Unbelievable! A full year has passed since I decided to come to UCI to complete my university studies! This time last year, I had absolutely no idea what my college life would be like. All I cared about was the free summer vacation that was coming. A year may sound like a long time, but when life becomes full and intense, it becomes difficult to notice the passage of time. This is exactly my evaluation of my college life in this nearly one academic year.
A busy life also means a lot of trouble. For one thing, I had never tried a Quarter class before and wondered if it was too fast. But having experienced it over the last few semesters, I’d say it’s pretty awesome. Shorter semesters mean a faster pace of study, often leading to a mid-term just a few weeks into the semester (some courses have more than one mid-term!). This means that we need to constantly review what we have just learned, which is a great aid to memory. The knowledge that has been tested multiple times is also more likely to be processed by your brain as long-term memory. At the same time, the Quarter system has one extra semester per year than the semester system, which means we can try a wider variety of courses. UCI offers a wide variety of courses and experiencing a wide variety of courses satisfies many people’s curiosity. More importantly, it helps undeclared students find fields of interest or majors that suit them. Many undergraduate students declare the major they want to study when they apply for university, but after several semesters of study, some of them give up the existing major and choose another. There are several friends around me who have found that their interests are not what they once thought they were, so they changed their major to U/U and resumed their efforts to pursue the goals they are truly passionate about. Since I was not very clear about the major, I wanted to study in the future in high school, I chose U/U, which proved to be the right choice. When I was not clear about my direction, U/U’s designated Advisor and Peer Advisors gave me a lot of useful advice. This gave me a certain understanding of multiple majors (from different departments). My friends who decided on their majors from the start told me that they are only working hard towards their majors, sometimes they feel very hard and doubt their original intention. Therefore, I believe that the amount of time and energy spent on identifying my goals is well worth it.
All in all, welcome to all of you who are going to be a member of UCI! Please look forward to your upcoming college life and enjoy it!