Beginning of the End

I’m starting this semester off in a very good position. I have a job lined up (in DC!) for after graduation, my GPA is the highest it’s been since first quarter freshman year, and I’m planning spring break / a post-grad trip to Europe. I think last semester I did a really good job of finding balance between all aspects of my life, and I hope that continues into this semester (it has so far but I haven’t had any exams or real work due yet).

I’m still recovering from mono that I had in December, specifically in regards to the level of physical wellness that I had achieved before the disease. I’m increasing my focus on physical wellness to try to regain some of the muscle I lost, and have even considered running the Cap City Half Marathon on May 2. I still haven’t decided if I’m actually going to do it, but I’ll report back soon ;).

I have several areas of trepidation in regards to this semester. First, I’m in a masters-level databases class that is extremely difficult, so I’m planning to spend most of my academic time this semester on that class. I’m a little worried about passing, but I’ve said that before and never had issues. The second major area of trepidation is that I have 3 large projects to complete this semester. These are (1) the Buckeye Leadership Fellows Capstone, (2) the project for my Electrical & Computer Engineering Capstone Class, and (3) a huge research project for my database class previously referenced. Thankfully, all three of these projects are team-based, but I still may have some time balancing / thriving in all three of them, especially if I focus on enjoying the last semester of college as planned.

So I guess the answer to “how am I starting to this semester” is…as best I can! I’m trying to use my previous 7 semesters’ experience to get off on a good foot and really find balance in all areas of wellness in order to thrive.

Thriving college students not only are academically successful, they also experience a sense of community and a level of psychological well-being that contributes to their persistence to graduation and allows them to gain maximum benefit from being in college. – The Thriving Project

In regards to what I want to do / gain / build this semester, I want to get one step closer to wellness and focus on thriving. I really like Ohio State’s definition of wellness because it’s active and ongoing.

“Wellness is an active, ongoing process which involves becoming aware of and taking steps toward a healthier, happier, successful life.”

First and foremost, I want to pass all of my classes and graduate with a degree in ECE & minor in Business. I also want to do well on all 3 projects (2 capstone / 1 research). Next, I want to be mentally / emotionally / physically well. I want to especially focus on being physically well before spring break, because of course I want my pre-mono beach bod back ;). Finally, I want to really enjoy the next 13 weeks I have with friends that I made the past four years. I want to cross things off my bucket list (which includes simple things like playing the piano in the Union which I still haven’t done). This is effectively my last 13 weeks in Columbus, because after graduation I’ll be in Europe for 30-40 days, and after that I have to move to Washington, DC! Ahh!

Unrelated but I wanted to use this GIF: I hear people talking about Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Calculus, Chemistry, and all the other terrible classes I took freshman – sophomore year. At this point, I forget so much that I’m like: