As the quarter comes to a close and the summer months are upon us, I thought I would reflect back on my junior year of college and first year here at UC Davis… it was very interesting to say the least.
I still remember my first day of school here at UCD like it was yesterday. I remember what I was wearing and even what I ate for lunch (it was an avocado and veggie sandwich, by the way). I was excited and nervous for all that was to come in the year ahead, and oh yeah, it was blazing hot that day.
The start of the year and a majority of fall quarter was not so bad, Davis was growing on me and I was getting so familiar with the campus. Winter break came and went and then beginning in January, Winter Quarter hit like a ton of bricks.
Winter Quarter was the hardest and most challenging time for me, both academically and personally. I was starting to doubt if Davis was where I belonged. Fast forward to the end of winter quarter I was finally hitting my stride and feeling great… then the global pandemic hit.
Spring quarter started in the laundry room of my parents’ home sitting at a desk with my laptop in front of me ready to navigate the new world of online learning, it was not an easy transition but there was nothing I could do about it. Like many college students around the world I was frustrated that my college experience was being thrown off course.
Never in a million years could I have imagined the end of my third year of college looking the way it has. No time spent in the library studying till my heart’s content for an upcoming midterm, no sunny picnic lunches with friends out on the quad and no Sundays spent at Starbucks in Downtown Davis, sitting at the table by the window prepping for the week ahead.
My junior year of college and first year at UCD will be one that I certainly will not forget, full of good times and bad times, new friends and opportunities and unexpected twists and turns.
With all of that being said I am ready to put my crazy junior year behind me, enjoy the summer the best that I can and look forward to starting my senior year fresh in the fall. While I do not know yet what is in store for me the rest of my life I can always look forward to fresh beginnings and opportunities to grow.
