Too short to spend exclusively on zoology
Before
The story begins as fifty-five percent of my high school graduating class leaves the comforting halls of Principia Upper School to attend the comforting campus of Principia College. I was left with a decision to attend a college in which I knew I would succeed in all dynamic areas of my life: athletics, performing arts, social life, and academia, or to attend what seemed like a dark void of 30,000 pacific north westerners.
I share many similarities with the 530 undergraduates who now attend Principia College. For some odd reason the majority of students at my high school were made to believe that all other students attending the different colleges around the nation were the same, and therefore we held no similarities with them. In David Brook’s “Social Animal”, he writes about human nature in group settings: “Most people assume that the groups they don’t belong to are more homogeneous than the groups they do belong to”. I could see that my fellow classmates were creating a homogeneous category for the rest of American colleges and students. Just like Brook’s character, Harold, I was comfortable and capable of seeing groups from the inside. I knew that I could shatter the supposed homogeneous category to find unique individuals with the same hobbies, passion, and most importantly, values.
Despite my confidence in seeing groups from the inside, I wasn’t ready to jump head first into the University of Washington, until I received a letter from the Honors Program. The honors program gave me access to a smaller community within a larger one. It gave me a challenging liberal arts education within a state of the art, global research institution.
I have a very close friend who is a fantastic dancer. She is currently attending Boston Conservatory, the third best dance college in the country and she is guaranteed to create masterpieces. One powerful connection that bonds our friendship is that we both have been following our passion for practically all of our lives: dance for her and zoology for me. As we talked in the back of our French 5AP class (sorry Madame), looking forward to each other’s lives, I was aware that the rest of her education is designed exclusively for dance. In no way do I doubt that this is the perfect pathway for my friend, but I realized that my traditional education is too short to spend exclusively on zoology. I would have the rest of my life to pursue this passion of mine. The honors program raises the standard of education and politely forces me to be a well-rounded, interdisciplinary, whole man.
Brooks explains how the majority of citizens are “taught to think vertically, moving ever upward, whereas maybe the most productive connections were horizontal, with peers.” I understand that honors program is reflected in this theory, as the value of the program comes from the friends you make, your interactions with professors, and involvement with the community. I am, as Brook would put it, a “social animal” so I am not concerned about how to work horizontally. It all begins with a smile, a joke (good or bad depending on the day), and another smile. Although thinking horizontally seems like sitting in a stagnant bathtub, it is extremely progressive and rewarding. Thinking of others, befriending piers, and all other communal interactions construct a horizontal plane that rises exponentially in comparison with an individual; you craft pillars of support in which you may lean on.
I look forward to the challenge of the honors program. It will take great discipline to focus on the balanced education that the program encourages as opposed to the single subject mindset that I am trained to follow. Taking part in the honors community guarantees that I will leave the University of Washington with the opportunity to destroy a previously conceived homogenous group, to take part in a whole man education, and to build platform of support from the honors community.
After
I love UW! I have been having a great first quarter in all aspects of the UW experience. UW was not the ordinary choice for many of my fellow high school peers, but I am so grateful I saw through the big school “mask” to find what I believe to be a gold mine. My high school talked about the whole man who was formed through a balance (note key word: balance) of social life, academics, arts, sports, and spirituality. Likewise, I’m going to examine the differences between the whole man that I became in high school and the whole man that I am discovering today.
I feel like I have done a good job of balancing social life with the other aspects of my UW experience. I think it’s important to relax and meet as many people as possible in the first quarter because I can imagine some students running out of those opportunities as classes get more specific and challenging. My hall (Lander 8) does a lot of fun activities together and I consider us a very close hall. I like the times when we hang out in the lounge; scattered around doing homework, playing video games, chatting, or watching the latest of our favorite TV show.
Academics are the key stone of this institution and sometimes it is easy to forget that it is simply one ingredient of the whole man. They should be considered with the utmost importance, but never as an overwhelming burden that can affect the other ingredients to a happy experience. I feel like I did well in this first quarter’s classes, but there is much room for improvement. The class sizes are large resulting in the usual low mean test scores. Sometimes it’s easy to be satisfied by anything above the mean, when instead I feel like you should be satisfied with your best work.
In high school I was an active member of the performing arts community, participating in choir, theater, musicals, and jazz band. I tried out for the Collective (the UW improve club) and did not make the team. This would have been my only avenue for this performing passion, so this quarter I did not spend much time with the arts. I guess I could say this was disappointing, but I would have made it if it was meant to be.
Sports were a large part of my high school career and the only way I can see athletics continuing at college is with a diligence to pursue. I think I did well at putting myself out there in the sport community. This quarter I enjoyed trying out for the men’s club soccer program (didn’t make it), playing volleyball, Frisbee, two intramural sports, indoor and pickup soccer. Despite failing to make the men’s soccer club, I met some guys to play pickup with and when we play it’s my favorite part of my week. Through my first quarter of sports I learned that if you get yourself out there, then good will happen (even if it isn’t what you were expecting).
I want to a religious boarding private school and religion played a large part for my 4 high school years. Now that I am on my own it’s my turn to personalize my religion and make it my own. I have enjoyed being a member of the CSO (Christian Science Organization) and attending church. I feel you learn a lot more about spirituality when surrounded by fewer of the same denomination.
I feel like I have found a great balance for my five favorite areas (perhaps with a bit more of the arts). Overall I am extremely grateful to be here at UW. I love the weather, the geography, and the smell! When I walk to class I am overwhelmed that I get to go to school in Washington, such a cool state!
