2020-21
My first year at the University of Washington was marred by the spectre of coronavirus, but I still managed to have meaningful academic experiences. This was an exploratory year; I was trying to figure out who I wanted to be and what I want to do with my life.
​
Political Science 203
Political Science 203 is the first political science class I've ever taken, but it was on the engaging subject of international relations. It also required me to write my first college paper, on which I did surprisingly well. I wrote about the Cuban Missile Crisis being an example of crisis bargaining, and I enjoyed doing so; I am considering taking more classes in the Political Science department that involve similar papers. However, the fear that surrounded turning in this paper was a definitive learning experience. I am now getting outside help through the writing center and am asking my TA for clarification on future paper instructions, which I was afraid to do before turning in my first paper. I have also revised my paper-writing habits to adjust to starting closer to receiving the assignment. When starting the paper only a few days before it's due, the stress was much higher than if I had started more than a week in advance.
I took Econ 200 (Intro to Microeconomics) and it has been one of my favorite classes so far. I enjoyed thinking about the impacts of different determinants on people's choices to supply or demand goods. A lot of this class was theory and considering which direction supply and demand graphs move, but it's also giving me terminology that I've bene applying to my everyday life; for example, I can't stop thinking about the opportunity cost of anything I buy. This class is a prerequisite for the Economics majors and my success in this class is motivating me to consider a major in economics. At the very least, I'm going to take Intermediate Microeconomics and experiment more with how economics is the social science analyzing choices. This class also showed me the breadth of economics, and how policy choices can be shaped by factors outside the market, like the negative externalities of pollution. I will be taking environmental science classes to look more at how economics and preservation interact.
Economics 200
Music Ensemble 303
Better known as marching band, this was the first class I was involved with at the University of Washington. Despite being unable to perform in person this year, marching band is a class I will be continuing to take until I graduate. Band was my earliest opportunity to meet other students and connect to the university. I feel like I've made friends with my section leaders and will be able to hold my own next fall. Marching Band Pro, the app pictured in the photo, was our way of still learning music and performing even while we couldn't be together. Realizing that I was actually getting credit for the class made me look into a music minor and taking other music ensemble classes. I enjoyed being able to step away from my other classes and still feel productive by turning in playing assignments, and realized that I still enjoy spending time with the piano in my dorm practice room. Overall, I doubt I would be doing significant continuing within the music department without having taken this class.
Honors 211: Authoritarianism and its Appeal in Ancient Rome
This winter-quarter class was unique in that it was almost entirely self-driven: I could complete assignments at my own pace, and the requirements for the final podcast episode were laid out at the very beginning of the quarter with lots of choice on topic and formatting. That podcast is linked at right. This was my first experience editing audio, which took me out of my comfort zone. I didn't quite realize how much time this new medium would take to learn, but now that I have a foundation, I feel much more comfortable working with audio in the future instead of always writing papers. Learning to lay out my thoughts to be well understood by a listening audience was complicated, but I also was able to impart more of my personal thoughts through tone of voice. Though I only spoke about one topic (how political violence led to the end of the Roman Republic), I could feel that I wanted to go off-script and talk about everything connected to it-mobs, the concept of honor, public speaking skills-and will definitely continue to explore these topics and many more. For my first foray into Ancient Rome and audio formatting, this class could not have been more perfect.
Honors 222: Pain
This spring-quarter class was a little strange, because it was my first true discussion class that was done over Zoom. This class was really me taking the reins; I was given extreme freedom with writing my final paper that I wasn't entirely comfortable with initially: what do I choose as a topic? How do I organize this paper and how long should it be? Am I making an argument or just offering researched information? This is the longest paper I have ever written (18 pages), and it was completed in far less time than my second-longest back in high school, bringing me into the actuality of college writing. I picked gender differences in the occurrence and treatment of chronic pain as my issue, which, when I chose it as a topic, I thought I knew enough about. I was completely wrong. There is simply so much research out there. This paper taught me to slow down and not get overwhelmed by 76 pages of scientific journal articles, and also offered me new databases that I can use for any future science classes I take.