As a student, it’s easy to feel like you’re on autopilot and going through each semester, doing more of the same things. I’ve definitely felt that way before, and it’s a draining feeling. But, there’s always new things you can try to keep things interesting and see what you’re capable of. That being said, I was not doing anything like what’s pictured below (I’ll save it for another time). 

For example, this semester I decided to become a Teaching Fellow for one of my computer science professors. I would’ve never anticipated taking on this job, but I’m actually really glad I did. The workload wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be. Plus, helping students out with material I learned a year ago has been a pretty efficient way to refresh my memory. 

Something else that was new for me was taking 15 credits in one semester. In the past, the most I’d taken was probably 13. I was a little hesitant going into the semester, but I think I’ve navigated my work to the best of my ability. It’s definitely been challenging, but I have faith that I’ll be able to take on 15 credits in the fall as well.

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I dedicated a lot of time this semester to finding a summer internship. This was a first for me because I’d never actually gone through the process of consistently doing applications and interviews during the semester. It wasn’t always easy, but I’m glad I stuck with it.

In all of these cases, I tried something without knowing if it was going to work out. Even though it doesn’t really feel like a big deal to me now, at some point it was. In general, it’s just nice to reflect on a semester as it’s ending. If you really think about it, you’ve probably challenged yourself in some way in the past few months without realizing it.