Year Of Extension: Sophomore year 2018-2019
Autumn 2018
Several months ago, I was still in Japan, studying in a country where I am unfamiliar with. But today, it’s the end of the autumn quarter as well as the end of 2018. As I am writing this reflection of the quarter, I was at my high school again. Walking off the airplane at the airport, I cannot believe so many things have happened during these years. The sense of familiarity, those joyful memories had flown to me as if I had never left high school. But right now, I am already a sophomore in the university, pursuing a degree and planning my future career. Those changes just reminded me how fast the time had passed, and I only have two years left in my college.
At the beginning of the quarter, I flew back to the US, and life was a lot easier than what I expected: I am familiar with the campus, I had some friends that I can talk with, and I knew what my goals are. I started being in the “school mode” even before the first day of instruction. I investigated all the possible research I can contribute to and send each one of them an email; I ran to the career center a few times to improve my resume and find intern opportunities. I submitted my applications to the majors I am interested in. Even though I am only taking 12 credits this quarter, my free time was pretty fulfilled.
There were some significant changes this quarter. During the 3rd week of the quarter, I received the acceptance letter from ACMS, and now I am officially a student of applied mathematics. Through my college courses, I developed an interest in mathematics, and getting into a relevant major is just a good start. Although I declared a major in mathematics, I want to double major in CS and set my main course of study as a data scientist. Getting into the CS major is not easy. Even if I was accepted, I have to take lots of challenging courses before graduation. Therefore, there is still a long road that awaits in front of me, and I am ready for it. Besides the major, I also got my hands on RSO committees. I joined an organization called the technology and business association, where I made lots of friends and practiced my leadership skills. The biggest takeaway was how the RSO operates at UW and how we cooperate both in and out of campus organizations. I also hosted an event at UW in the name of the organization. Although it is not my first time hosting an event, it is my first time doing such a thing at UW. I feel so lucky to join the big family, and I was proud of what I have accomplished. I will keep working next quarter to learn more about club affairs and contribute as a part of the family.
Things are not always perfect. There are some downfalls as well. Among the researches I have applied to, half of them didn’t send me a response. The rest half either rejected me because of no possible positions (yes, all of them used the same reason) or rejected me after an interview. During the 7th week of the quarter, I failed my math 308 midterms. To my surprise that I was not so surprised by the failure. Unlike previous quarters, I was not hit that much and in a mood of sadness after the publication of grades. I immediately adjusted myself, finding the possible reasons that can explain the failure. The final goes well, luckily.
Like always, I want to make some comments about the goals that I set for myself in the previous quarters. It’s just encouraging to see how each of them got deleted from the task list. But today, I feel like I have encountered real challenges I want to overcome: find an internship and building connections with people from various jobs. It’s not easy, but I believe it will finally be achieved.
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The group picture for our RSO: Technology and Business Association. I believe the picture was taken sometime during the midterm times and suddenly everyone was told to dress in formal business clothes and have fun with the tests. So glad to join the family. (By the way, I am standing at the last row)
The picture was taken after the Amath 301 office hour at the square. Early this year a picture of Sakura was also taken at this place. The picture reminded me of how busy I was at that time.
Fun times during the Final
Winter 2019
During the winter break, I took the flight back to St.Louis, where my high school is, and visited my friends that I haven't seen since I came to UW. Seeing not many things had been changed gave me a sense of relief that I still belong to the community, and yet the time passed so fast that I am already halfway through my sophomore year. Satisfied with seeing my host families and teachers that wrote me the letter of recommendation, I flew back to Seattle and was ready for the winter quarter.
The winter quarter is probably the roughest quarter I have had so far. Unlike freshman year that my schedule was filled with '5-credit classes', all the classes from the ACMS department were three credits. Thus, I took four classes again, hoping that I can fulfill my graduation requirement early so I can work on finding an internship or landing myself a good job. However, those 3-credit classes harder than I expected, and it takes extra time to understand the lecture notes. I spent all my weekends staying at home working on understanding the course materials, and I couldn't tell how much I appreciate the snow days to let me catch up on what I missed so I won't be lost during the lecture.
Things are not always perfect, absolutely. Hard work doesn't mean it will always pay off. For some reason, I am still failing my midterms and finals as well. I define the word "failing" as those exams that I didn't reach the medium. As a result of the curve, my GPA will be low enough to kick me out of the honors program. Even though I was told by the advisors and "successful people" during the career talk that GPA doesn't matter, we all know it's an essential part of the student life and also a necessary analysis before the interview. Thus, I was still overwhelmed by the test results and couldn't relieve myself until the last day of my final. My finals didn't go well either, and I knew my GPA wouldn't look great this quarter, but I am glad that I made it through the dark days of the winter to embrace myself with the beautiful spring quarter.
