The First Year
THIS (AIN'T) IS MY FIRST RODEO
Autumn
Math 134
CSE 142
Honors 230E
Honors 100
NBIO 490
CSE 390
AUTUMN QUARTER
My intramural volleyball team consisted of my first friends here at the University of Washington. I met Andrew (the one on the most right) randomly at the IMA my second day at UW. While I didn't expect to meet him again, he would end up becoming one of my closest friends and introducing me to all my close friends today. This picture was taken in the middle of our playoff run, while we were undefeated and looking for the widely coveted championship shirt.
I was by obliterated by my first Math 134 midterm. Even with a 4% boost, a fully decked out cheat sheet, and a week's worth of studying, I was still not used to the style of questions and expectations that Professor McGovern was looking for. It was devastating to say the least, but it motivated me to revise my study habits, to look at and research the notes for the next days' lecture, and it resulted in a better score for the next midterm and more confidence in my mathematical abilities.
IM Volleyball Team
First Math 134 Midterm
Honors 230E consists of a mix of upperclassmen, graduate students, and a couple Honors freshmen. This is the beginning of an intricate survey that I distributed to my friends and family to fill out for me to gather information. This project required me to examine ideas that I would have never looked at outside of Honors. The process of interviews of Chinese, American, and Korean people was really fun. After giving the presentation, Professor Arai encouraged me to continue working on it, as there was so much information that she didn't know, and we had a final paper due in the next week.
HONORS 230E Project
After a long and hard fought run in the playoffs, we won our final game in the third set, 15-13. This completed our undefeated season (10-0), and we got these nice shirts. It's hard to believe that these people I met in my first week of UW, who forced me to join their intramural team would be my closest friends here at UW and I was able to help lead them to their first champion shirt.
Intramural Champions
There are very few people that are like Jonathan (right). I met him the same day I met Andrew, and since then he has acted as a guide for me throughout my UW journey, and as a good mentor/coach for HCDE by both introducing me to others in his major and helping me apply to DRGs to strengthen my application. It's very clear that after he graduates this year, my time at UW won't be the same again.
HCDE - The New Path
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Honors Community Ambassadors was a fun way to get involved with the behind the scenes of Honors events. For this quarter I participated in Finals Flapjacks, where Honors students prepare pancakes in the morning for other Honors students to help relax before finals.
Honors Community Ambassadors
I was unable to participate in Hall Council because of a prior commitment to volleyball at the same time when the Council held weekly meetings. However, I was fortunate enough to be recommended for the Residential Community Standards Council, where students act as a "jury" and discuss the consequences of students that have violated the rules of HFS. RCSC is a branch of Hall Council, but attends their own separate meetings.
Residential Community Standards Council
AUTUMN QUARTER REFLECTION (11/26/2018)
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I came to University of Washington expecting to do nothing but work like crazy. My parents worked hard to get the money to help me attend here, and I felt it would have been a complete waste if my goals of computer science or math (or engineering in general) could not be reached. However, a lot has changed since. I’ve befriended many friends older than me that have guided me into reaching my goals, setting realistic expectations, and also pushing me to continue pursuing my passions in volleyball and music, rather than living at the library 24/7. I wake up everyday for class now, excited to learn something new, and outside of the trap of following the numbers of my tests and GPA. There are so many different options I have that UW provides to take to reach different goals, even such as graduating early (if I am concerned about money so much).
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In Honors 230E, I’ve learned that I really enjoy projects that involve putting myself out there and having to interview my subjects to collect data. Currently I am leading a project on the effect of language, culture, and cross generational beliefs on the perception of social movements, in a class with 8 graduate students working on their own research. In high school, I didn’t really have many opportunities to explore that field of work, but thanks to Honors allowing me to take classes like ANTH469, I’ve been able to grow in different disciplines of knowledge and mature my ability in leadership.
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At UW, I didn’t expect to find such a great importance in finding a close group of friends. While it sounds specific to me, the sheer amount of people at UW made it really difficult to really stick to a group of friends, especially coming from out of state and not knowing anybody. That being said, I didn’t expect to be close friends with so many people older than me. I struggled befriending other first year students at orientation and my first couple days at UW (although to be fair, I have received many “you’re a freshman?” remarks). But these people I see 6-7 days a week, and we provide great support to one another.
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In Honors 100, I recently learned more about the Hall Health Center. There’s a virus going around, and I’ve been slightly sick for a long time, so I would like to go check that out. My family doctor also told me that he would send information to the school to administer shots to me, but I completely forgot, so now that I have more information on the center, I can investigate how much it can provide.
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This year, all my professors/lecturers, have been incredibly kind and brilliant people that I want to continue learning from. Recently, Honors sent an email about studying abroad in Japan, which I would love to further explore and work with my Honors 230E professor (whose work is focused in Japan) on my application for that process. My Math 134 professor is truly an amazing person to learn from, somebody who is incredibly down-to-earth and understanding, and can relate our current lessons to everything. Thanks to him, I would love to continue to pursue mathematics further at UW. I never heard of HCDE before I came to UW, but the more I talk to my senior friend Jonathan (who I met at the same time with Andrew) about the major, I would also like to continue exploring HCDE, as it seems to combine all my strengths into one field of study.
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By the end of my first year in Honors, I hope to continue to expand my knowledge in different disciplines and feed that passion to do so. I started the year knowing very little about East Asia post WWII, but now I can write essays worthy of “Good work!” from my professor. (That’s why I applied to Interdisciplinary Honors, I guess.) There’s a certain value to a well rounded education that I personally value, and so by the end of my time at UW, I hope that my time with Honors will leave me with a well rounded education and the accolades to enjoy a variety of different work.
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