Autumn 2021: Diving into Community

Posing for pictures in our last Honors 100 class with our favorite peer educator, Gargi! (I'm in the back matching hats with Kirby)

11.20.2021

Being at UW for almost a full quarter has shown me how rewarding it is to pursue community. Living in a McMahon cluster with seven other people is definitely a jump into communal living, and RSOs and in-person learning only add to building relationships. Finding real community was one of my goals and hopes at the beginning of Autumn, and it continues to be a priority for me. I started going to RSOs like Recess Media, FASA, events by the Inn, and more. I enjoy being in these different communities so much. At the same time, I sometimes find myself overwhelmed with making commitments and not knowing what I have the emotional and physical capacity to prioritize. That’s an ongoing learning process for me.

From this, I realized another one of my goals is to take good care of myself. For one of the projects in my psychology class, we had to build two habits by using operant conditioning to reward ourselves for succeeding in building those habits. My psychology class has been teaching me about the benefits of health and wellness. Of course, I knew before that learning can be improved by better sleep and exercise. But this time the whole lifestyle message truly fixed in my mind. So I began setting a bedtime for myself and exercising a set amount of times in the morning, a routine which I’ve (more or less) actually been following.

In addition to this, I’ve been learning that I can be my best self around others when I take enough time alone for myself. I need time to think, to breathe, to process. If I can’t always be the most energetic person in a situation, that’s ok. Every day is different, each season is changing, and I’m growing.

My journey to finding a major has been a winding path. At the beginning of the quarter, I was completely lost. I remember sitting on my bed in the first week of school at around 1am, frantically searching through majors that I might have a remote interest in. I scribbled notes on all types of majors in my journal with a pink pen, listing details about credit requirements and related careers. Since then I thought I was going to do one major, but through the research process and meeting with counselors, I discovered another major that I’m really excited about.

In Honors 100, one of my favorite projects was the Experiential Learning Activity Interviews. Processing goals, interests, and passions with another person and learning how to pursue them helped clarify steps forward. This assignment prompted me to get involved in a community for creatives and artists and gave me ideas for studying abroad. I’m still not entirely sure what I will do for my experiential learning activities, but I’m glad we started to brainstorm early.

By the end of my first year in honors, I hope to feel grounded in my community and be well established on my path to my major. I want to feel proud of the work I’ve done this year and glad that I tried new things. I imagine heading into the summer with a feeling of hope and satisfaction for the next few years. The time will go by so fast— it already has. I want to make sure that I connect with my professors while I’m learning from them. I haven’t been very good at going to office hours so far this quarter. But in the few times I have, I really appreciate getting the human connection and deeper insight into the materials I’m learning.

When these four-ish years at UW are completed, I want to look back on learning that deeply affected my life. Memorized facts fade, but powerfully internalized learning will continue to affect the decisions I make long into the future.