My journey through my own personal college experience has not been easy. I attended Union County Early College for my high school and it was the best and toughest five years of my life. When I came in as a freshman, I knew that this school regarded me on a higher level than other public high schools and I knew that it was my objective to prove to the staff that I deserved to be here. Throughout the years, I gained a tremendous understanding of how I can be a leader in my community and found that volunteering was an important part of my life. I also challenged myself academically to not only receive grades I knew I could achieve, but to gain more insight into the world around me through what I learned in the classroom. All of these educational values followed me when I came here to UNCG. This semester has really shaped these values to become more concrete and I have gained precious experiences that I will always cherish. Currently in my college journey, I see myself as becoming an adult and gaining the skills I need to be great in the world and through the last few years at UNCG, I believe I can achieve that whole-heartedly.

     In my Honors Colloquium class, I have gained some great and bad experiences that have overall taught me things about myself and the world I live in. The first day of class opened up with a “Getting to Know Me” assignment which featured things that we were excited, nervous, and worried about. This made me feel connected to my classmates because we were all very new to the school and we all had similar stories about our first week here at UNCG. I also got to learn a little about each of my classmates and this made getting to know one another, as well as working together as a class, more accessible and open. One of the things that did not benefit me in this course was the "Analytical Essay" featuring Kelsey Timmerman’s Where Am I Wearing? While I loved the discussion we had about the book in class, and the many different perspectives others had about the clothing industry around the world, the essay itself fell short. I provided an in-depth look into Timmerman’s book, but the essay did not open my intellectual mind to anything new or stunning in our modern world. This was the one assignment that I did not take a huge educational experience from.

     "Interviewing My Professor" was a wonderful assignment that the Honors College implemented. This assignment led me to open up a relationship with one of the newest psychology professors and we now have a starting relationship with one another that I will use to get closer to Dr. Baker and to learn from him as well as work with him in one of his research labs. The "Intercultural Awareness" essay on my experience at Oakwood Forest was also very rewarding. I learned a lot about how community service is more than just “helping,” but rather “serving.” This assignment also taught me to delve into the “unknown” parts of my society (in this instance the immigrants that come here) and to embrace it rather than ignore it.

     One of the last things in this ePortfolio and one of the most confusing for me was the "Adviser Notes" and the "Four-Year Plan." When I came to UNCG, I had a set goal in mind that I knew exactly what I wanted to do for the next two years and which path of life I wanted to take. Little did I realize from the counselors that I was actually lost. They helped me to understand that I do not need to find all of the right answers my first semester. I learned overall that I can live my life normally while finding my path in education.

     Overall, this class has helped me gain skills that I will use and implement into my continuing education and experience at UNCG. I will keep pursuing my relationship with Dr. Baker, take more opportunities to learn about career paths that I may want to take, and to serve more in my college community and the neighborhoods surrounding it. I will take these and continue on my educational path and make sure to make it a very special one.