Over the semester I have learned that I can keep up with my schoolwork while
maintaining a social life and participating in activities around campus. I have grown in the aspect
that I do not allow what my friends are doing to dictate what I do. I have prioritized my work over
going out with friends. Coming into college I didn’t really have many expectations I was just
excited to be independent and on my own for the first time. Overall, I really enjoyed my first
semester in college. I came out of my comfort zone and was social with people around campus
which surprised me. Something I wished I knew 14 weeks ago is how frequent exams are. I wasn’t
prepared to have multiple tests in one week but have come to adapt to that.

At the beginning of the semester, I was waking up super early and going to sleep super
late to make time to study for all my classes. I have now learned to prioritize my time based off
what is more important that week. I still spend a lot of time studying to make sure I am ready for
each task assigned by my professors. My study habits have changed slightly. I now have a study
group and we spend a lot of time in the study rooms preparing for exams. I also go to the library a
lot to study for exams and use the boards around the room to work out problems. For my History
Snapshot project, I went to the library for research help. I did not know all the resources we had
in the library like the Writing Center and the Success Center. I will use the writing center more
next semester because it’s helpful to get feedback from experts and students. Next semester I’m
going to go to office hours more and take advantage of the tutors provided.

Throughout the semester I realized how Chemistry and Sociology connect. Sociology
teaches you about the opportunities everyone has based on their race and income. We learned
how a person’s income effects where they can live and what they can afford. Many people of
color cannot afford adequate health insurance because of the cost. This then effects their health
based off their location, for example what happened in the city of Flint which we discussed in
Chemistry. This also connects to History because we discussed the mistreatment of people of
color over time and how they didn’t have the same opportunities and rights as whites. To me the
most important event was the Zip Code Effect event. This one was most important to me because
the area of Northern Virginia I am from is very diverse. Not only is it diverse by the racial makeup
but there are lots of people from different incomes. This is important to me because not
everyone in my neighborhood is able to afford quality health care.