a vegetarian kid spoiled by her mother’s home cooked food, I suffered a lot while searching for good options of food. Ultimately I started to learn to cook my own food. After going through a lot of disastrous experimentation, I finally ended up cooking passable Indian food. This was not only a great achievement but also added to my self confidence of dealing with tough situations by myself. All those days of festivities, colorful celebrations and lively days of Indian festivals celebrated at home reminded me of the importance of being around your relatives and friends and that led to those dark days of homesickness. But I also tried to convert this homesickness to my motivation to make my parents dream come true. The last challenge was to get rid of my laziness and try to be fit because a healthy body leads to a healthy mind which is the greatest asset for my life. I am still in process to find a solution to this challenge.
Even though I suffered through in those challenging days but I have always been carefree enough to forget the bad times and cherish the good ones and this is the reason why I could make my first year of college a big success.
For the coming academic year, I will try to be more and more motivated and inspired to explore my goal of life. Prioritization and time management will the two strong wheels I will ride my bike on. And learning from my experiences I will try to enjoy my days rather and cherish the moments when I miss my home but won’t cry out of homesickness. I will also try to eat well and stay fit so as to keep my brain active and sharp. Starting next semester, I am really looking forward to play my role in university honors and learn a lot in my class of Conservational Biogeography and explore my second major which is Environmental Studies. The most important advice I would like to give myself is that for these coming years, I have to be very strong and active for my holistic academic development.
Escaping troubles is impossible but I will walk through the challenges with a broad smile.