I've decided to do a little recap of this past semester. It didn't start out that bad, but as time progressed it went from worse to worser lol.
Academics
Now, the classes that I took weren't that bad, but overall I took 17 credits. I don't think it would have been that bad if my mental health was better and I wasn't such a procrastinator. The classes I took this semester were:
CHEM131, which is basically general chemistry 1. This class started off great. I even got an A on the first exam, which was way above average, but as time went on, I got extremely ovewhelmed and I started doing average on the exams, which would have been ok, but the way the homework was looking and my participation in class was looking... 😗*this is supposed to be that meme😂* This also would have been ok, but the way that the final was looking... big yikes
CHEM132, which is the lab for gen chem. No comment 😑 except that I hate labs. They're quite literally the worst things to ever be created in life. The actual bane of my existence. The reason why I'm probably pre-med anymore💀
WMST263/AASP289I, which is intro to Black Women's Studies. I actually enjoyed the content, but the amount of content... and the fact that it takes forever to know how you did on the assignments💀💀 I literally still don't know how I did on a paper that was due in November and it’s now the end of December (when I wrote this).💀 It's all good though because the professor was probably one of the sweetest people I've ever met (which I didn't realize until the semester ended💀💀 I probably should have utilized office hours)
PEER311, which is peer education mental health and wellness. One good thing about the semester was that I became a mental health peer educator!!!! This is one class that I actually enjoyed this semester and I was able to work on my public speaking skills with the amount of presentations that I gave. I learned a lot and met so many amazing people🥺 If you go to UMD, I would definitely recommend the peer education program through the health center. (Applications open soon!!)
ECON489L, which is a class on financial literacy. The only reason that I joined this program and took this class was bc I thought it would be fun :/ (maybe it will be more enjoy next semester when we start teaching)
TLPL101, which is a class about teaching in STEM. I have nothing bad to say and I’d actually recommend it if you are considering teaching! I really enjoyed going into the classroom and teaching a lesson to the little 3rd grades (they were so small and cute🥺😭)
FREN203, which is intensive intermediate French. I enjoy learning French, but I don't like the amount of homework there is. Like i get, but I don’t wike it (I love you if you get that reference lol). I learned a lot but I ended up getting a B- bc I didn’t keep up with all of the hw (that’s completely on me but it’s completely possible to get an A). It’s ok though, we’re just gonna keep it moving lol.
All in all, these classes were all pretty tolerable but when you put them all together, on top of everything else going on in my life, the semester didn't really go as planned. In the beginning, I had the common mindset that I would actually be on top of my shit (a joke) but that lasted maybe... 2 weeks lol. Looking back, I realized that I truly didn't plan well, I didn’t hold myself accountable, and I didn’t take care of myself.
Other (idk what to call this lol)
Some other not so positive things that happened this semester were:
my mental health wasn't that great
(Quick summary: The amount of times that I struggled to get out of bed, to drive to school, or to even walk to class. There were even times where I literally would be on campus, but I was late (since I struggled to leave the house) so I just wouldn't even go to class, or I would walk all the way to class, literally up to the door, and not go in. There was so much time that I spent crying, in my car, in my room, in the bathrooms at school... It was really bad. And, I distracted myself with so many things so that I didn't have to think about the fact that my life was lowkey falling apart. I'm also a mental health peer educator at school (which makes me feel like such a hypocrite bc my mental health has not been cute lol) and we talk a lot about wellness and the eight dimensions (physical, mental, social, spiritual, intellectual, environmental, financial, and vocational) that we have at the health center and all I could think about was how I felt like I was doing terrible in literally every single dimension :( especially financial... but I don't want it to be like this next semester.)
there was so much construction on campus and there probably still will be when spring semester starts
my bank account kept decreasing and it still has yet to increase (big yikess)
i felt so lonely (like so lonely)
My recommendations (to anyone who needs it) (this is lowkey for myself)
GO TO OFFICE HOURS
Plan out your whole semester before it even begins. This is what I am going to do (speaking it into existence) starting next semester.
Use quizlet. In my opinion, it is a really helpful study source. I definitely need to use this more next semester.
On study days, especially near exams and finals, planning out your day hour by hour can be really helpful. I actually got this from @simply_kye on IG on her blog. I'm gonna be honest though I've never actually done this💀💀but I feel like it would be so helpful.
Use some sort of planner, whether it's google calendar or an actual physical planner.
Try to stay as positive as possible.
Even though it may sound like it, this semester wasn’t all bad! Let’s end this on a positive note 😊
As I mentioned before, I become a peer educator!!
I’m on ASA’s E-board.
I became an alternate for the RA position on South campus (so I’m most likely not going to be a commuter anymore!!).
I joined a mentoring program with an organization that I love called Women of Lyn and I have a really amazing, dedicated mentor named Tamani!
I turned 20! Even though I didn’t acknowledge it, I actually like getting older bc it means that I'm open to more opportunities.
I think I’m much more clear on what I want to do with my life. I don't have a specific career plan yet, but I do know that I want to work in healthcare for my "9-5" and spend the rest of my time pouring into my passions.
Now that I have gotten that all out, I feel like I can move past it and grow. I hope you all were able to take away something from this. Good luck to anyone already back in school or starting school soon. And, if you're like me and don't go back until the 27th, enjoy the rest of your break!!
Love,
G💕
Comments