Ex-Transfer Student: My Story

Please see the above video for a huge anouncement!

Or I guess you could just read this post.

Last year I was a freshman in college. It was an immensely exciting and nerve-racking experience. I moved to a new state, took really difficult courses, and had to adjust to a completely new life. For those of you who don't know, I attended the Stanford University Online High School. I was at home doing school and while I had friends through extracurricular activities in my community, I wasn't immersed in a social sphere like most high school students. College was my first opportunity since fifth grade to spend extensive amounts of time with my peer group. 

Now, this is not to say that I didn't have social skills. I'm a fairly social person and I'm good at meeting and talking to people, but the entirely new environment certainly required adjustment. 

Anyway, by April I was tired, stressed, and frusterated. Over spring break I made a swift decision to transfer to my state university. This was spurned in part by my school's smallness and I felt very limited academically. But a big part of the decision was the stress of freshman year.

I spent the summer in Boston, becoming more connected with the university, students, and the fantastic location. Two weeks ago exactly, I had to say goodbye to one of my summer friends. It hit me that I didn't want to leave. I frantically called my parents and told them this was going to be much more difficult than I thought. Previously, I felt little attachment to the university. Now, I felt very connected.

My family moved around a few times when I was a kid and besides moving I transfered schools in the middle of the year numerous times. Because of this I've never really felt rooted in one place or to a group of people. Suddenly, the thought of starting over yet again left a pit in my stomach. 

Over the next four days I called various people, shed a few tears (not gonna lie), and finally told myself I should just complete the transfer.

Then I went for a walk.

The sun was setting, lighting the sky with pink and orange cloud swirls. I walked to my freshman door at the very top of campus. The university was preparing for the incoming freshman - they planted flowers around the trees and were repaving some of the walkways. I saw my old dorm window and felt very nostalgic and sentimental. 

I don't want to leave. I have to make this work. I have to try.

I sprinted down campus, back to my apartment, and worked out a list of interesting classes and discovered most of them were still open. 

The day after I met with an academic advisor and he was more than happy to help reinstate me at the university.

A few more technical matters later and I'm staying!

I'm incredibly happy with my decision and so excited for the upcoming year. ^_^

xxolivexx

Looking Back: My High School Graduation

A little over a year ago, I graduated from Stanford University Online High School. In the above video, you can watch clips from the day of my graduation, including my graduation speech.

I had not watched this video in quite a few months until this morning, but it still conjures up feelings of immense accomplishment and happiness. My high school experience was very different from most - being online meant that an extraordinary amount of self-discipline was required, which I didn't always have. It was also frequently a lonely experience. But the education I received was, in my opinion, unparalleled and the community, though physically distant, was very supportive, as you can probably tell by the video.

The lesson I spoke of in my speech (living without fear of the wrong answer in order to learn in freedom) still rings true today. I struggle with avoiding certain classes because I'm afraid I won't get the grades I want and with trying not to be perfectionistic so I can enjoy the learning process. 

During freshman year (2011-2012) I took honors general chemistry. It was incredibly difficult for me. To make matters worse, I started doing the exact opposite of what I prescribed in my speech -- I compared myself to other students that could study for one hour and get better scores than me, even though I would study the same material for three hours.

Obviously, some level of comparison naturally happens, but it's important not to get carried away. I must remind myself over and over there will always be someone who appears smarter/better/insert-your-own-adjective than you. The battle is not necessarily with them, but with yourself - to accomplish and learn more than the previous year.

This is a little advice for the class of 2016: work hard, but also be realistic about the goals you set for yourself. Most importantly, be fearless. 

Hope this wasn't too didactic, but these are lessons I constantly must remind myself of.

xxolivexx

Day in My Life - 5

Need to prepare better for lab lecture... Went to Chinese tutorial (on time this week! Phew!). Studied in the student center for the first time, but it was a bit too warm for my liking. Al + Chinese classmates and I prepared the skit next week. Afterword, Al, one of the classmates, and I talked for a while about our high school experiences. Tomorrow is Yom Kippur. I might try fasting.

Day in My Life - 4

I got an A on my Chinese exam! YAAAY! I studied in the science senter for about three and a half hours. Got a lot done, but still more work to do. In neuroscience class, my professor made an inside joke from office hours about me asking too many questions. Afer class, I had dinner with some friends. El tried to convince me to go sky diving with him. No thanks!

Day in My Life - 3

Next week our Chinese class will be performing skits in small groups. I'm in a group with Al plus two other students. I took care of laundry and cleaned, which was badly needed. I'm feeling stressed out about chem. Due to studying for the neuroscience and Chinese exams, I am a bit behind. I will try to catch up this week.

Later on I had dinner with Abby and skyped with a couple friends from home who are also in college now. They are doing well.

Day in My Life - 2

First Chinese test went well! I finished early. After the test I went to the science building to study for neuroscience exam with a couple friends from class. Then I went to my chemistry professor's office hours. I try to go once a week. After his office hours, I went to my neuroscience professor's office hours with Al, Ann, and the two friends I was studying with. We peppered him with questions. His practice exams had a lot of typos and some of the questions were tricky. Then Al and I did some last minute review for the exam. Al is going to China next semester.

A half hour before the test I convinced Al to take a break. I was very tired, I nearly fell down the stairs! Despite this the neuroscience exam went extremely well. I think I got a good grade.

My day ended well - I watched Seven Samurai for film class. The film was fantastic. Then I talked with my grandmother.

Day in My Life - 1

Today Al suggested after Chinese class that we study for our neuroscience exam. We agreed to meet up after the review session. Ann joined us at the library. Al and Ann are juniors. Unfortunately the review session wasn't terribly helpful, but studying with Al and Ann was.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!

I finally decided where I am going to college!! I sent the deposit on the 28th and set up my account. My school email is actually through gmail! Pretty cool!

I'm very excited and I wish that August would be here already!!!

Also, I (read: my mom made me) volunteered to give a speech at graduation... I wanted to talk about how much high school sucks no matter what but once you get through it it seems worthwhile... ;) Grad speeches are supposed to be more uplifting, I think. Anyway, something else to write beside my senior thesis!

x Olive x