I don't know why I like to talk about the grades a lot, but I guess that's all. There is some good news this quarter, and one of them was that I was accepted by the Paul G. Allen School of computer science and engineering. CS is a major that I dreamed of since I came to UW. Getting accepted by the CS department means that I achieved my goal of being a 'CS nerd.' I was glad that my passion is landed in the field of computer science, as computers are becoming an integral part of our society, and I was excited to take more CS classes to gain more insights and knowledge to be a programmer. At the same time, I didn't want to give up my ACMS major. So I am currently taking a double degree in both CS and ACMS. I knew it would be challenging, but it could broaden my views and allow me to talk to the people outside the 'CSE bubble.' Maybe one day when I look back to the student life in college, I won't regret giving up one of my majors.
Besides majors, I am still working as a finance officer at TBA. This quarter, we hosted our annual event at the HUB, and more than one hundred students joined us on that day. Our yearly event is called 'Biz-Tech Forum.' To prepare for the event, we had to invite professionals from the industrial field to talk in our event and plan the time and make sure that our guests can gain some valuable insights by talking to the professionals. Besides preparing our sessions, I also spoke to potential food sponsors that could sponsor our event. In the end, I saw how a registered student organization worked together to host an event and how we corporated with organizations out of the campus and built connections that may be used later. Inviting professionals is also an experience that requires networking and socializing skills. Talking to the people you don't really know was not that hard as I expected. I extended my connections that might be beneficial later for my career development.
Getting into the CS major isn't the end. It's only a milestone, and I still have to keep going forward. It is challenging to find my first internship, but it will be really satisfying if I can conquer this goal. Besides the internship, I also want to be a TA and extend my leadership experience. Working on research projects could also help me practice the knowledge I learned from the lecture. There is a new task list that I am building for myself. It's not easy to finish them all, but I believe it will eventually be achieved.
A picture that was taken on the way home
#darkdays in winter
SNOW DAYS! Only see this type of snow in Canada but mother nature showed us who is in charge! Got several snow-day break so I can work on catching up the course materials
A picture that was taken after the annual event (Biz-tech forum). Proud to be a part of the family
My group project for info 200: an App that connects language learner around the world
Spring 2019
It's the end of the spring quarter, and it is also the end of sophomore year. Some of my friends call it "suffer-more year," and I agree with them. As the courses getting harder and harder, I started to wonder about the meaning of studying in terms of grades, hardship, and career planning. There is so much I want to talk about, but right now, I don't know where to start. However, this year is life-changing, as I am getting closer and closer to the goals that I set for myself.
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As I read my reviews in previous quarters, I knew this quarter is not my hardest one. I am only taking 13 credits this quarter, and I quit the research program as I realize that my skills are no longer fulfilling the requirement. But I still feel like I don't have much time this quarter. As the cycle of weeks keeps spinning, I was doing the "same thing" repeatedly, which started to make me sick. During the middle of the quarter, I just wanted to stop and take a rest. I want to do what I want during the weekend, but this time reserves for weekly assignments and Panopto lecture recordings. I started to hate studying and finishing the work feels like completing a task list, which is not something I am usually willing to do. As a result, my grade takes a hit, as I am only reaching the class's median, and I knew this is not the only reason I am failing. I questioned myself if I worked hard or I pretend to work hard. I spent lots of time taking notes, digesting what I don't understand during the lecture. This paid off as I know the concepts and make progress on the assignments, but the grades told me the other way around.
I still remember, during the first day of the quarter, Professor Kevin Zatloukal spent 20 minutes emphasizing that grade does not matter. It was impressive as everyone was complaining about his finals after the exam. I knew this was not only a joke, which has changed my view about how I see grades. I believe I have gained the necessary skills and prepared myself for careers, even though the grades were not that ideal. I want to find an internship and practice my skills, as experiences are far more convincing than grades.
This quarter is also my first quarter in the CSE department. Although CSE welcomed me by hitting my GPA, I am not regretting double-majoring. I also encountered many people who were doing the same thing as I did in the Allen School, and I made friends with them. Some of them are questioning the professor a lot during the lecture, some of them are struggling with the homework but gained a 4.0 at the end, some of them are graduating and working as a TA during the office hour… The university is so big that someone you don't contact can lose in the crowd, but you also have a chance to encounter souls that can be my life-long friends. This is probably the most happiness thing I want to share.
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The end of the sophomore year does not represent the end of studying. In the junior year, I knew things could be far more challenging as I need to find an internship during the autumn recruitment, but I am excited to see what could happen and what could be achieved. Experiencing failure is also an experience, but the real important thing is what I can learn from my failure. I hope I can pick up the pieces and put myself together before the next quarter. I hope I can understand my true self and be the one who will not regret the college years in the future.
Taken during the CSE 311 lecture
The use of Minecraft to understand and build circuits (and, or, nor gates)
Taken during the Career fair that was open for all majors... Tried to understand what is alike so I can prepare myself for the next one.
Taken during the UW night market before the midterm...
Tried to get some food but stuck in the lines...
As an RSO member, I knew how hard they have worked to host an event like this, and I respect(envy) what they have achieved :)