Autumn 2018 Quarter Reflection
At the beginning of Autumn Quarter, I was so scared about going to the UW. I was terrified that I would be lost in the crowd, not make any friends, and struggle in all of my classes. My goals were basically just to survive and not fail my classes. My expectations and trust in myself to be able to thrive in different situations has grown significantly throughout this quarter—the UW has proven to be a challenge that I am up for, and gives me a community that I have grown to love. I am happily surprised that I have liked it so much. I also am surprised that I have no set schedule every day. In High School, every day was basically the same because I spent so much of my weekdays doing homework. At the UW, I find that I have free time to do other things during my weeks, and I am really grateful to be able to have time to explore the different opportunities within the UW.
Something at the UW that is not what I expected are the Honors classes. When I decided to take two Honors classes this quarter, I was expecting to find very difficult classes that I would struggle through. Instead, I have found that my two discussion-based classes are not too hard at all, but interesting and engaging. In my DNA & Evolution class, we have just started to talk about the implications of CRISPR Cas-9 technology and gene drives, which could potentially eradicate whole species in just a matter of generations. We are also just starting to talk about the history of Eugenics, and how the movement was widely popular and many women were sterilized in the US before, instead of deciding who can breed, Hitler took this theory and started to decide who could live and who should die. In my other Honors course, The Classical Tradition, we have been reading epics and examining commonalities and differences between them. We have read many things, but some things that stood out to me were Milton’s Paradise Lost, Tennyson’s Lotos-Eaters, and Virgil’s epic, The Aeneid. I also really like Homer’s epics (The Iliad and The Odyssey). Some interesting commonalities between them are that Virgil’s epic is a sort of combination of Homers’ two epics, and Milton’s Paradise Lost uses pagan myths (greek and roman myths) while explaining the immorality of Adam and Eve, who he compares to Narcissus, from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. These classes are really interesting to me, which I did not necessarily expect going in to them.
In Honors 100, I have learned about all of the options for Experiential Learning activities, which I really want to explore further. I especially want to do a Study Abroad, and have been looking at programs for this coming Summer B Quarter and EFS. I am interested in going to London or Rome or Chile. The study abroad programs in London and Rome focus on art and literature, which I am very interested in, while the program in Santiago, Chile, is about physiological and mental health. Throughout this program, all different kinds of doctors, nurses, and indigenous healers would give lectures, which sounds incredibly interesting, and a unique opportunity that I might not receive ever again. Also, in Honors 100 I have learned about the Honors advisors, who I am meeting with more frequently—and who are really helpful with any questions I have. I have just met with an advisor concerning the possibility for independent study in Photography during the Winter Quarter, and she was very helpful in outlining the different strategies and options I had.
By the end of my time at the UW Honors Program, I hope to achieve a deeper interdisciplinary knowledge about the world around me—in its many forms and aspects. I hope to continue to meet people, learn from them, and make new friends while still keeping my old ones. I hope to continue taking interesting classes, meeting with professors and doing things I am authentically interested in.
Something at the UW that is not what I expected are the Honors classes. When I decided to take two Honors classes this quarter, I was expecting to find very difficult classes that I would struggle through. Instead, I have found that my two discussion-based classes are not too hard at all, but interesting and engaging. In my DNA & Evolution class, we have just started to talk about the implications of CRISPR Cas-9 technology and gene drives, which could potentially eradicate whole species in just a matter of generations. We are also just starting to talk about the history of Eugenics, and how the movement was widely popular and many women were sterilized in the US before, instead of deciding who can breed, Hitler took this theory and started to decide who could live and who should die. In my other Honors course, The Classical Tradition, we have been reading epics and examining commonalities and differences between them. We have read many things, but some things that stood out to me were Milton’s Paradise Lost, Tennyson’s Lotos-Eaters, and Virgil’s epic, The Aeneid. I also really like Homer’s epics (The Iliad and The Odyssey). Some interesting commonalities between them are that Virgil’s epic is a sort of combination of Homers’ two epics, and Milton’s Paradise Lost uses pagan myths (greek and roman myths) while explaining the immorality of Adam and Eve, who he compares to Narcissus, from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. These classes are really interesting to me, which I did not necessarily expect going in to them.
In Honors 100, I have learned about all of the options for Experiential Learning activities, which I really want to explore further. I especially want to do a Study Abroad, and have been looking at programs for this coming Summer B Quarter and EFS. I am interested in going to London or Rome or Chile. The study abroad programs in London and Rome focus on art and literature, which I am very interested in, while the program in Santiago, Chile, is about physiological and mental health. Throughout this program, all different kinds of doctors, nurses, and indigenous healers would give lectures, which sounds incredibly interesting, and a unique opportunity that I might not receive ever again. Also, in Honors 100 I have learned about the Honors advisors, who I am meeting with more frequently—and who are really helpful with any questions I have. I have just met with an advisor concerning the possibility for independent study in Photography during the Winter Quarter, and she was very helpful in outlining the different strategies and options I had.
By the end of my time at the UW Honors Program, I hope to achieve a deeper interdisciplinary knowledge about the world around me—in its many forms and aspects. I hope to continue to meet people, learn from them, and make new friends while still keeping my old ones. I hope to continue taking interesting classes, meeting with professors and doing things I am authentically interested in.