New Semester, New Me, Pneumonia

The transition into my new semester has gone pretty smoothly. I had four weeks reserved for winter break. During this time period, I enjoyed a wonderful few weeks with my family and relaxation. Interestingly enough, many of the people with whom I talked about winter break actually thought that four weeks is too long of a winter break. Who knew college students loved college so much?

Breaking news. I'm allergic to onions. Now this wouldn't be so bad since I don't necessarily like onions, but, as it turns out, onions are in everything. I break out in hives. My goodness, it's suspicious how my relationship with onions had suddenly become toxic in the past two weeks. Curious. On top of that, I have pneumonia. Spent 6 hours from late night to the early morning in the ER Friday. And yet, still so much pain... But I still power through all my school work, which I actually enjoy this semester. Despite all these changes, I am actually still happy.

Pertaining to college, I love ASU's engineering school. Besides the fact that I have to retake physics and basically throw away the past two years of learning about special relativity and physics with differential equations, since I apparently don't even have to know that for engineering (special relativity I understand, but physics and diff eq seems a bit (very) applicable). Now I have to retake AP Physics B from sophomore year because "Physics is different for engineers." Without this little, two-semester speed bump, I actually enjoy the curriculum and opportunities ASU has given us engineering students. If you have any questions about the engineering program here at ASU, I am actually qualified to answer your question or redirect you to someone more qualified, so please leave questions in the comment area.

On a more solemn note, if you haven't heard, a fraternity, Tau Kappa Epsilon, engaged in a humiliating display of conduct pertaining to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. All of my peers are utterly disappointed at their actions, and because of what happened, ASU's party-school reputation has been reinforced, but now with more shame. I would like to apologize for TKE's actions. I'm sure they did it to have a good time with some cultural twist (in some twisted sense), but what they had done was not at all appreciated by the ASU student body. I, myself, am appalled at what they did. As I discussed with one of my peers, our generation should show more tolerance to all races and not reinforce stereotypes based on racial affiliation. Or any kind of group affiliation. Each of us are individuals and should be treated as such.

Thank you for reading this post.

Until next time~

Fulton Ambassador

Life as a college student is looking up! On my last chemistry exam, I received 100. On my last calculus exam, I received 100. On my 2000-word research paper for Grand Challenges, I received 100. Hopefully I maintain this momentum as I head into finals week! I am currently home for Thanksgiving, taking a break from making a study guide for my final exam in Introduction to Biomedical Engineering, which I desperately need an A in to get that 4.0 GPA. So the stress is building up.

Anyway, the main reason for this blog post is to briefly mention why ASU's Fulton Schools of Engineering is awesome! I've recently received the honor of becoming a Fulton Ambassador not only because of how much I know Fulton, but also how much I love Fulton. The engineering programs on campus offers a long list of opportunities for students, allowing students to fully understand what it means to be an engineer. If you would like to know more, I will post my list of why you should go to Fulton (hopefully soon).

In the meantime, if you are thinking about becoming an engineer, I sincerely hope you choose Fulton, and I will be here if you have any questions. Just leave a comment below!

Until next time~

Bored in Chemistry

To my loyal readers,

I'm currently studying in Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University in a city called Tempe. Being a Barrett student, I am required to take an Honors course titled "Human Event," which is the most difficult class I've ever had to take. To be honest, the difficulty of the class depends on the teacher, I hypothesize. She herself has a great personality and fun, but when it comes to class, I am just too intimidated to talk.

Let me tell you a secret. The reason I am telling you this secret is because I am determined to drastically improve my grade, and this will act as further motivation for me to work even harder. My secret is that I received a 69 on my last Human Event essay. That is not exactly the lowest grade I've ever received on an essay (humanities is NOT my thing), but I have no AP curve to rely on. Yes. After determining and approving my thesis with my teacher, visiting the Barrett Writing Center, creating 3 different drafts, and having the paper peer reviewed 3 times by 3 of my peers, I ended up with a D. In the long list of what I did, I had forgotten to make an extra appointment with her to go through the essay more thoroughly, and I regret it.

Office hours are wonderful.

In other news, I received 100% on my Calc III test, which I am quite proud of. Shout out to my Vector Calculus teacher in high school, Mrs. Bailey :)

So yes. Human Event has taken over my life. It really is the embodiment of everything I just happen to be bad at, so I ask that you wish me luck / pray for me / HELP ME on my future endeavors, as my Human Event grade may very well affect my chances at getting a job :(

Until next time!

P.S. I successfully enrolled in all my classes for next semester, and my earliest class is at 10:30am :D

Emails

This post is more helpful than you know.

If you've taken the PSATs, you might have given your email address for colleges to send emails to. If you are going to take the PSATs and plan on giving an email address, I suggest that you give your spam email. Colleges take your PSAT score and email and send a bunch of informational emails about their school. It doesn't sound like spam, and it's pretty helpful at times, but what happens if you've already chosen your college? Other colleges will NOT stop sending emails because they want you to go to their school.

