Hello, ZotBlog readers. It’s a bit bittersweet, but here I am – for the final time – to reflect on the last first-year quarter of my life (as far as I know) (the future is full of possibility). I’ve enjoyed writing and reflecting and I hope my experience is of some value to someone, even if it’s just
I think, all in all, it’s been a bit of a cocoon year for me; as a commuter, entering college wasn’t the huge, fresh restart that it is for people who move across state borders into a new school with different weather and different people and a whole different culture surrounding it. For me, it was more of a subtle change, brought about in more purposeful class meetings and assignments (you had to be there every day in high school; in college, a lot of my classes have only met twice a week, with the teacher covering several topics in one lecture) and a heightened sense of independence.
The reason why I said this was a “cocoon year” is because due to the way that college is structured, I’ve had the opportunity to step back more, to think (and to sometimes avoid thinking) in ways that the flurry of high school did not allow. I’ve spent a lot more time thinking about what I want to do, not only in the realm of major/career plans, but also with regards to hobbies and interests, thinking about who I want to be (and how I want to express that) in addition to what matters to me. So, it’s been a year of self-development! The goals I set at the beginning of the school year have morphed and changed as I’ve gotten used to the flow of college life, but that’s okay because I have a little more certainty about who I am and how I’m going.
I think that that is the one piece of advice I’d impart on you all: move forward, try new things, have new experiences (this is college, after all! The first taste of independence…) but also take the time to think about those new experiences – especially those that might leave you feeling weird (in both a good or bad way) – and learn more about yourself from them. The quarter system can move even faster than you might think it can, and it’s easy for things to creep up on you or come back to haunt you during its less frantic periods, so try to set aside time to be with yourself and think despite it all.
With regards to being Undeclared, I think my advice would be to have as much fun as you can when it comes to choosing courses; personally, I came into college with a lot of credits due to AP exams, so I had already satisfied quite a few of my GE requirements. So, rather than worrying about taking the easiest GE’s with the nicest professors, I had a bit more leniency to take random classes that I thought would be fun and ended up learning about things that I wouldn’t have thought twice about otherwise. I think based on who I am, if I had come into college with a major, I probably would have focused on progressing towards graduation as quickly as I could, but that was sometimes not possible due to restrictions and limits on course enrollment, so I ended up taking courses that I wasn’t anticipating and learned more about myself and the world around me in the process.
Closing off this post, I ask that you all keep me in your thoughts because as of right now, I’m still Undeclared. I’ll be taking the final for the last change of major requirement – the class that will decide whether or not I’ll be able to declare Computer Science sorta by the end of my first year at UCI – on Tuesday. I’ve been studying hard and coding diligently, but I need all the well wishes and good energy I can get.
It’s been super great writing for you all this year; I’ve enjoyed my experience very much. Writing for ZotBlog has been like a savepoint in a video game for me, as being a ZotBlogger forced me to set aside time to sit down and take inventory of where I am and where I intend to go (this is something I may have avoided doing otherwise, so I’m grateful). It’s a shame that our time is coming to an end, but I’m glad we’ve spent it well and I hope you all will look forward to the adventures of the next set of ZotBloggers!