Prompt: In what way(s) did you personally grow this year? How did you demonstrate or rebuild the resilience needed to move forward? How will you utilize resources and your support network to hold yourself accountable in continuing this growth?
I spent a lot of time this year thinking about time. We only get 24 hours each day, and we always use all of it. What matters is how we use that limited resource. My reflections on this reality helped me grow in discipline regarding my use of time, and helped me prepare for the time management dilemmas that I expect to face once I graduate. In the fall of 2022, I became acutely aware that I always had too much to do. I would get to the end of the week, still have homework left, and wish I had more time to finish the work and still be able to hang out with my friends. Yet each day that week, I had plenty of time to relax with mindless YouTube videos or video games. I started to figure out that I actually did have more time - the problem was not quantity, it was priority. If I wanted more time, I needed to change how I was spending it. I tried to start prioritizing my time better, but nothing changed right away. The bad habits of immediate gratification that I had unwittingly built were not easy to break. To add some accountability, I found trusted friends that I could share my struggles with. As it turned out, I was not the only person that wanted to grow in discipline. We decided to make it a competition: who can stay away from YouTube the longest? After adding that support structure, my discipline grew dramatically. Every time I went to a distraction, I had to consider whether it was justified, and whether it was worth losing the competition. Apparently, my competitiveness outweighs my laziness. It was still hard work, and sometimes I took steps backward, but I also started to see growth. Everything I learned in the fall was put to the test in the spring. Academically, this spring was the busiest semester I will ever have. In spite of that I felt like I had more time than I did in the fall. With thought-out priorities and people to keep me accountable I was able to keep up with schoolwork, build some new healthy habits, and still have time for friends in the evenings and on weekends. As I approach graduation next year, I am increasingly aware of how many things are fighting for my time. With the demands of adult life, time management will continue to demand my attention. But if I want to maximize what I can do, I need to continue developing discipline and maintain accountability.
0 Comments
Prompt: What is your definition of a global citizen scholar and how has it changed throughout your time in UHP? Using specific examples, how have you made progress toward becoming one this year? Discuss how this connects to and continues to influence your academic and professional goals.
When I started in the honors program at UC, I understood a “global citizen scholar” to be someone who studies a broad range of topics beyond their stated major. This is definitely still true; a global citizen scholar should seek out learning opportunities that broaden their understanding of people, of cultures, and of the world in general. But, as I have been learning this past year, it’s not all about learning- it’s also about teaching. A true global citizen scholar desires to share the knowledge they have gained with others. By doing so, larger communities can benefit from the knowledge. People who may not have the opportunity to learn such things on their own can be brought into the conversation. This expanded definition of a global citizen scholar has caused me to reevaluate what success in my field will look like. This year has highlighted to me how much I enjoy teaching and sharing knowledge. Academically, I have helped educate other students informally in the classroom and formally through tutoring. As an active participant in a campus church, I have volunteered to create small group study materials and lead discussions. Even in my personal hobbies I find myself eager to share my latest developments with others. As I think about the future- especially my career after graduation- I have started to consider how I can incorporate this sharing of knowledge into my path. Global citizen scholarship is not something that ends when I get my diploma. As I progress in my career and begin life after graduation, continued learning is expected. The challenging part is to continue sharing that knowledge. To that end, I have begun exploring some options for teaching as an adult. One that makes a lot of sense to me is becoming a professor at a university, at least part-time. My favorite professors now are the ones that work in the field they teach about and clearly have a passion for the work they do. I would love to be that role model for future students, helping them discover their own passion for knowledge. Of course, these ideas are purely speculative for now. They may not completely take shape until months or years after I join the workforce full-time. But even just considering the possibilities has helped define a potential future and gotten me excited about the ways I could give back through my career. Adjusting my perception of what it means to be a global citizen scholar encouraged me to consider my impact- not just during college, but afterward as well. Incorporating teaching and giving back into my idea of what it means to be successful has adjusted the course I want to pursue for my career. With just as much learning, and a lot more teaching, I think I am on the right track. Prompt: In what way(s) did you personally grow this year? How did you demonstrate or rebuild the resilience needed to move forward during this time? How will you utilize resources and your support network to hold yourself accountable in continuing this growth?
