As a member of the University Honors Program, I was required to take an introductory course my freshman year of college. Under this tab is where you will find the projects that I completed and the reflections that I made while in this course.
This I Believe Statement
I have written a short essay below outlining a belief that I have. It required some reflection on how I live my life and what I truly value. Here is a link to the pdf document: (/uploads/2/3/7/6/23762918/this_i_believe_pdf.pdf)
My belief is really a compilation of many: that everything happens for a reason, that sometimes the reason takes us a long time to figure out, and that people are placed into our lives for a purpose. But ultimately, these all boil down to my firm belief in miracles. In my mind, this belief is unique. I have only ever experienced one miracle, and yet my belief is as firm and unyielding as if I had experienced a miracle every day of my life.
What is the one miracle that shaped such a strong belief? I’ll give you a hint. It is 5 feet tall, has shaggy blonde hair with cerulean blue eyes, and several disabilities: my younger brother, Jacob. I’ve talked about Jacob a lot on my blog, but that’s because he is a large part of my life. I don’t want to focus on all the sadness and hardship that followed Jacob on his journey to the world, so I will make it short and sweet: Jacob has a severe mental and developmental disability called Cornelia DeLange Syndrome. He cannot--nor will he ever—walk or talk. When he was born, we were told that he had two weeks to live. But I’ll go ahead and spoil the ending for you now: Jacob lived. 15 years young and still going strong! After he made it through those first very shaky two weeks, we knew that Jacob was a miracle.
As I got older, I saw more clearly how different Jacob was and the special care that he needed. Why would he, out of all people, be chosen to spend his time on earth in such a weak and difficult state? I resented that fact that I couldn’t talk to my little brother like all my friends or even go outside and kick a soccer ball with him. I started to wonder who or what would make Jacob the way that he was. For a long time, I think I was angry with God; for making Jacob’s life so hard and for giving me the challenge of living with and caring for him. Writing this down now, I realize how naïve and selfish my anger was.
Now, I know that Jacob’s life and its part in my own is a miracle, not a challenge. Jacob himself is a miracle in many ways. He proved medical professionals wrong by surviving a rough early start and growing into a strong little guy of 15 years. He is the happiest person I know despite also being the most sick and fragile. But his role in my life is the true miracle. I realize that without Jacob, I would be a completely different person. Jacob was put into my life so that he would have someone to love him unconditionally and to care for him, and he was put into mine to show me that God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers, and that miracles are very much real.
Experiential Learning Proposal (Sample)
Here in the UC honors program, students have the unique opportunity of designing and proposing their own "experience..." whether that experience is a study abroad trip, funding for research, or getting honors credit for a course is entirely up to the student. Here is a link to the pdf document of a sample proposal that I made: /uploads/2/3/7/6/23762918/experiential_learning_proposal_sample.docx. It is a proposed trip to Spain for a research conference.
7th Important Life Event Presentation: Finding My Niche
Here is a link to my final presentation picture slideshow and below is a short essay about the event.
The way I see it, there are two kinds of people you meet in college: a good roommate and a bad roommate. A good roommate is someone who keeps their side of the room tidy, comes home at reasonable hours, and locks the door after they leave. A bad roommate blasts crazy metal music at 2 in the morning, likes to slip their laundry in with yours, and generally just smells really bad. While the previously mentioned people are the most common kind of roommates (with the later being the sad majority), there is yet another kind of roommate. This roommate exceeds any and all expectations. This kind of person is not only a great roommate, but an even better friend—and I am lucky enough to live with three of these amazing people. I find it easier than most to say that my roommates Haley, Ashley, and Laura are my best friends. I came into college with a preconceived (and somewhat pessimistic) idea of dorm life: living with three complete strangers, most of whom I would not like and maybe one of whom I would tolerate. Essentially, I was prepared to keep my things in my dorm but sleep on my best friend’s couch. Thinking about it now, I had the worst possible situation in my head before moving in, and will come out with one of the best college roommate experiences out of anyone I know.
One of my favorite memories thus far with my roommates is going back to Haley’s house to spend the weekend; very appropriately, we dubbed the trip “Roomie Weekend.” Not only was it a ton of fun, but I feel like I learned a lot about my best friends and myself. There was a moment during “Roomie Weekend” when I knew that these girls had changed my life: We were all sitting around a campfire in Haley’s backyard answering questions delivered by her dad. (His goal in asking these questions, I presume, was to learn more about the three strangers that his daughter was living with. The result, however, was each of us “strangers” learning more about each other). At one point, he asked each of us to say what we had learned from the others. I won’t share what we said here, but know that the whole ordeal was very heavy and emotional—what can I say, we are a bunch of teenage girls complimenting each other and throwing out I love you’s… of course we cried!
It was a really good experience for all of us, but I can give specifics of what the experience did for me. In short, I found my niche. I found a solid group of girls—all of whom I love dearly—who I would stay friends with for life. Some people find this group in high school, some before then. Then there are those, like myself, who find them in college. These girls blew away all expectations that I had coming into college. In fact, they are the exact opposite of what I expected, and I couldn’t be any happier with that. So, for my final project, I have created a montage of pictures. Most are from that weekend, but some are just photos of the four of us together. I chose this specific medium because I stick with the cliché that “a picture is worth 1000 words.” While I (hopefully) won’t give 1000 words per picture, I plan on giving a small background story that accompanies my favorite ones.