Tag: Junior

Personal Reflection of My Time at LUC

Personal Reflection of My Time at LUC

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It has been a while since I last reflected on my overall experience of my time at Loyola. There’s a lot to say about how I have changed as a student and person- I have been more mature, more experienced, and more knowledgeable in all realms.

It is funny how I always think of myself as a freshman. People always think I look younger than I really am and I still take core classes that some freshman take now. As a person working in Undergrad Admissions and partaking in a lot of their events, I surround myself around a lot of prospective students and their younger siblings as well.  But really, guys, I am a junior! Even I am beyond belief how time flies and I have less than 3.5 more semesters before graduating.

Loyola has taught me many lessons and have opened many doors for me.

Right from the first year, I learned how to commute and take public transportation for the first time. Even though I was born and raised in Chicago, I did not have to rely on the CTA to get around, so having the UPass allowed me to do some exploration and adventure around like a tourist.

Commuter Proud Keychain - UPDATED

After 2 years, I have finally believed in the power of coffee. Funny as it is, I was not a coffee fan, but as commuting extracted the energy out of me, I was easily exhausted and sometimes sleepy during class. Coffee is the solution to my problems. Not Redbull. Not 5-Hour Energy drinks. Not even Monster. Traditional coffee works the best. I am alert and can focus in class thus I can do better on quizzes and exams and get better grades. Still, coffee isn’t a favorite of mine; I just drink it because it helps me when I need it.

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I always knew, but through class assignments throughout the semesters, writing in general has been an enjoyable and easy thing more me to do. As I have mentioned in past blog posts, I am a very introvert person and to compensate for not being so social, I express myself and open up through writing. This blogging position has helped me a lot, as well. I become more aware of my grammar and practice speaking my mind out more frequently than the average person would do.

Because of Loyola, I have built many strong friendships and relationships with friends and faculty and staff. I have found people who have supported me since my freshman year and ever since, they have been my “homebase” in the LUC social setting. There are teachers who have gotten to know me better on a more personal level and have helped motivate me and support me through the challenges I have faced.

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LUC has piano rooms and because of those, I have regained my talent of piano playing. If I have free time, I will go to one of the piano rooms and start jamming to favorite tunes that pop up in my head. I now currently have expanded my music interest and am currently taking Applied Cello lessons at Loyola!

To say in the least, Loyola has done a lot for me. Surprisingly, there’s not much from academics that have stood out to me, but it is more personal things that Loyola has indirectly played a part in that has impacted me greatly. For everyone, this can be different; IT SHOULD BE DIFFERENT! 🙂

People generally say that college is about finding identity. I vouch for that, now! It is spontaneous, so do not force things to happen; things will come through time as you build up experiences. Don’t try so hard!

Again, I am a junior, so I still have another 3.5 semesters to go, and who knows what will happen then. But for now, let’s end on a good note that LUC has done great things for me and that things are generally going well! 😀

Revisiting Summer

Revisiting Summer

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After [spring] finals week, I always fathom about what kind of summer I am going to have, what am I going to do, am I going to be productive…the list is endless. As a native Chicagoan, you would think that I would roam the streets of the Magnificent Mile or take a typical touristy picture next to the Bean (no, it is not called the Cloud Gate…).  If not, you may think my family would plan a summer road trip to the Dakotas or fly to another country to enjoy a relaxing week, holding coconuts with little umbrellas and colored straws watching a majestic dolphin leap in the ocean sunset.

Nah. Nope.

The first half of my summer was spent at Loyola taking a Genetics course and chemistry research. It is quite nice to take a course over the summer for some reasons. Firstly, you can focus on just that one class and dedicate more study time for quizzes and exams. Secondly (speaking as an introvert), campus isn’t flooded with people walking around and it is generally more quiet and peaceful outside. However, since I am taking a summer course (and class only meets for a total of 18 days over a stretch of 6 weeks), course material is crammed and the content is heavy-filled. Especially for science courses, it is crucial to be on-top of everything because if you don’t, it will be a struggle to catch up.

On toward the more exciting parts of my summer! I’ll focus on 3 main events to keep things simple and easy.

Music. If you do not know by now, music is what I live on. I recently joined my church’s Saturday choir, Seraphim, as a musician (not as a singer because my voice is not that angelic). For a couple of masses, I played the piano, but primarily I play the cello. I’m a mere novice at this giant violin, but I’m not giving up. The sounds that get produced and beauty of the instrument itself is enough to keep me motivated and satisfied to keep playing on. In addition to choir, I still attend Old Town School of Folk Music for cello classes. In July, our class had our biannual recital which included pieces from J.S. Bach, Bartok, and Suzuki followed by ensembles and other classy arrangements. Also, in the span of the three-month long break, I was able to play cello for 5 weddings too. I always wanted to do something like this and now, I got the opportunity to do so with talented musicians and vocalists.

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Marian Days. As I do every year (for the past 5 years), I go to Carthage, Missouri to attend an unforgettable and exciting religious event. This year’s theme is: Jubilee of Mercy, which coincides with what this year is called, declared by the pope.  If you want to know more about the logistics of Marian Days, here’s the link: http://blogs.luc.edu/uao/2015/10/15/40-years-of-tribulation-grace/

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Here I was able to participate in many things such as during mass and at a restaurant booth, and more importantly, meet up with some good friends, who live insanely far from Chicago. Regardless, Marian Days continually grows in attendance and I hope to participate more in that event in the near future (goal- play my giant violin in the orchestra during the evening mass).

