For “high school me”, the most important part of school was maintaining my 4.0, but unfortunately, my dreams of maintaining that status in college were quickly whisked away first semester by infamous general chemistry.  Though at first I was fairly distraught with myself, I quickly came to learn that it was--in my mind at least--a good thing I lost it first semester.  Just because my gpa was slightly lower than perfect didn’t mean I slacked off second semester, but instead made me less stressed overall with my coursework.  I stilled maintained excellent grades in my classes and worked as hard as I could for my grades but I was still able to find time outside the classroom to hang out with friends more than I think I would have if I would have had to constantly fret over whether or not a slightly lower grade on a certain assignment would drop me down below an A.  It was a humbling experience for me to realize that though most of the time college is about getting the grades, there is still time for much-needed breaks to hang out with friends and enjoy the “best years of my life.”

      When Welcome Weekend rolled around last fall, my new roommates and I decided to step out of our comfort zones and try to meet some new people in our residents’ hall.  In doing that, we walked out into the hallway to run into four guys—who happened to be our neighbors—doing cartwheels.  Joining in on the fun, we all became fast friends that hung out with each other every chance we got.  Throughout the year, several more individuals joined our quickly growing “squad” to form an intense relationship that will hopefully last for many years to come.  These friends introduced me to countless new games and activities, allowed me to try things that I was a little too scared to try on my own, and gave me many different connections for quick help on homework, events going on around campus, and overall a sense of belongingness.  Whenever I would visit home during the semesters I couldn’t wait to go back to the dorms to go out with everyone to explore campus and downtown.  Making these friends also helped find so much more self confidence in myself mainly because they accepted me for who I was and encouraged me to try new things.

      For future me in this upcoming year, I hope to continue to try new things, especially ones that scare me.  Academically, I hope to be more engaged with my learning and not get stuck just going through the materials to study for the exams and then forget them a week later.  This year I feel like I’ve grown more of who I am eventually going to become: a successful engineer with confidence to change the world.  In this, I see myself continuing to gain confidence in myself and what I do and seeking out new passions to discover these upcoming years.  I want to try and use more of what I learn in school in my everyday life and take it upon myself to go one step further than the classroom, whether that be looking more into an interesting topic covered, or discussing a potential outside project with a professor.  Overall, I plan on continuing to live my life to the fullest and enjoy every minute I can.