My First Year: A Reflection

People learn when they experience something new or experience something old in a new way. My first year of college provided a plethora of new experiences as well as a few paradigm shifts.

Perhaps the most important part of my first year was gaining a better understanding of my academic and personal strengths and weaknesses. I have been challenged more than I ever have before. This past year contained both “successes” and “failures.” However, I have learned a great deal from these “failures,” transforming them into wonderful learning opportunities. Through Lutheran Social Services’ Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program, I gained skills in communicating despite language barriers. While Abby’s House helped me gain more understanding of the difficulties faced by homeless women in America.

Holy Cross also provided me with a grand paradigm shift in regards to education. In high school, I studied in order to earn good grades so I could go to a prestigious college. Once I was accepted to Holy Cross, I needed a new reason to do well in school. Grades are still important to me, but the main focus of my studies became learning in order to better myself as a responsibility to God, my family, my global community, and myself.

As I head into my second year (a short two weeks away!) I have a few questions I plan on using for periodic reflection. Who am I now? Where would I like to see myself in the future? What skills would I like to develop? What impact do I wish to make on the world?

Finally, I would like to end this post with a piece of advice for our incoming first years. There’s a popular saying on the Internet: “Social life, Sleep, Good Grades: You can only choose two.” I would like to modify this and stress the importance of maintaining all aspects of your health: spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical. Keep your goals in mind and find a balance that works for you.

-Ali

This entry was posted on Monday, August 18th, 2014 at 1:13 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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