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Fishing. Immediate downside is waking up early, but still, it is amazing to be up to fish and watch the sun rise over the Chicago skyline. Almost every Saturday was spent doing this. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to be in a great city and be able to experience and see so much, Little things like fishing really do get taken for granted. It doesn’t matter that you do something grand to be considered worth talking about or bringing up.

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Unfortunately, summer doesn’t last forever and obviously, I’m back in school again. Junior year! (Isn’t it scary how time flies?) Throughout the year, I hope to add some more input on topics such as commuting and off-campus life in addition to anything religious related and cultural. This year, I hope to write better material and write more colloquially (to make things much more comfortable and enjoyable to read).

Anyways, I’m always here if you have any questions or simply want to get to know me better. I am friendly and am willing to help you get more acquainted with Loyola University!

Again, welcome (back) to my blog!

 

And Then I Was a Sophomore

And Then I Was a Sophomore

As far as I’m concerned I feel like I just started college this fall. But going back to my high school for a basketball game this week reminded me how long it has been since I was a student there. It’s been two years since I was a senior in high school. I still find it weird that college is my new normal. My friends and I spent our 4 years of high school doing our best to not wish our time away, and anxiously awaiting the day we would graduate and go to college. Now when we get together, we ask ourselves where all the time went? What were we thinking when we were sophomores in high school?

Sophomore year of high school the college question had just started to find its way onto our radar. I had my sights set on a Chicago university, as long as I was headed to the same school as my best friend. We were all thankful not to have the “freshman look” on our faces anymore and couldn’t wait to be big, bad upperclassman.

As I sit at a sophomore standing once again, I’m still definitely glad to have gotten past the freshman look. Overall, I’m pretty surprised at how quickly I adjusted to this whole college thing. Sure, I was terrified my freshman year. But now when I walk around campus, I’m much more confident and comfortable with where I’m at. A feeling I never thought would be possible after my first week or so of freshman year.

This time, though, entering my junior year is much more intimidating. Rather than looking forward to attending college, I’ve got to look forward to the “real world”. Having just settled on a major and being unsure of my career path, my college graduation might leave me a little more anxious than high school. Now that I’m familiar with college life it will be scary to leave it behind for something new.

But hey, I adjusted alright to college so post-graduation won’t be so bad either, right? Well, I sure hope not.

Summer Was Our Best Season

Summer Was Our Best Season

The title of my “return to school” blog has been taken from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. For one of my best friends and I, this quote has became the unofficial motto of every summer since our senior year of high school.

This poster was hanging up in my freshman dorm room!

It’s also completely true.

Because while I love the hustle and bustle of the academic year, there’s also something special about going home to the suburbs and laying in bed all day and weighing down your backpack with library books on a weekly basis.

That’s not to say that I didn’t also spend this summer being extremely busy – I moved out, learned to cook and worked 24 – 30 hours a week. But it was also nice to get an academic break before heading back to Loyola for my junior year.

Not that I’m not excited for this year: I started my mental health clinical last week, I’m taking some pretty cool nursing classes (pharamocology, say what?), I’m on exec board for Alpha Phi Omega, have been accepted into Alpha Sigma Nu, I’m becoming a quote unquote runner (see: the 5k I’m running tomorrow morning!), and still working, amongst other things.

Pre-clinical GPOY

I know this year is going to be crazy busy, and I’m sure I’ll be stressed and frazzled and have my fair share of all nighters that end in me confusing bikers wearing all black as a Nazgul (longgggg story), but I know that this school season is also going to be just as great as my summer season, and I can’t wait to share it with you!

Last Week of Summer!

Last Week of Summer!

So this week is the week when all the freshmen are moving in, so as I walked to work this morning, I got to witness many eager new students with their parents unloading their cars to move into their dorm rooms. Their expressions got me thinking about what I was like as an incoming freshman versus how I am now, about to start my junior year.

For one thing, I’m calmer and more collected than I was when I came in to school. Back then, I was hyper and excited and worried- about my classes and teachers, about my family and old friends, about the new friends I wanted to make, and overall about the person I wanted to be. I wanted to make a good first impression, and I’ll admit that I wasn’t very successful at it. I made mistakes with how I approached people, but with trial and error and time, I grew into my college self.

Freshman year was full of experimentation, with friends and with interests. Not all of it was good. But overall, my freshman taught me so much about my new self.

After a crazy first year of college, I came back from the summer eager to begin my second year. It was a tough year all around, and it taught me as many important lessons as my first year.

One lesson that I learned was that all of the friends that you make your first year won’t be there the second year, and that you need to pick your friends wisely. The keepers aren’t the ones who are free to go out with you on Friday night or who are all fun and games. Though having a few of those people around is awesome, and even essential, the best of friends are those who will listen when you are having a bad day, who put you in your place when you are out of line, and who are by your side. Whether you’ve been apart for months for the summer or too close together in a small apartment.

This lesson was crucial for me during my sophomore year, and it was the main year I got to formulate my relationships with friends and see people for who they are, whether good or bad.

I’m going into my junior year now with the best knowledge of who I am and whom I want in my life. My goals now are clearly defined, and I’m confident that though this semester is going to be very challenging, it’s going to be one of my most memorable ones. I look back at my freshman self and the journey I went through to get to where I am today, and I’m proud of myself. Though I made many stupid mistakes and had to overcome hard trials, I wouldn’t change anything about my college experience thus far.

So therefore, I welcome myself, as well as the incoming freshmen and returning students, back to Loyola for what I hope to be the best school year yet!