Sophomore year: exploring passion, pushing limits, and a look at the future!
As the deadline for Honors check-up approaches, I feel overwhelmed by everything I experienced this year! Sophomore year made me a stronger person, a more professional student, and so incredibly happy. Like any other year, there were ups as well as downs, but it was a year I will never forget. One thing I learned about myself this year is that if I put my mind to something, I have a strong, fighting chance of accomplishing it. Freshman year was wonderful, but it was nothing compared to this year. This year I surprised myself by getting more involved on campus, getting more involved in Honors, and accomplishing multiple personal and academic goals. After fall semester (and some really challenging science classes!) I decided I wanted to be a part of some groups on campus. Since I have a strong and passionate drive for academics at UC, I applied to become a UHP Ambassador and CECH Ambassador. To my surprise, I received both roles and cannot wait to become a leader on campus. I hope to bridge the gap between CECH students and CECH Honors students, promoting greater academic integrity in my college. I was also invited to join the student group OSEPI (see OSEPI tab for more information) where I met not only more academically inclined peers but some wonderful friends! I spent almost four months with a group of wonderful female activists, all whom I stay in contact with and two who are now my close friends. Another personal goal I put my mind to this year was receiving a scholarship. I am paying for my entire education and have not received many scholarships until this year. I received a CECH scholarship as well as a UC AAUP scholarship for my interest and service in the Cincinnati community. After an extremely successful spring semester, my self esteem has gone up as an individual. I feel validated as a UC student because I know I have accomplished personal and academic goals at the University by presenting initiative and following through with my small goals. I will use this mindset for the rest of college and hope to accomplish much, much more within my roles on campus. Overall, I feel rejuvenated as a student at UC. During spring semester of 2013, I was not as pleased with my G.P.A as I would have hoped. During fall and spring semester this year, I received higher grades in more difficult classes and have maintained a 3.867 G.P.A. I also achieved my personal goal of completing all five Honors experiences in one year. By finishing the required Honors experiences this year, I feel like I will have a more relaxed two years where I can complete more Honors experiences on a less stressful level and branch out of my comfort zone. One passion that I have latched onto this year is education reform and change. I was super excited for the Honors seminar, Save Our Schools!, in the fall and can say that my professor from that course fueled my passion for education reform. After S.O.S was over, I was not sure how I would continue my passion for education reform. Over winter break however, I received an email about OSEPI and was more than happy to join. Since the completion of my OSEPI experience, I have participated in an Ohio Student Association zero tolerance policy rally in Columbus and look forward to being a part of OSA in the future. The coming year is definitely going to be challenging. I just recently got engaged to my fiancé who will be attending Harvard’s Graduate School of Education while I am at UC next year. It will be difficult to be away from each other for nine months, but I have some advice for myself during this time. I am planning on focusing my free time on not only my friends and family, but also my new campus commitments and volunteer work. By keeping an active and busy mind I will have less time for negative thinking. And of course, time flies when you are having fun! As I approach Cohort this coming year, I maintain similar but also different qualities I want to have as a student. I want to continue working well with my peers, but push myself as a student to stand out. I would love to achieve a 4.0 this fall, and will strive for that goal. With my new passion for education reform, I want to connect with new professors, students, and community members to enhance my passion and be an active advocate. I will continue to uphold my volunteer relationship with Winton Hills Academy and continue to collect Box Tops for them, as well. I will use my new knowledge from this year to continue to volunteer at Cincinnati Public Schools and spread awareness about education reform at UC. I will use the connections and networks I made this year to make my goals a reality. I cannot wait to get back to UC!