Wow! It is so crazy to think that just one year ago, I was fresh out of high school and nervously looking for a roommate on Facebook. So much has happened since then, both with my college experience and the world in general.

 

Even though my time on campus was cut short, I learned so much about myself, my plans, and my place at UC. Coming into college, I was honestly very burnt out from high school and not sure if I had the energy to handle college the way I was accustomed to. So, I immediately started finding ways to be a little different from who I was in high school: I bought concert tickets to a show in downtown Cincinnati that was the night before my first ever Chemistry exam. This purchase definitely stressed me out beyond belief, but I still went to the concert and managed to get a 100% on my Chemistry exam the next day. Though I had no idea at the time, going to this concert would definitely shift my academic plans a little bit. I have been interested in photography for a while now, but going to that concert pushed me to consider photography or journalism as a career and made me want to explore this idea a bit more by putting journalism classes into my plan for sophomore year.

 

Unsurprisingly, the coronavirus outbreak is what impacted my academic and professional goals the most this year. Before the pandemic, I was accepted into a study abroad program through Ohio University to study ancient Greek, modern Greek, and ancient Greek drama in Patras, Greece over the summer. This program was absolutely perfect for me and I was so excited to finally leave the country and experience a different culture for five weeks. Unfortunately, it was canceled and this really messed up my scheduling plans for the upcoming year. Since I wouldn't be getting any credits for the summer classes I was supposed to be taking, I had to schedule them in for fall semester, preventing me from taking a journalism class. It was frustrating at first, but I was able to fix my schedule so I will be able to take a journalism class in the spring, and hopefully be able to decide if this is something I am interested in before the end of next year. Another big impact of losing my study abroad trip was that I didn't get to share any honors experiences from this past year, as Greece would have been my first one. I will be taking the honors section of ENGL 2089 in the fall though, so I'm excited to catch up in the program soon!

 

Spending a lot of time in quarantine has made me excited for sophomore year and I have many plans! Academically, I want to get a 4.0 GPA again, but more importantly, I want to dedicate more time to study smarter and make sure I check myself every week to make sure I'm not just going through the motions in class. I really want to push myself to understand what I am being taught, and not just memorizing problems for a test. My other academic goal is to plan a study abroad trip. Since my original trip got canceled, I want to make sure I plan for a trip before I graduate!

 

Professionally and personally, I also have a few goals for this upcoming year. I want to dedicate more time to my hobbies, like photography and videography. I plan on doing this by joining Bearcast, which is a club at UC focused on media. I think I could grow a lot in my talent through this club and if I could see myself changing my major to something like journalism. With everything going on in our country right now, another goal I have is to learn more about our political system, where I lie in the party system, and to become a more active citizen. I want to make sure I am making a very educated vote in the upcoming election and any future elections. I have never been super involved in politics because it stressed me out, but after realizing that not participating in politics is a form of privilege, I want to work harder to be educated about the government and voting.

 

I'm hopeful for what the next school year holds. I look forward to clarity and change not only in my life but in our country's as well.