Over the course of Autumn quarter, some of my goals and expectations for myself have changed and developed. One of the goals I had for myself when I started the quarter was to become involved in leadership in the Greek community and my sorority to create positive change. In October, I applied to be one of the two representatives from Chi Omega in Junior Panhellenic and learned early in November that I had been selected as one of the Junior Panhellenic delegates for my chapter. This will give me the opportunity to be a voice for my Chi Omega and the community as a whole and collaborate to create positive change in the community.

​

The second goal I had for the quarter was to learn more about studying abroad and understand how to make it a reality. I attended the Study Abroad fair and visited Honors and Foster School of Business to learn more information about what programs were offered and what the costs would be like. I also obtained information from each program about scholarships and funding, as I would like to potentially participate in more than one study abroad program this summer. While I have met two of my key goals, in the next quarter I will keep striving to apply for scholarships to make my dreams of studying abroad a reality and run for an executive position within Junior Panhellenic to be a strong voice for my community.

​

There are a couple of things that have surprised me during my first quarter of Honors. The first thing that surprised me was the amount of connections I have made with other students, both inside and out of the Honors program, that are interested in or passionate about the same things. Being able to connect with other people over things you are passionate about gives you a new perspective and helps you find new opportunities to engage in. The second thing that surprised me this quarter was the interdisciplinary connections I have been able to see between my community, classes and opportunities. Being in Honors has given me new perspectives and ways to connect all of the things I am interested in and find opportunities that help further my education and passions.

​

The University of Washington has been amazing and yet not at all what I had expected at the same time. While there are a lot of amazing opportunities, the level of stress and competition in classes is on a whole different level than classes I took at North Seattle College. It has been a reminder that it is important to have a good balance between academics and social life, and to take time to focus on health and wellness. The second thing that surprised me most about the University of Washington is the amount of opportunities across every discipline imaginable to be involved and engaged with that match my values, interests and passions. It can be hard to pick just one to two things the explore further when there are so many options.

​

One key thing I have learned about in Honors 100 that I would like to investigate further is the question of rights that was discussed during Global Challenges. I found the discussion around the definition of rights in terms of the American political system and how corporations play a role in defining rights in our modern economic system to be very interesting. Personally, the aspect I would like to investigate further is how the technology industry has played a role in gentrification of areas like San Francisco and Seattle, and how large corporations like these can redefine rights and what responsibilities they have to their communities. In addition, I am interested in exploring how technology can be used as a means for social good to promote and protect human rights both in the United States and globally.

​

One of the things that I was most excited to learn about was what study abroad programs were offered through both Honors, the Allen School and the Foster School of Business. Through the Honors program, I was very interested in the programs offered in the Netherlands, Sweden and Rome that continue the conversations of human rights around the globe. I hope to be able to do more than one program and spend the entire Summer studying abroad. The second resource that I learned about this year that I feel is going to be very valuable is the Clue Tutoring Center. It offers tutoring for both math courses and Computer Science courses. During Running Start and North Seattle College, I spent a lot of afternoons in the tutoring center receiving help with both math and Computer Science to help me get more out of the classes, and I know that utilizing Clue will be a great resource for me as a student

 

There are two things that I want to achieve by the end of my first year. First, I would like to have a better idea of my four-year plan with all the classes I need to take. With that four-year plan, I also want to goal set for the summers that I would like to have an internship or participate in undergraduate research. The second thing I hope to have achieved is to be able to look back on my first year at the University of Washington and see how much I have grown as both a person and an academic. By the end of my time at the University of Washington, I hope to have my degrees in Computer Science and Business Administration that unlock a future full of possibilities that I am passionate about. I also want to be prepared to enter and succeed in a graduate program in Computer Science that allows me to keep exploring the field.