Year in Review: 2021 to 2022
With COVID cases declining and a return to in-person classes I believed an era of normalcy was on the horizon and for a little bit I was right. Now a second year, I could follow the familiar rhythms of academic life, made all the better by the after forementioned in-person classes. I enrolled in my first honors experience, Pinball Design & Programming, which was a fantastic experience that allowed me to work cross disciplinary with other students. I completed my portfolio and got my first co-op position at Hasbro. I went on hiking and camping trips all over the tri-state area.
Besides having to move and find a new place to live in two days, the beginning of the spring semester was going just as stable if not more stable as the fall. One thing I had not realized is that co-op is a lot easier than classes. No more late nights doing homework. No more Sunday nights studying. No more long-drawn-out lectures. I thought that I might just ride this wave of stability right up to graduation. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Just as the year was about to come to close, just as I was getting ready to relax, my life was uprooted.
For a long time, I had felt questionable about my major and career path. It was always a nagging feeling in the back of head that I would like to be doing more, learning more. After three semesters in graphic design, I had opted to bottle those feelings up and throw them out, refusing to face the consequences of a choice like that. The time. The money. It wouldn’t worth it I thought. That was until I was accepted as part of the NEXT Innovation Scholars. Joining NIS is one of the biggest achievements of my past year. It was the kind of opportunity I had been looking for before even coming to UC and finally being a part of it meant I was where I had always wanted to be. It also came with a scholarship. With the financial burden released I decided to finally give into that nagging voice and investigate other majors. What followed was a two-week period of constant advisor calls, research, soul searching, and conversations with my peers. I could either continue riding that wave of stability or I could uproot it all for the chance at something better. I choose something better. It wasn’t an easy decision and I still find myself wondering whether it was the right choice, but ultimately it was the choice that gave me the greater potential of being the kind of person I wanted to be. Now, I’m in the trenches of summer classes, working towards transitioning into computer science, heading towards uncertainty. I’ve never been more excited.
Besides having to move and find a new place to live in two days, the beginning of the spring semester was going just as stable if not more stable as the fall. One thing I had not realized is that co-op is a lot easier than classes. No more late nights doing homework. No more Sunday nights studying. No more long-drawn-out lectures. I thought that I might just ride this wave of stability right up to graduation. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Just as the year was about to come to close, just as I was getting ready to relax, my life was uprooted.
For a long time, I had felt questionable about my major and career path. It was always a nagging feeling in the back of head that I would like to be doing more, learning more. After three semesters in graphic design, I had opted to bottle those feelings up and throw them out, refusing to face the consequences of a choice like that. The time. The money. It wouldn’t worth it I thought. That was until I was accepted as part of the NEXT Innovation Scholars. Joining NIS is one of the biggest achievements of my past year. It was the kind of opportunity I had been looking for before even coming to UC and finally being a part of it meant I was where I had always wanted to be. It also came with a scholarship. With the financial burden released I decided to finally give into that nagging voice and investigate other majors. What followed was a two-week period of constant advisor calls, research, soul searching, and conversations with my peers. I could either continue riding that wave of stability or I could uproot it all for the chance at something better. I choose something better. It wasn’t an easy decision and I still find myself wondering whether it was the right choice, but ultimately it was the choice that gave me the greater potential of being the kind of person I wanted to be. Now, I’m in the trenches of summer classes, working towards transitioning into computer science, heading towards uncertainty. I’ve never been more excited.