Senior Year
December 2021
Looking back on the three and a half years I spent at A&M, I am proud of myself and my accomplishments. No, I did not meet my high-school self's expectations of earning 4.0 and becoming the president of multiple clubs. However, my high-school self had skimmed through school, never actually facing much difficulty or challenging myself to a great degree. I had felt like a robot, completing simple tasks to please the people around me without much reflection. But when I came to A&M, I challenged myself to grow in every single way I could think of. There was so much of life that I had yet to experience, and I made every day a mission to live as much of it as possible.
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My classes were the first thing to knock me down in college. I quickly realized I could not make all As while being involved in multiple organizations like I did in high school. College courses required me to teach myself, something I had never needed to do before. After I had finally gotten the hang of succeeding in class, online learning came around and required an even higher level of self-motivation. However, after my first semester, I overcame my fear of failure (for better or for worse), and no longer got upset over occasional Bs on my transcript.
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During my sophomore year, I realized I had a limit on extracurricular involvement. I was leading so many things during the fall semester that I no longer had any time to study. I was having multiple breakdowns a week, beating myself up for not being able to juggle everything efficiently. I had to mature and tell myself I'm not a failure for quitting something I no longer have the time or passion for.
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With help from my failures, I grew academically, emotionally, socially, and professionally. I may not have pushed myself in my classes as hard as I did in my extracurriculars, but my priority when I came to college was to experience as much as possible. There's only so much you can learn in a classroom. I'm very thankful for all the opportunities A&M provided. There will never be another period in my life where I get to be a student, editor, writer, musician, treasurer, researcher, and a peer mentor all in the same week.
When I read my personal statement from freshman year, I still stand by most of it except for some aspects of my future plans. As I was rereading, I realized how unknowingly lonely I was freshman year. I was happy without many close friends, but that's because I did not form any meaningful or deep relationships until my sophomore year. I no longer see myself finding fulfillment without a life partner.
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Additionally, there was a point in between freshman and sophomore year where I was seriously looking into becoming a science journalist because of how much I loved writing at the newspaper. However, after becoming an editor sophomore year, I realized I did not want to sit and stare at a computer screen all day as a career. I also know now that I would not like the uncertainty and narrow academic focus that comes with being a researcher. I am back on track to becoming a veterinarian, and I plan on applying in September 2022 after I gain more experience in a vet clinic.
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