Here’s what Scholarship means to me…
I have always had a natural incline towards things related to the Scholarship pillar. In a sense, I feel like this type of community is what I fit in the most with and I had a natural aptitude for this. However, I did not always feel like this; at a younger age I didn’t show very much interest in my education and didn’t realize the importance. As I grew older, I became more involved in my academics and I developed a curiosity for the world around me and how it operates. In high school, I developed a more specific interest in the sciences all thanks to my biology teacher during my sophomore year. She introduced me into several concepts and ideas that I had never previously considered or had any curiosity about. To me, the sciences always have something new to offer and I have always found it interesting how many scales there are within the field, whether that being molecular or a communal level. No matter what the scale, everything has its own part and responsibility, which I feel like mirrors the communities we live and interact with on a daily basis. All because of this one teacher, I was able to find a passion of mine, which I was able to begin investigating during high school, and I now plan on continuing to do so throughout my life. Although it isn’t exactly considered a science, my major involves a lot of anatomy and biology as a core foundation. In short, scholarship has led me to my passion in life and a lifetime opportunity for exploration, and sometimes, inspiration can come from the least expected areas.
Scholarship within the Honors Community
Although I have not had the full experience of scholarship within the Honors Community, I definitely had a great introduction to it. Because of the circumstances due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, I did not get to complete an entire Honors course on campus. Completing the course through an online format was definitely not ideal with the format of the class and we were not able to accomplish all of our goals for the semester, but it showed me the type of dedication that true scholarship required. There were several occasions where I had to drive over 15 minutes just to get a stable internet connection in order to attend class. There were also times where I was not able to do this and having to make up for lost class time took even more dedication. Distance learning during the spring semester was very challenging and new realm of scholarship I never thought I would be forced into, but it was definitely an experience I have learned a few lessons from.
In addition to missing valuable class time on campus, I also was accepted to attend the trip to Yellowstone, which was unfortunately cancelled. I tend on reapplying next year, I look forward to this Honors scholarship opportunity in the future. Instead of seeing these as missed opportunities, I am choosing to look at this situation in a different light; this semester was essentially a “tease,” and now I just have much more to look forward to in the future and I cannot wait to receive the “full experience” in the coming semesters!