Before
The story begins as fifty-five percent of my high school graduating class leaves the comforting halls of Principia Upper School to attend the comforting campus of Principia College. I was left with a decision to attend a college in which I knew I would succeed in all dynamic areas of my life: athletics, performing arts, social life, and academia, or to attend what seemed like a dark void of 30,000 pacific north westerners.
I share many similarities with the 530 undergraduates who now attend Principia College. For some odd reason the majority of students at my high school were made to believe that all other students attending the different colleges around the nation were the same, and therefore we held no similarities with them. In David Brook’s “Social Animal”, he writes about human nature in group settings: “Most people assume that the groups they don’t belong to are more homogeneous than the groups they do belong to”. I could see that my fellow classmates were creating a homogeneous category for the rest of American colleges and students. Just like Brook’s character, Harold, I was comfortable and capable of seeing groups from the inside. I knew that I could shatter the supposed homogeneous category to find unique individuals with the same hobbies, passion, and most importantly, values.
Despite my confidence in seeing groups from the inside, I wasn’t ready to jump head first into the University of Washington, until I received a letter from the Honors Program. The honors program gave me access to a smaller community within a larger one. It gave me a challenging liberal arts education within a state of the art, global research institution.
I have a very close friend who is a fantastic dancer. She is currently attending Boston Conservatory, the third best dance college in the country and she is guaranteed to create masterpieces. One powerful connection that bonds our friendship is that we both have been following our passion for practically all of our lives: dance for her and zoology for me. As we talked in the back of our French 5AP class (sorry Madame), looking forward to each other’s lives, I was aware that the rest of her education is designed exclusively for dance. In no way do I doubt that this is the perfect pathway for my friend, but I realized that my traditional education is too short to spend exclusively on zoology. I would have the rest of my life to pursue this passion of mine. The honors program raises the standard of education and politely forces me to be a well-rounded, interdisciplinary, whole man.
Brooks explains how the majority of citizens are “taught to think vertically, moving ever upward, whereas maybe the most productive connections were horizontal, with peers.” I understand that honors program is reflected in this theory, as the value of the program comes from the friends you make, your interactions with professors, and involvement with the community. I am, as Brook would put it, a “social animal” so I am not concerned about how to work horizontally. It all begins with a smile, a joke (good or bad depending on the day), and another smile. Although thinking horizontally seems like sitting in a stagnant bathtub, it is extremely progressive and rewarding. Thinking of others, befriending piers, and all other communal interactions construct a horizontal plane that rises exponentially in comparison with an individual; you craft pillars of support in which you may lean on.
I look forward to the challenge of the honors program. It will take great discipline to focus on the balanced education that the program encourages as opposed to the single subject mindset that I am trained to follow. Taking part in the honors community guarantees that I will leave the University of Washington with the opportunity to destroy a previously conceived homogenous group, to take part in a whole man education, and to build platform of support from the honors community.
After
I love UW! I have been having a great first quarter in all aspects of the UW experience. UW was not the ordinary choice for many of my fellow high school peers, but I am so grateful I saw through the big school “mask” to find what I believe to be a gold mine. My high school talked about the whole man who was formed through a balance (note key word: balance) of social life, academics, arts, sports, and spirituality. Likewise, I’m going to examine the differences between the whole man that I became in high school and the whole man that I am discovering today.
I feel like I have done a good job of balancing social life with the other aspects of my UW experience. I think it’s important to relax and meet as many people as possible in the first quarter because I can imagine some students running out of those opportunities as classes get more specific and challenging. My hall (Lander 8) does a lot of fun activities together and I consider us a very close hall. I like the times when we hang out in the lounge; scattered around doing homework, playing video games, chatting, or watching the latest of our favorite TV show.
Academics are the key stone of this institution and sometimes it is easy to forget that it is simply one ingredient of the whole man. They should be considered with the utmost importance, but never as an overwhelming burden that can affect the other ingredients to a happy experience. I feel like I did well in this first quarter’s classes, but there is much room for improvement. The class sizes are large resulting in the usual low mean test scores. Sometimes it’s easy to be satisfied by anything above the mean, when instead I feel like you should be satisfied with your best work.
In high school I was an active member of the performing arts community, participating in choir, theater, musicals, and jazz band. I tried out for the Collective (the UW improve club) and did not make the team. This would have been my only avenue for this performing passion, so this quarter I did not spend much time with the arts. I guess I could say this was disappointing, but I would have made it if it was meant to be.
Sports were a large part of my high school career and the only way I can see athletics continuing at college is with a diligence to pursue. I think I did well at putting myself out there in the sport community. This quarter I enjoyed trying out for the men’s club soccer program (didn’t make it), playing volleyball, Frisbee, two intramural sports, indoor and pickup soccer. Despite failing to make the men’s soccer club, I met some guys to play pickup with and when we play it’s my favorite part of my week. Through my first quarter of sports I learned that if you get yourself out there, then good will happen (even if it isn’t what you were expecting).
I want to a religious boarding private school and religion played a large part for my 4 high school years. Now that I am on my own it’s my turn to personalize my religion and make it my own. I have enjoyed being a member of the CSO (Christian Science Organization) and attending church. I feel you learn a lot more about spirituality when surrounded by fewer of the same denomination.
I feel like I have found a great balance for my five favorite areas (perhaps with a bit more of the arts). Overall I am extremely grateful to be here at UW. I love the weather, the geography, and the smell! When I walk to class I am overwhelmed that I get to go to school in Washington, such a cool state!
Before