Learning Experience 4: Fall Semester Reflection

This first semester of my sophomore year has taught me numerous lessons. Although there are not as many major milestones as is characteristic with your first year in college, there is still a lot I can take away from my experiences.

This fall I learned that dropping a class is not the end of the world. Early into this semester I was struggling in a class from a lack of communication and a particular teaching style of one of my professors. I had two options. One, continue to struggle in the class and get a poor grade, or two, take the class with a different professor next semester. I am not one to give up on challenges or quit when it’s hard, but with some reassurance from my advisor and older business students, I decided to drop this class as it would benefit me more in the long run.

In addition, I learned the process of leasing a house. Luckily I had the help of my mom and all of my roommates’ parents because I had absolutely no idea where to begin. During the initial phases, we would find a house, sign up for a tour, and then by the time the tour was scheduled, someone had already leased it. From this we learned that next year we should start looking earlier into the semester especially if we want to be by a certain area on campus. After we looked at two houses, we found one that we really liked and aggressively took steps to secure it. This was a new process for me as I had never leased a house before, and had to put a lot of extra time into working with the agent and finding convenient times for us all to get together. In the end, we ended up with a perfect four bedroom house in walking distance from campus.

In this class I learned a lot about humor, its theories, and how to attempt to make writing funny. I learned that I laugh mostly via the incongruity theory and superiority theory as I find humor in movies such as Elf or Napoleon Dynamite to be the most comical. Furthermore, I learned that honors classes are my favorite classes. When people ask me what my favorite classes have been this one definitely tops the list along with my honors international politics class I took with Dr. Cox the first semester of my freshman year. I really love being around students who are motivated to learn, can uphold insightful discussions, and provoke new questions and perspectives. I am extremely disappointed that this is the last honors class that I will take since I am going to pursue the departmental honors track in order to leave room for a double major.

Overall, this semester I have learned a lot about myself. From my conversation partner, Ailin, I have learned that there are many things associated with language and American culture that I take for granted. I don’t experience near the pressure that is evoked from the Chinese education system or from being an only child. I was reminded of the importance and benefits of interacting with people from different cultures and the new perspectives and mindsets they can offer. I have learned how to overcome academic struggle, as well as uncovered a new interest in accounting and as a result the process of adding another major. This semester I have learned that my family can always make me laugh in nearly any situation and that life is a journey filled with some experiences you just can’t predict or prepare for. I have learned the power in taking time to reflect on what I have learned, and in doing so can see the growth and progress that comes every step of the way.