BUT when filling out college applications, make sure to provide an email with your first and last name (with maybe the last two digits of your birth year) so that colleges you want to go to can easily identify you.

Dorm Rooms: What to Bring

I had a conversation with one of my friends who is going to Barrett with me. She has an older sister who just finished her undergrad and forwarded me this list that her sister sent her. Here's a list a things to bring to your dorm:

• Pillows and a blanket (when my brother came back from ASU, he said that the dorms were really cold and the thermostat was set to 72 degrees!)
• Power strip
• Clothing hangers
• Small laundry basket
• Desk lamp
• Towel(s)
• Shower caddy
• Alarm clock
• Cell phone/laptop/tablet and charger
• Download Prey app onto any of these. Prey is an anti-theft app, and since device theft is a huge issue on campus, this should help.
• Small printer
• Backpack
• Paper towels and cleaning supplies
• Ethernet cables in case Wifi dies
• Headphones
• Not many notebooks (maybe 2 or 3) because most classes use technology. You should just print out the notes that the professor sends out and annotate them. 
• Binders to organize notes
• Storage unit
• Board games

Additional items you could bring, but could also have your roommate bring:

• Refrigerator (You might be able to rent one from the school)
• Microwave (Could rent one from school)
• Rug/bath mat

You should also check how your housing is like. If you have a kitchenette, bring cooking supplies and dishes.

College Orientation

Exactly one month ago, I had my orientation at ASU. It was said that it was specifically for students who had enrolled in the Honors College. It was actually quite boring. I understand that everything they say could be helpful, but it would be nice if they began with what we need to do and then continue the program with optional things, which is basically, "Come to the bookstore! We have ASU things!" or "Experience ASU! Meet current undergrads and find out about college life." I would like to know what I need to do before starting at ASU so I'll know where that charge of $6,000 came from.

Before I begin, I should tell you about what I focus on when talking about colleges. So...
My College Preferences Hierarchy:

1. Financial aid
2. Education / Major Map
3. Research/Internship/Job opportunities
4. Student services (career counseling and such)
5. Safety
6. Room and board
7. AP/IB credits

Some people don't consider college finances as a problem, so if you're part of that group, just ignore me when I start ranting about how expensive college is. I've never really considered the "College Experience" as anything really, since I believe that I will be focusing more on my studies than anything else. I am considering joining clubs that partake in research or are related to my major such as the Biomedical Engineering Society.

Anyway, back to orientation.

I remember having to do a few things at orientation that I easily could have done by myself, such as "Confirm Housing," which is really just confirming your housing preferences. Done with one click. Literally took me 30 seconds, including web page loading. I turned in my Immunization Form, but 2 weeks later, when I decided to change my class schedule, I was informed that they didn't have Immunization Form, which they ended up being wrong about. I also made my class schedule. Turns out my options are very restricted. When I heard about my parents' college life, they were required to take 24 credit hours minimum per semester. The maximum I can take is 19. So this year, I'm not taking any English or humanities courses, which makes me sad. I was also planning on taking Bio this year so that I can take part in the Pre-Med track for Biomedical Engineering. But I can't because that would be over 19 credit hours. I hope to take it though next semester. I get why they're making me stay within the limit, but I would like the option to take more credit hours for maybe Honors students or something.

Speaking of the Pre-Med track, med schools want to see that you take Chem and Bio in a university. Taking the AP tests in high school won't count, which is quite disappointing since I took 15 AP tests. And speaking of AP tests, they are helpful in getting credits, but AP's unrelated to your major are basically pointless since you won't have to take those courses in college anyway. Also, concerning pre-professional tracks, it's important that schools see that you've taken certain courses in a university, and not just have them credited from high school. Also, I heard that AP credits are more taken over IB in national universities, but IB programs have never been of interest to me so you should probably check that.

I also remember getting Bike Safety gear at orientation. And eating lunch. I ate a cheeseburger.

Orientation was less eventful than I thought it would be. I wish it focused more on what you should do than what you can do. Basically they should have told us advise instead of telling us opportunities.

Summer before Senior Year: College Visits

Advice for College Visits:
Do you know which colleges you plan on applying to?

If no, then start looking up different colleges and their specialties.
If yes, have you visited this college? College visits are pretty important when it comes to deciding which schools you really want to go to. Since college application fees are costly, make sure to reduce your list to 5 colleges (if you had more than that). Keep in mind: The college has to be fit for YOU. Colleges find students who are fit for their school, but you shouldn't adjust yourself to colleges just because your parents wanted you to go there or everyone would praise you if you went there.

If you plan on visiting colleges, take notes on things you like/dislike about the school. Don't just look at the students or the appearance of the campus. Look at how the students are living, the programs the school offers, internship/job or research opportunities, student help services, financial aid, and academic rigor. Find the most optimal choice for you.

And since college applications are opening soon, you might find out what the school's essays are about, and you might be given hints about how to write them.


I felt a need to write about college visits since I did mine last minute during Fall Break and visited 12 colleges in one week.