So far in college, I have learned… haha I wouldn’t dare to answer this in one sentence. We are now in my sophomore year at Texas A&M University and at least I finally feel like I’m in college! My first year was fast and surreal and honestly somewhat of a rollercoaster… with grades going down? jk. Here, I am going to recap on the past 2 semesters and what these four weeks of my sophomore year have taught me so … hang on tight. ; ) I’ve got some college advice and stories ahead!

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Freshman Year

I go to the greatest university in the world. Seriously.

One of the greatest things I learned from Freshman year was confidence in my decisions. The biggest decision being attending Texas A&M University and absolutely loving it. I belong here and I am 100% about that. You can create the life you want to live and love it! Freshman year definitely had its own way of humbling me but you nearly can’t ever have success without failure. Truly, the biggest thing I talk to freshman about now is just trusting in the process. There is a reason for everything that happens in your life. Work your butt off and you might fail but there will always be good things that come out of it. Aggieland truly has a spirit that can ne’er be told. As a first-year engineer, I did not attend very many sports events or school activities, but I truly gained a heart of respect for my school.

Ups and Downs of Dorm Life

Living in the dorms freshman year was awesome. I mean of course there the few negatives but overall worth the experience. In my Dorm category I talk about dorm necessities and my experiences on campus! But, I really learned how to be a better roommate and ultimately how convenient it is to be able to walk 10 minutes to class. I’m in my first apartment now and boy do I miss that when I wake up an extra 45 minutes early in order to get to class in time! Being in the heart of your college campus is worth more than what I could attempt to put into words!

Finding a genuine love for the Lord.

I joined a women’s organization last year called Aggie Sisters for Christ, and it was one of the best things I did! I had never really seen what a personal relationship with Christ looks like and I ended being surrounded by it there. It was awesome and life-changing! It was important to me to join an organization that would always build me up and be there for me just like I was for them. I was able to learn more about the Lord all the while constantly being lifted up by the girls around me. We went on little trips throughout the semesters and studied the Bible together in small groups each week. For any girls looking to join campus orgs, I cannot stress how important it is to have a community that is going to love you intentionally and never judge you for your darkness.

Priorities! They’re important.

So… I had a boyfriend last year (and still do ❤) even though I thought I did not want to come into college with a boyfriend. Of course, God had a different plan. I tried to learn to balance my time between classes, friends, organizations, and a boyfriend. I’m still learning, but to be frank it might not be possible… JK it (probably) is. I wanted to make friends last year and I wanted to nurture my relationship with Christ and all these extra things took away from my job as a student. We are doing much better though from last year! Moral of the story – life is messy and not as organized as you want it to be despite how many to-do lists and bullet journal pages you make.

Studying

Learning how you learn is cool!

It was a big process for me to learn the best ways to study. As almost every engineer’s testimony, I didn’t have to work that hard in high school for my high grades. I came into college as a prideful and somewhat stubborn 18 year-old. I left freshman year feeling like I didn’t belong in engineering and like I had far more potential than what I had shown that year. However, I learned so so much along the way. I am a very hands-on and visual learner. Figuring these out has helped me ask professors ways to better understand the material! I am able to come up with study ideas for myself to try out that I love and have fun with. Pay attention to what makes you special and grow those qualities!

Group Work = Best Work (most times)

I LOVE working in groups. BUT I learned it was really important for me to study by myself also. It is good as the Bible says when people come together with different ideas to bring to the table. This semester I’ve been in a group with some May’s Business students and it’s been really cool! Engineers can all talk about the same things but like… business majors are a completely different breed from engineers!

Give a little…

Some of my favorite people from my classes are the ones who have a true heart for helping me. I have definitely worked on adopting that as I make new friends. When I say that, I mean like instead of getting annoyed with me for asking ANOTHER question about Gauss’s Law, my friend patiently explains what I’m missing. ❤ Be this person. You make people’s day so much better just being generous with your brain. I have met some of the best people throughout my classes and getting together to study with them. Actually, that’s how I met my roommate! : – )

Being Professional

Talk to them… college is too short. But guess what else…

This is my favorite to write about because this has been such a huge part of my past four weeks! The past two weeks I have very actively been reaching out to faculty members across my department. Over a crazy course of events (more like meetings) I have found myself pursuing starting my own student chapter for a professional organization! It’s called Industrial Designers Society of America or IDSA. My intent with this is to first of all have an organization at TAMU that brings together all different types of majors; like the college of Engineering, Architecture, Visualization, or truly any college that deals with designing in industry.

My second intent with this chapter would be to give the people of my major something I think we are lacking as a department. This would be providing Industrial Engineers with experience in design as well. Design serves as the aesthetics side of products that is often times overlooked by engineers. I see this as another opportunity to add value to the Aggie Engineer in Industrial & Systems Engineering! I would never have found what I have if I hadn’t began reaching out to faculty members and asking questions.

I’m super excited about this journey and getting to know more people along the way. One of my favorite things so far this semester has been meeting new people and seeing what God has put in front of me with them. He has been so faithful to me in providing me with opportunities I couldn’t have dreamed of in my wildest dreams. I am sure this is not the last time you will hear about IDSA and I can’t wait for what’s in store… I’m hoping soon I’ll be the founding president of professional collegiate student chapter!

Growing Up

Learning to Budget

We’re honestly still working on it so I can’t give advice… sorry! I’ve made spreadsheets and organized all my money but I have a tendency to underestimate specifics like this. Sometimes I struggle with commitment to only spending so much and I just really want that cute dress that is way overpriced. Now don’t get me wrong, far more often than not, I do not give in… sometimes you just have to treat yourself though. 🍦

Loans foans joans (gone goes my money)

This year I took out loans to pay for school which implores me to STRESS how important scholarships are. I received lots of scholarships freshman year from working my tail off senior year. However, I had intentions of it last year, it was just hard to prioritize over other things. So I want to be better about it this year and I guess this is my form of accountability… It’s in writing on my blog how much more accountability could there possibly be. Ask me how my scholarships search is going!! There is far too much money available out there to be sitting around doing physics right?

Paying rent… I’m actually grown wow.

So I am living in my very first apartment! It’s surreal. It’s cheap. And it’s mine! I am living with my two best friends who are both in engineering. I wrote some about them in my ABOUT page, so go skim over that for a second! Moving on, I buy all my own groceries and cook all my own meals (sometimes). It’s been an adjustment getting used to taking the bus to school instead of walking to class. Though it’s a good adjustment. It’s been an adventure for sure. I really value these learning experiences and opportunities. They allow me to gain so much more confidence in myself as time goes on.

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