Wins from this quarter

1. I showed that I am capable of success. With a W7 on my transcript, I knew this was the quarter I had to turn things around and I did. A lot of that had to do with the way I scheduled preparation for exams. Rather than trying to cram information a few nights before the exam, I learned to master the content as we were introduced to it. This meant doing a lot of practice problems every day and going to every single office hour session and although it was tiring at times, it was worth it in the end. I had so many ups and downs throughout my first year of college and after this quarter, I finally have hope that I am actually getting the hang of things.

2. I structured my studying around questions. I've always been the kind of student who wanted to figure things out on her own rather than ask questions. This quarter, I changed my mindset: I took notes in lectures by turning concepts into questions and answers, I learned to ask good follow up questions to my professors, and I challenged myself to answer my peers' questions. I stayed fully engaged during lectures and office hours, which really helped my performance in CHEM 162 and BIOL 200.

3. I transformed my productivity with Notion. This is a popular all-in-one workspace app that I've been wanting to try for a while now. Once I set up a system I was comfortable with, it was like having a combination of Microsoft OneNote, Google Calendar, and GoodNotes. I was able to keep track of deadlines, lecture notes, study guides, and grades all in one place. This is the best productivity tool I have ever tried and I'm so excited to continue personalizing and making use of it.

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The pursuit of passion(s)

The Daily is less busy over the summer so I only wrote two articles this quarter, but they ended up being some of my best work. 

• I interviewed a medical student and the interim head of the division of nephrology about UW Medicine's decision to transition to an equation that excludes race as a variable in measuring kidney function. My original article was republished on ReachMD, a national radio station for healthcare professionals, and spotlighted on Twitter by the official UW Medicine Newsroom and UW Medicine accounts. 

• My other article covered the innovative development of a replicating RNA vaccine with a nanoparticle formulation by UW researchers. I've been covering COVID-19 for The Daily since the outbreak in March so it gave me chills to know that I've gone from looking at the impacts of COVID-19 to revealing a potential vaccine. This also marked my 20th article for The Daily, which was a huge milestone and I'm proud of how much my writing has improved in the time I've been on staff.

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For my research lab, I met with my peers and PI a few times over Zoom to discuss neuroscience-related papers. With a heavy emphasis on unpacking diagrams, I've gotten a lot better at analyzing and summarizing research papers, which is a skill I've always wanted to improve. So far, we've looked at the role of synaptic tagging in the memory system and the effects of activity in the nucleus accumbens on motor output. Having the opportunity to learn about these topics through fascinating studies has made me more excited about my intended major. I will be participating in research projects in the fall so I'm hoping to gain more firsthand experience with this field.

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What it's like to be at home for six months

September marks my sixth consecutive month of being at home and by that, I mean I legitimately haven't left the house in six months. My friends are baffled by the fact but the truth is, time has gone by really fast. I celebrated my 19th birthday in the second week of summer quarter by taking two exams and enjoying cake from a Korean bakery with my family. We also got a spin bike and functional training machine, which has transformed my fitness and workout routines. I happily deleted social media apps off of my phone, allowing me to make better use of my time and energy. In spite of being totally out of touch with the outer world, I've learned to really enjoy having all this time to better myself.

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One of my goals for sophomore year to "bring less stuff" is now irrelevant because I made the decision not to live on campus in the fall. The idea of doing that when all of my classes are online – and during a global pandemic – no longer made sense to me. I realized I'm going to be at home for another six months with the next two quarters being online, but I'm actually looking forward to it. These are truly unprecedented times, but it's important to stay positive and find silver linings.

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Goals for next quarter

1. Focus on BIOL 220. This final portion of the BIOL sequence will determine whether I have a chance of getting into my major. Fortunately, since this is the only STEM course in my schedule for fall quarter, it should be easier to dedicate more time towards mastering the content of this class.

2. Apply to summer internships. I have a list of internships and research programs related to neuroscience and/or medicine that I'm interested in doing next summer. Most of the applications are due in January so I plan on getting a head start on them as fall quarter wraps up.

3. Pick an Honors Experiential Learning Activity. I'm currently signed up for research credits in the fall so based on how that goes remotely, I'm hoping to use it for my Honors Experiential Learning Activity and submit an application for Winter 2021.