Sophomore Year Reflections

Sophomore Year Reflections

A big part of the Jesuit community involves reflection. We use reflection as a tool to tap into our past life in order to improve our future lives. Reflection is something highly valued in the Loyola Community, so I’ll take this chance to share my reflections with you as a fellow student.

As I’ve mentioned before, I entered Loyola as a Creative Writing major thinking that I wanted to be a literary journalist. As I took a few English classes I began to become bored and unchallenged, which is hardly a feeling anyone wants to feel in their desired field of study. So, I begun to speak with my friend Lucrezia about the empty feelings that swirled in my mind.  She started to talk to me about things I might enjoy and, passively, she mentioned to me that her Classical Rhetoric professor was highly encouraging her to take Latin classes. Latin. How could I not think about it earlier? I had taken four years of Latin previously and I enjoyed the classical studies courses that were offered in high school. I highly missed the premise of taking a language that paired with my field of study. Sure English is a language in itself but through the classics department, I had the key to many other languages as well.

In the middle of my sophomore fall semester, I finalized my decision to switch over to the Classical Civilizations major and the addition of a Latin minor. Upon my spring semester, I had quickly learned the challenges in which I had brought upon myself. I was very behind. Classical studies was more involved in substantial detail and honestly I could go on a rant about the infinity of important names that existed in classical Greece and classical Rome. My classmates had so much detail oriented knowledge whereas I only had foundational knowledge. And initially I did sulk about it a little but I realized that the only way to change my place was to befriend my new classmates and gain as much knowledge as I absolute could.

By befriending these wonderful people, they were surprisingly really excited to help me improve on my studies. In my previous thoughts, I looked at them as competition but now I look to them as partners in crime. By befriending my “competition” I improved not only academically but I improved socially. They introduced me to incredible students and professors that I now couldn’t imagine my academic career without. Instead of directly judging people, I’ve made it my mission to get to know the people who will potentially be in my life. On all levels, we should be in no place to judge someone else immediately because everyone has a story. And our stories are ALWAYS changing. We are the only ones who can change them and make the best out of them.

 

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