Hello my lovely readers, I hope everyone has been having a great summer. I don't know about you guys but mine is about to end. I am going to be entering my third year of college.....ah crazy I know! It feels like just yesterday I was a freshman!
Today, I wanted to take a moment and reflect on my college journey so far as well as my goals for this upcoming year.
Me touring the University of Maryland as a Junior is HS
I can't help but think about being a junior in high-school back in 2016...that was one of the best years of high-school. I remember that by junior year I felt way more mature, I had just turned 16, I felt confident in who I was, I had more leadership roles, and had started to think about my future more clearly. This was the year that I begun to think about being a doctor, even though at this point in time I really didn't know what the medical journey would be like. I was volunteering at my local hospital, I was learning more science and loved it! I also loved service and leadership. At 16 in high school, I wasn't sure what 19/20 year old Kyeisha would be like at all, and I didn't think about it. I just was in the moment doing what I loved and working hard at the things I loved everyday.
Me in 2016 in my hospital volunteer uniform
I want to take that same energy into my junior year of college. Going into my junior year, again I have a clearer vision of what I want my future to be than I did in my sophomore year or freshmen year, I have more leadership roles, I feel more confident in who I am, I'm taking more challenging classes....but I need to remember to stay in the moment as much as possible. That's goal number 1!
My next goal is to not let the pressure get to me. I'll be honest with you guys, I am nervous for this upcoming semester and I've been feeling the anxiety build up for weeks now. I'm taking 20 credits: Cell Biology and Lab, Genetics, General Chemistry 2, French Grammar, a speech class, and Gemstone research.....yeah it's a lot.
But I think I know what the problem is, the problem is I can do it....haha just wait I'll explain. When I took 19 credits (7 classes, same amount as this upcoming semester) last semester, it was my first time taking that many classes and I was also nervous but I was just going to do my best. After A LOT of studying and A LOT of hardworking, I finished the semester with all As...a 3.97 GPA. And I'm still so proud of myself because it was not easy.
So now taking 20 credits, although it sounds like a lot more, it really isn't. The classes are definitely harder, and would be a challenge on their own regardless of what my credit load would look like. But what I'm nervous about is not performing like I did in the past semesters, it has nothing to do with the credits and more to do with getting straight As for four semesters and here I am entering my fifth semester not wanting to mess it up. It's the fear of having the first two years be great and somehow going downhill my last two years. I'm putting pressure on myself that no one else is putting on me! I'm putting pressure on myself that I tell other people not to do! Ugh!!!!!!
So how can I go easy on myself? I don't know the perfect answer but I know it's my goal this semester to try. Truth is, I've always been this way. I was in elementary school crying when I didn't do well, haha my mom could tell you the stories. My self-motivation and determination has made me successful, but it's also something I am always working on balancing. As classes get harder, hell, as life gets harder, I know I can't beat myself up over small mistakes. I know one class won't make or break my future. I know that all I have to do is my best.
Well, told you guys I was gonna be honest with y'all.
My next goal for junior year is to have a great schedule and routine. I really liked the routine I had in my sophomore year, I would get up early, leave my suite at 7am and drink coffee, answer emails, read lecture slides, etc until my classes started at 9am. Then I would go about my day full of classes, and after eating dinner head to the library, be back at my room by 11pm, and get at least 6-7 hours of sleep...then repeat.
For my Junior year I am living in my very first apartment!!! I'm really excited for this next step into adulthood. This means that I have a few more things to add to my schedule such as cooking my meals, meal prep, grocery shopping and more cleaning. I also want to work out at least once or twice a week. And of course make time for friends, self-care, blogging, etc.
To do all of this, I am going to have to stay super organized. But if you know me, you know I love organization. So I'm excited to try and succeed at this goal! My plan is to film some "Morning Routine", "Night Routine", and "Day in my Life" videos on my new Youtube channel to show you guys how it goes!
I have many goals for my organizations that I am apart of. I want to use my leadership roles wisely and do my very best at each job. This year, I am serving as Vice-President of Charles R Drew Pre-Health Society, a title I am really honored to have. I am excited to help my executive board carry out all out new ideas and bring our organization to new heights.
I am also the Chief Marketing Officer of a new non-profit that we will be launching soon called EmpowerU. I'll dedicate another post about what this organization is, but I'll just say that the mission really resonates with me and I am honored to be on the board and to help launch the organization.
In my Gemstone Honors Program, junior year is a really important year. All the junior teams are required to present their research at this annual presentation, so I know there is a lot of hardworking ahead of us to finish our experiments and collect data to present. As for my leadership roles, I am excited to take my role at Director of Strategic Outreach to new heights with the help of my co-director. I want to come up with meaningful events for students and to keep fostering a community for students of color. I am also looking forward to my work on the Gems100 Steering Committee, where I will be helping with administrative tasks to help our introductory course run smoothly.
Finally, I have big goals for this blog. I want to film more videos for my Youtube channel, create more resources, and to write blogs that really resonate with my readers. This blog has been a creative outlet for me since 2015 and it really means a lot to me to hear that people enjoy reading it.
So if you made it this far...thank you so much for reading. In this post, I just really wanted to sit down and write about this upcoming year as truthfully and as real as possible. As you can see, there's a lot on my mind as I go into my junior year but it helps to have an amazing support system, from my family, to my friends, to all of you guys!
I am excited to keep blogging (and vlogging) in junior year!
xoxo,
Kye
If you're about to go off to college be sure to read my blog: "College 101: Advice to a Freshman"
To read more about my college journey just click here.