This year was defined in many ways by the COVID-19 pandemic. All social activity ceased in April when UC switched to remote classes. No clubs, no hanging out with friends, no walking to class. Some of that continues even now; my summer courses are all still virtual. On top of this once-in-a-lifetime event, this past year was also defined by my first real job. I had worked a part-time job or a volunteer summer internship, but the summer of 2020 was my first full-time degree-related position. These two unique events defined my growth throughout the year. The pandemic was challenging, but not in the way I expected. I am fortunate to live in an age of technology that enables remote communication and I made frequent use of such technology to attend classes, worship at church, and stay connected with friends. The challenge (and growth) came in my personal discipline. Days initially lost structure as all plans dissolved. It took dedicated effort and support to bring order into the chaos. The entire pandemic has been an exercise in discipline and routine. As my first completely asynchronous semester approaches, I am confident in how far my discipline has come. This coming summer has no class meeting times and no formal structure- only online lectures and assignments with deadlines. I know I would have struggled with such self-driven instruction a year ago. But now, with a year of practice under my belt, I feel ready. My first experience in the workplace brought its own set of challenges. My classes had prepared me well, so I was not overwhelmed by any gap in technical knowledge. Instead, I had to develop new interpersonal skills. I had to learn what it means to represent my company in professional communication. I had to learn how to develop professional relationships with coworkers in different parts of the company. I was privileged to work with some people that I enjoyed being around, and I had to learn how to work with other people that were less enjoyable. I grew through all of these experiences in my first co-op and continued to grow in many of them throughout my second. Importantly, I have learned how to develop friendships with senior coworkers that can help me continue to grow in the future. The way we choose to perceive our circumstances can have a large impact on how we choose to move forward. Instead of resigning to see this year as one long struggle that I had to endure, I chose to see the year as an opportunity for growth. And I did grow- personally, spiritually, and professionally. I am ending the year with more discipline and more professional maturity than I ever expected. As the next year approaches, I am looking for opportunities to implement what I have learned to help myself and other grow even more. Prompt: What complex problem or social issue have you worked on this year? Why did you pursue this specific topic? What did you do? What are your goals and next steps?
Education inequality is a social issue that I am passionate about changing. Many students, particularly those living in poverty, do not attend preschool. This can put them at a disadvantage right away, and some begin falling behind the state recommendations as early as first grade. Students that are slow to read, or do addition, or have trouble learning to be in an environment with other students, can be set back for a lifetime. Some students never graduate high school because of this snowball effect. Without graduating high school, it becomes harder to find a high paying job. In addition, parents that never graduated high school are at a disadvantage when it comes to preparing their own kids for school. Even a single student who does not learn in elementary school- which I believe is a failure of the system rather than the student- can be locked into a continuous cycle of poverty and poor education for generations. I have never personally faced those struggles, but I soberly recognize my advantages. I have been successful, but there are many students that were never given the opportunity to be. Starting my first year at UC, I knew that I wanted to use my success and my passion for sharing knowledge to create those opportunities in places where they would not normally exist. Working with the Treehouse Tutoring ministry in high school, I saw the huge difference that personal tutoring and mentorship can make in someone’s life. I wanted to continue that change at UC. In the first couple weeks on campus, I got connected with the Bearcat Coders organization. This club, a branch of UC’s Association for Computing Machinery (ACM-W), puts college students in the classroom with high school students taking IT classes in partnership with the University of Cincinnati. The classes are a direct path to enrollment as a full-time student at UC after high school graduation. My role as a volunteer was to provide individualized aid to the students who needed it while the teacher focused on delivering content to the entire class. Bearcat Coders was an excellent opportunity right in line with my goal of increasing education success. Now that I am reflecting on my year, however, I think I can do even better. The students I worked with at Hughes High School were already on the path to success. I want to work with younger students, where even small changes can have a big impact on their long-term success. I believe that this shift in focus will make better use of my time and teaching skills, and I hope that it will have a bigger impact on the issue of education inequality. One of my roommates worked with the Bearcat Buddies organization this year, and I plan on asking him how I can get involved. Bearcat Buddies is a similar program that works with students at a local elementary school. I know it will be a bigger commitment of my time and effort, but I also know it will be worth it. |
What is Year in Review?As a member of the UC Honors program, I must write a self-reflection after each academic year. This is where I will post those reflections. |