2022 Autumn Quarter Reflection

Coming in as a freshman, I had a lot of goals and expectations I wanted to accomplish,

such as making close friends, being part of an entirely new community, or getting a job that
reflects my interest. Looking back, I have not achieved any of these. However, I understand that
this is my first quarter and that first in anything won’t always be perfect like you expected. So
my goal from now on is to make those expectations come true as I go into my second quarter,
and I think reflecting upon this quarter is crucial to find improvement points to start with. What
went wrong and how will I fix it?
When I wrote an identity reflection at the beginning of this quarter, I acknowledged that
most people I hang out with are all similar to me, and mentioned that I want to meet people from
other backgrounds, especially people with different sexual orientations. I think I might have
failed my goal in that regard, not because I chose not to but because I did not expose myself
enough to a broader community to see that change.
There were some areas I made pretty good progress in. I did well academically in my
classes, maintaining a close to 4.0 GPA in all four classes I am taking this quarter. I think this
accomplishment should not be overlooked because the main job of a student is studying and it
seems like I am managing it well. I want to finish this quarter strong in classes by putting in my
best work as I go into finals week. I am also waiting to hear back from my interview I had for an
officer position at Korean Student Association, and I have been expanding my network within
the RSO.
Something that I discovered while doing research in Honors 100 is that there are some
study abroad or exchange programs available to my needs, which can also count towards my
experiential learning activities for the Honors program. As I go into another quarter, I want to
further investigate not just the programs I can get but also the way to realistically fund those
programs so that I can make them come true sometime in my third year. I am looking into the
study abroad programs offered by the Honors program in particular because they fulfill the
Honors credit requirements as well as being generally more affordable.
Although I did not get to take any honors classes besides Honors 100, I am excited to
take one next quarter. In the next quarter, I not only want to keep up the good work in
coursework but also to meet more people in the honors program and form a study group to study
with. Recently, I sat down with Nadra for an honor advising meeting and Nadra recommended I
to explore more major options before committing to a major I am unsure about. Consequently, I
think I will drop one of the business prerequisites I signed up for next quarter and fill the spot
with a course outside of business I may be interested in. It might take me more time to graduate,
but it will be better than regretting after making an impetuous decision.