In my entire nineteen years of living, I have always preferred to stay in my comfort zone, never daring to step outside of it. My peers always encouraged me to take risks and not be a goody too shoes; however, I was always too much of a wuss to listen to them. However, I was recently inspired by one of my college roommates. When talking to her about college courses for next quarter and how I really wanted to be a biology minor but was too scared to take the required courses for the minor, especially general chemistry, she gave me a pep talk that inspired me to step outside of my comfort zone and enroll in the first general chemistry course.
I am an Anthropology major and absolutely love it. I am taking upper divisions as a sophomore which is early, but I am able to handle the workload of the upper divisions and still enjoy learning. Taking upper division anthropology courses have actually made me fall even more in love with anthro; upper divisions focus on a more specific subfield in anthro instead of a broad, generalized overview covered in lower divisions, which allows me to hone in my skills on that certain subfield. However, along with my passion for anthro, I have also loved biology, and may want to pursue public health in graduate school, thus leading me to consider taking on a biology minor. However, what scares me the most about biology minors at my college is taking a full year of general chemistry, and taking a quarter of organic chemistry. I am not strong nor that passionate about chemistry, but am in love with biology; yet, you have to take chemistry to get to biology courses, which made me nervous. After talking to one of my roommates about my nerves and strong desire to enroll in a chemistry course but being too much of a wimp to do it, she gave me a pep talk that pushed me to enroll in a general chemistry course.
My roommate is an electrical engineering major, so her quarters are always filled to the rim with complex courses. Right now she is taking math, physics and physics lab, and philosophy, and to top it all off she has a part time job on campus. The fact that she is able to handle the intense workload, work, and still have time to socialize and party, is super inspiring to me. She told me that college is all about taking courses in a discipline that you love, and no matter if it is hard, if you try your hardest and put all your effort into that course, you will do well in the course. She also said that if you slack off and get a grade you are not satisfied with then you are worse off since you did not try at all. However, if you try your absolute hardest and get a grade you are not happy with, at least you know you put all of your effort into that class and didn't slack off, and tried your hardest to do your best. My roommate just said to step out of my comfort zone and sign up for general chemistry, because she knows I have a good work ethic and am very academically focused and can do well in the course if I really devote a lot of my time to it.
The encouraging statements my roommate told me served as a fuel that pushed me to sign up for chemistry. I was planning on signing up for general chemistry anyways and my parents were encouraging me to as well, but talking to my roommate really finalized that push to enroll in the course. College is all about taking risks, and finding out who you really are as an individual in this world. College is not easy; everyone is going to face hardships and obstacles sometime in their four or five years as an undergrad. Next quarter I am planning on taking two anthropology upper divisions as well as general chemistry, which will really give me an intense workload. However, my roommate re-instilled a fire inside me that will fuel me to succeed in my courses next quarter and my classes this quarter. Knowing that I have peers surrounding me who will always support me and believe in me when I go through periods where I don't believe in myself is comforting, as they will always be there to encourage and push me to do my best, even if the outcome isn't what I was expecting. All that matters is that I tried my hardest, believed in myself, and didn't give up.
So, thank you. Thanks to my parents, my roommates, and my friends who will always support me and have my back. I love you all.
I am an Anthropology major and absolutely love it. I am taking upper divisions as a sophomore which is early, but I am able to handle the workload of the upper divisions and still enjoy learning. Taking upper division anthropology courses have actually made me fall even more in love with anthro; upper divisions focus on a more specific subfield in anthro instead of a broad, generalized overview covered in lower divisions, which allows me to hone in my skills on that certain subfield. However, along with my passion for anthro, I have also loved biology, and may want to pursue public health in graduate school, thus leading me to consider taking on a biology minor. However, what scares me the most about biology minors at my college is taking a full year of general chemistry, and taking a quarter of organic chemistry. I am not strong nor that passionate about chemistry, but am in love with biology; yet, you have to take chemistry to get to biology courses, which made me nervous. After talking to one of my roommates about my nerves and strong desire to enroll in a chemistry course but being too much of a wimp to do it, she gave me a pep talk that pushed me to enroll in a general chemistry course.
My roommate is an electrical engineering major, so her quarters are always filled to the rim with complex courses. Right now she is taking math, physics and physics lab, and philosophy, and to top it all off she has a part time job on campus. The fact that she is able to handle the intense workload, work, and still have time to socialize and party, is super inspiring to me. She told me that college is all about taking courses in a discipline that you love, and no matter if it is hard, if you try your hardest and put all your effort into that course, you will do well in the course. She also said that if you slack off and get a grade you are not satisfied with then you are worse off since you did not try at all. However, if you try your absolute hardest and get a grade you are not happy with, at least you know you put all of your effort into that class and didn't slack off, and tried your hardest to do your best. My roommate just said to step out of my comfort zone and sign up for general chemistry, because she knows I have a good work ethic and am very academically focused and can do well in the course if I really devote a lot of my time to it.
The encouraging statements my roommate told me served as a fuel that pushed me to sign up for chemistry. I was planning on signing up for general chemistry anyways and my parents were encouraging me to as well, but talking to my roommate really finalized that push to enroll in the course. College is all about taking risks, and finding out who you really are as an individual in this world. College is not easy; everyone is going to face hardships and obstacles sometime in their four or five years as an undergrad. Next quarter I am planning on taking two anthropology upper divisions as well as general chemistry, which will really give me an intense workload. However, my roommate re-instilled a fire inside me that will fuel me to succeed in my courses next quarter and my classes this quarter. Knowing that I have peers surrounding me who will always support me and believe in me when I go through periods where I don't believe in myself is comforting, as they will always be there to encourage and push me to do my best, even if the outcome isn't what I was expecting. All that matters is that I tried my hardest, believed in myself, and didn't give up.
So, thank you. Thanks to my parents, my roommates, and my friends who will always support me and have my back. I love you all.
