McKenzie Templeton

HONORS 100 AA
Assignment 1: Early Reflection

The University of Washington was the ideal school for me: in-state and an urban
campus, with all the critical opportunities associated with a research university that
would allow me to gain experience within my field and strengthen my capacity for
innovation. Though when I arrived, I felt overwhelmed by the universitys immensity,
especially as a student from a small agrarian town. Being surrounded by a group of peers
that were competitive, even haughty or overbearing at times, stunted my confidence in
my depth of knowledge. I felt slighted by not only the culture of elitism, but also by the
sheer size of my lectures and my lack of contact with the professors. Exceptionality that
UW claimed was not consistent with my own grand expectations.
It was only at the conclusion of my freshman year that I began to understand how
much I had developed intellectually and socially: that the competitive environment had
only compelled me to study harder and devote myself entirely to my courses, that the
universitys vastness had only exposed me to diversity, and that the large class sizes only
forced me to attend smaller study groups and office hours. I found that the University of
Washington did not mollycoddle its students, and that UW Honors would be an essential
extension of this learning environment and intellectual community, one of commitment,
struggle, and reflection.
I came to the University of Washington and joined the Honors Program because,
ultimately, I wanted an education that involved more than memorization, more than

sitting in a lecture hall and learning about people and places that I would never know or
experience. I came here for what I consider crucial life experiences as part of my
education, discovering my potential as I navigate the daunting sea of RSOs to find the
perfect one for me, pulling all-nighters, having the deepest, most intellectual midnight
conversations with my roommates over falafels in the crooks and nannies of the Ave.
After college, I will remember these sorts of experiences, and the moments in which I
was most proud of myself: when I received the Foreign Language and Area Studies
Fellowship for Hindi, when I volunteered as Citizenship Instructor for East African
Community Services, or when I mustered the courage to attend my first UW Model
United Nations conference. UWs Honors Program encourages this through
interdisciplinary and experiential learning, and inspires its students to make
extracurricular connections.
At the University of Washington and the Honors program, I expect to be humbled
and challenged. I expect to discover my own strength in a multitude of ways: by living
away from my parents and sister (a challenge for me, as a highly family-oriented
individual), by completing an independent study abroad, and by becoming friends with
people who are different from me and who possesses radically different views. Yet
through the Honors program, I would be able to discover my ideal intimacy of a small
university with the same opportunity, diversity, and rigor as a large one. And this year, Ill
not sink under self-imposed limitations, or succumb to the difficulty of finding my niche
in the vastness of opportunity. Rather, Ill be anticipating it.