Winter Reflection

The winter quarter went by incredibly quickly for me. It was both challenging and rewarding academically. I took Chemistry 152, which was very difficult. In that class, I got both the lowest score on a test I've ever gotten in college and the highest score on a chemistry test I've ever gotten (a nice duality). While I consistently struggled in that class, I ended up doing better than I expected, even getting a higher grade than I did in Chem 142 (an interesting turn of

events). This class taught me that an incredibly low test score doesn't necessarily doom you for all eternity (or even that class) and that the UW chemistry department is pretty coldhearted (sorry but it's the truth). This quarter, I also took Biology 180, my first biology class of college. I was excited to take this class, the first class directly related to my intended major (Biology, obv.), but I was also nervous after the difficult autumn quarter I had. I was really hoping this course would reinforce my choice of major, and it did! Because I was really familiar with a lot of the topics of this class, it was an easy class for me that I was able to actually get a 4.0 in (yay!), but it also reaffirmed my appreciation for biology (especially contrasted with the difficulty of chemistry). It also introduced me to the Biology department at UW, and it seems to me that as a whole it is a generally positive and good environment, which I was also really happy to learn (since I'll be there for the next 4 years). Finally, I took my first Honors class, Honors 394A: Women in Greek and Roman Antiquity. This class was super cool and a great intro to Honors courses (read more about my experience in this course here). I'm excited to take more Honors courses in my future. Overall, this quarter was difficult but turned out well for me academically.

Socially, it was less eventful. I settled into my smaller group of friends and definitely started to learn which relationships I wanted to foster and develop. One highlight was getting to meet Dubs not once but twice (see the picture)!! I'm very grateful to go to a school with such a cute mascot. There were lots of movie nights and study sessions, but one of my goals for spring quarter is to get out more and try some more new exciting experiences (hopefully the nicer weather will help with that). My main goal coming out of winter quarter and going into spring quarter is to continue to do well academically (especially in my science classes) but to also push myself out of my social comfort zone a bit more. Hopefully spring has some exciting things in store for me!