Final Reflection

Regen Morgan

1/29/2018

ENC 2135 15

Professor Wenzel

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            Going into this semester, I was pretty worried about my course load and performance in my classes. I transferred to Florida State this fall from Ohio State, not knowing a single person at FSU, and what I thought would be a smooth transition quickly turned into the hardest months of my life. I was in an unfamiliar area, I wanted to form relationships as quickly as possible while still doing well in school, and I found myself burnt out and overwhelmed. By week 7 I had to medically withdrawal from all of my classes due to a severe ongoing illness. I slept almost 18 hours a day for months and struggled to take care of myself. I was heartbroken, and this time period really forced me to evaluate my future as a pre-med student at Florida State. I decided to return this spring semester, taking a full pre-med course load even though I was not fully recovered.

            After having a few months to recover, I decided to give it everything I had this semester. I went from laying in bed all day to attending classes and throwing myself into a rigorous exercise plan. I lost 20 pounds throughout the semester, and I have maintained good grades for my current course load. I still deal with ongoing medical issues regarding sleeping patterns, and this has had a major impact on my attendance this semester. I tried my best to make it to every class I possibly could, but being on new sleeping pills and medication to treat my symptoms sometimes caused side effects that made it hard to attend every class session. I have really enjoyed English class this semester, it is my only class that allows me to be creative and express myself fully. The other classes I’m currently taking are Biostatistics, Organic Chemistry 1, and Physics 1. I enjoy my science classes, but sometimes they leave me feeling uncreative and unmotivated, so I appreciated having a class in my schedule that required creativity.

            Through my projects in this class I have been able to express my passion for medicine and fitness. These are the two things that I love and want to pursue a future in, and I enjoyed being able to share my passions with my classmates. For project 1, I wrote about an experience while shadowing in the ER that highly affected me and made me want to pursue emergency medicine. For my second project, I transitioned into speaking about my fitness journey and my plans to compete in an NPC bikini competition this fall. I analyzed videos from my favorite fitness youtubers, and interviewed my prep coach. For my third project I shared my Pinterest motivation board, my daily meal plan, and my fitness Instagram. My fitness Instagram is particularly important to me, I have people reach out to me on a daily basis through this account when they need fitness advice. It is so inspiring to know that I am able to motivate and help other people. I was at one of the lowest points in my life 6 months ago, and I have made a complete turnaround. I like to showcase my struggles through this Instagram account so my followers can see that despite setbacks and obstacles, you can still reach your goals if you are hardworking and persistent.

             I feel that I got to know my classmates on a deeper level this semester, and I looked forward to coming to class and hearing presentations from my peers. Although most of the class is younger than me, it made me happy to hear them speak about their passions and hobbies, and how they plan to implement these things in their careers and throughout their college experiences. I wish that my attendance would have been better this semester, but I have come a long way compared to where I was last semester, and I tried my best to stay on top of class content and to produce the best projects that I could. English composition taught me a few things about English, but more importantly it taught me how to balance critical thinking and creative projects with a class schedule primarily filled with science classes. I have never taken a class like this before, and I enjoyed getting to share my thoughts and passions on a daily basis. Overall this class has taught me to be a well-rounded student, and I am proud of my progress that I have made this semester. After my rough fall semester I considered taking time off and leaving FSU altogether, but this semester has showed me that I am capable of continuing on my pre-med journey here.