Here, at the end of my sophomore year, I am proud of the progress I have made so far in my college career and am definitely looking forward to this next year at University of Cincinnati. This year I have had the opportunity to gain relationships with many new people and have had an enriching experience through the Honors College. I have really gotten the chance to grow as a person this year by experiencing new things and stepping out in the world, beginning to work at a lab alongside my coursework.
There were undoubtedly still challenges as I went through this second year of college. For one of the first times in my academic career, I had issues in a course, namely Organic Chemistry. Despite this, I feel I have learned a lot through the course and was glad there was a course I had to work hard in to achieve my grades. I also had the opportunity this year to take a total of two honor seminars, Ethics in Healthcare and Intermediate Composition. Both these classes were very instructional and highly enjoyable with exceptional faculty heading discussions that helped me articulate, develop, and argue my own opinions in a controlled environment. The biggest experience for me this year, however, was starting to work in a laboratory. I started working in a lab in Cincinnati Children’s Hospital under my P.I., Dr. Rachid Drissi. We do research to help target brain cancers, specifically Diffuse Intrinsic Pontiac Glioma (DIPG) which has one of the highest mortality rates in children. It has been a really rewarding experience thus far, and I feel it has allowed me to gain confidence as I have started to perform my experiments on my own as I have learned.
Looking into next year, I feel I have really created a network I can rely on moving forward. I am also looking forward to rooming with my roommates from last two years in the apartment style dorm UPA. Next year is also exciting for me as I am looking forward to the many different classes I am planning take, including a class offering a week abroad in Paris over winter break. I also plan to continue to do research and work in the lab I worked over this last school year. There will be a lot of new opportunities next year that I can’t wait to dive into, especially with some of Honor Seminars I am planning to take and participate in.
There were undoubtedly still challenges as I went through this second year of college. For one of the first times in my academic career, I had issues in a course, namely Organic Chemistry. Despite this, I feel I have learned a lot through the course and was glad there was a course I had to work hard in to achieve my grades. I also had the opportunity this year to take a total of two honor seminars, Ethics in Healthcare and Intermediate Composition. Both these classes were very instructional and highly enjoyable with exceptional faculty heading discussions that helped me articulate, develop, and argue my own opinions in a controlled environment. The biggest experience for me this year, however, was starting to work in a laboratory. I started working in a lab in Cincinnati Children’s Hospital under my P.I., Dr. Rachid Drissi. We do research to help target brain cancers, specifically Diffuse Intrinsic Pontiac Glioma (DIPG) which has one of the highest mortality rates in children. It has been a really rewarding experience thus far, and I feel it has allowed me to gain confidence as I have started to perform my experiments on my own as I have learned.
Looking into next year, I feel I have really created a network I can rely on moving forward. I am also looking forward to rooming with my roommates from last two years in the apartment style dorm UPA. Next year is also exciting for me as I am looking forward to the many different classes I am planning take, including a class offering a week abroad in Paris over winter break. I also plan to continue to do research and work in the lab I worked over this last school year. There will be a lot of new opportunities next year that I can’t wait to dive into, especially with some of Honor Seminars I am planning to take and participate in.