I began this year hoping to gain a lot of new experiences. I took an Introduction to Drawing course, which, as a solidly STEM person, was a little intimidating. Though it was an introductory course, I felt incredibly out of my depth at times. However, I feel like this class helped me to see the world in a slightly different way; one of the things that our instructor always told us was to "see what you see, not what you think you see." I feel like that's an important lesson for life, too.
I ended the course very proud of my progress and the art I had created. Learning a new skill helped me gain confidence in approaching things that felt completely new to me!
I ended the course very proud of my progress and the art I had created. Learning a new skill helped me gain confidence in approaching things that felt completely new to me!
Pieces that were in my final portfolio
I was also learning a lot of new things in terms of my scientific background. I loved learning about genomics and tying it to my existing knowledge of molecular biology. I also found a lot of joy in my Fish and Wildlife Toxicology course, especially in the lab.
Our lab course was a unique setting for me to gain research experience. Rather than being a teaching-focused lab, we were tasked with designing, completing, and presenting a research project. I felt completely overwhelmed by my lack of experience, but I learned so much about the research process. Because it was such a small course, I also had opportunities to take initiative and directly lead the experimental process. My favorite part was actually collecting specimens; though it was freezing cold, muddy, early in the morning, and raining, I loved walking around in my waders and digging through the mud. I only got stuck a few times. I lost the picture of me in all my gear, but here is an artistic rendition:
Our lab course was a unique setting for me to gain research experience. Rather than being a teaching-focused lab, we were tasked with designing, completing, and presenting a research project. I felt completely overwhelmed by my lack of experience, but I learned so much about the research process. Because it was such a small course, I also had opportunities to take initiative and directly lead the experimental process. My favorite part was actually collecting specimens; though it was freezing cold, muddy, early in the morning, and raining, I loved walking around in my waders and digging through the mud. I only got stuck a few times. I lost the picture of me in all my gear, but here is an artistic rendition:
An artistic rendition of me in my gear, lovingly dubbed "brineface" by my friends. She looks sad, but I swear I had a good time!
I also continued in the University Chorale, which wasn't a new experience, but it brought me joy in lots of new ways! I was asked to serve as a member of the cabinet, and in this leadership role I was able to gain community and laughter on top of the music that I already loved. This class has been a constant through my undergraduate journey, and this year was no different!
My friends and I performing with the Seattle Symphony for the Holiday Pops concert series. These concerts always fall during the week before finals, but they're always as much fun as they are stressful!
One class that had a significant effect on my future goals and thoughts was Animal Behavior. I took it because it fit in to my major and because it seemed interesting, but the subjects we learned about in this course had a huge impact on me! I loved learning about how tiny things like behaviors and mutations could have such huge impacts on entire ecosystems. This class was a major catalyst for me, though I didn't recognize it at the time. Just as I had when I took Dr. Herron's classes, I found myself thinking, "That sounds so cool! I want to go to the same places and do the same things and learn more!"
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Greek myth in film
This year was going pretty great, right? Fun classes, in a major I liked, not nearly as much fear about the future. And then it happened! A real-life pandemic. Didn't see that one coming. All of a sudden, everything seemed to collapse. My schoolwork was new, difficult, and not in a format I found easy. As people left the dorms, my job became questionable at best, and I ended up choosing to leave my beloved home and campus and go home for the rest of the year. The opportunities that I had been looking forward to, including a study abroad trip with one of my best friends to the Netherlands, a research internship that would prepare me for graduate school, and all of my favorite traditions with friends for the spring quarter, vanished. I was incredibly lucky to stay safe and financially stable during this time, but it was certainly a struggle. The political and social climate added to my difficult experiences; I saw unexcusable hatred around me, and I was impacted heavily by the experiences of my friends and loved ones who were being targeted for the color of their skin.
Despite the challenges, life went on. At least, school did. I struggled to focus on my classes, and my instructors struggled to teach in a format that wasn't conducive to learning. I admire and appreciate the efforts that my instructors made to make the students' experience more positive; without their understanding, I would have struggled much more. Still, I felt somewhat listless and unable to retain information during Spring quarter. Though my grades were fine, I didn't feel as though I was really learning much.
The classes were difficult, but I did find some joy in the last Organic Chemistry course. Or rather, I found joy in being done with O Chem. This class online was... difficult. I spent more time studying than I ever had on a course before. At one point, my wifi crashed right at the end of my exam and my dad came upstairs to find my sobbing on the floor because my exam would be counted as late and lose 15% of the score. My professor was too kind to allow this to happen, but that was a ROUGH day.
This was a study sheet that I created for one of my O Chem exams. It's about 23 pages long and you should NOT scroll all the way through it. I kind of hope that it'll find its way into the hands of a hard-working young O Chem student, though. Study hard, my friend.
I also enjoyed Comparative Endocrinology. This course was formatted in an incredibly unique way to account for the current situation, but I found the subjects very interesting. Our work helped me to really understand the process of writing and publishing a scientific paper, and I've applied that knowledge in many other settings. It was kind of handy to have a medical professional on hand to help with any questions I had. Thanks, mom!
I wrote this paper on Hashimoto's Thyroiditis while lying out in the sunshine with a sister on one side and a dog on the other. Perks of studying from home!
Though the academic and social side of things was a struggle, I am so grateful for the time I was able to spend with my family. I wasn't in a lab or in the Netherlands learning about social programs, and there were times when I felt that loss pretty intensely. This being said, the spring/summer during the pandemic gave me the time and space I needed to process and rejuvenate with my family by my side. I got to go out in nature and enjoy my hometown, enjoy the chaos of a new puppy, and prep for the GRE.