Reflection

The last two posts really resonated with me. While it seems like both of you had a very stressful week last week, this is my "hell week." I've been dreading the second week in November for for quite a while: ever since I wrote down my assignments for all my classes and realized I had a paper due Monday, a test on Tuesday, and a paper due Thursday. Thankfully, I now at least have the relief of being done with the first paper, but I'm now in the position of trying to study for the test and write the second paper (which is still mostly unfinished) at the same time. The stress is further compounded by the fact that having relatively few assignments per class compared to high school means that the ones you do get are worth more- the paper due Monday was 30% of my class grade, and the test I'm taking tomorrow is 25% of my grade for that class.

So, what have I learned? Well, for one thing I'm learning that my confidence in my academic skills and preparedness for college was temporary. After doing well on my midterms, I was pleased with myself, perhaps to the point of overconfidence. I started thinking (...just a little prematurely) about what classes I would take if I joined the honors program next year, and when I met with my academic adviser to plan my classes I asked him if I could take just one 300 or 400 level class next semester to challenge myself (not surprisingly, the answer was no.) Now, as I struggle with these papers, I feel quite humbled. I found the first paper more difficult than expected, and was quite sure it was awful until others read it and reassured me somewhat. I'm finding the second paper much more difficult than expected- it's not so much that the material is hard as that I have fairly limited experience writing a research paper, and I don't think I've ever written one with footnotes (as opposed to parenthetical citations) before. Basically, I've learned that, believe it or not, college is hard. I shouldn't be overconfident.