Successful Freshman Year
Hi readers! Time for a much needed update. I successfully completed my freshman year of college! It really flew by, but I'm proud to say that it was a phenomenal year. My first semester finished up nicely as I finally got acclimated to college living. I did well in all my classes and got involved in some great extracurriculars. I go over more about my adjustment to college in this previous blog post.
During my second semester, I took the following classes: 14th to 18th Century Literature, Policy Making in America, Advanced Spanish, and an introductory biology class. The English class is a prerequisite for majoring in English, which has always been my plan. However, I often found myself frustrated in that class because I didn't love the source material and there was such a heavy focus on close reading. I realized my passion of writing about literature stems from analyzing themes, characters, and connections, not just focusing on a sentence or two. I know I can't base my major off of just one so-so class, so in the fall, I'll be taking The Novel Since 2000, which sounds way more interesting to me.
If I don't major in English, I plan to major in politics. My politics class this past semester was super interesting because it gave me insight into the modern political process. My favorite part of the class was when we did a whole policy simulation about immigration policy where everyone had a role in the legislative branch, executive branch, interest groups, or the media. I was a pro-immigration interest group, which meant I got to try to influence the legislative process of coming up with an immigration bill when real Congress can't!
I finished my language requirement with my Advanced Spanish class. I enjoyed college Spanish more than most high school Spanish classes because it focused on culture and literature instead of just grammar and vocabulary. I feel like now I have a greater appreciation of the Spanish-speaking world. My last class was a biology class that I took for my lab requirement. I actually loved the class, partly because one of my best friends at Princeton was my lab partner and partly because of the amazing professors. Even though this class was for non-science majors, one of my professors won a Nobel Prize! He taught us about the experiment that made him win the prize. I even got to watch cells divide in front of my eyes on a laser microscope right by his side.
Outside of class, I continued to write for the Daily Princetonian. I definitely feel like my writing skills improved thanks to the amazing editors. I even got to interview Princeton alumna Ellie Kemper class of '02! While interviewing a celebrity was awesome, my favorite part of writing for the newspaper is learning about the amazing events and people of Princeton. I also advocated for girls' education with Princeton Girl Up and expanded my Jewish knowledge with the Jewish Learning Fellowship at the Center for Jewish Life (CJL). I even saw To Kill a Mockingbird and Dear Evan Hansen on my residential college’s discounted Broadway trips!
I also continued to strengthen my relationships with my amazing classmates. From eating at late meal to attempting to study together to dancing at an eating club to just talking in my room, I feel so fortunate to have found such a supportive and inclusive friend group. One of my favorite memories from this year is planning a Jewish Disability Advocacy and Inclusion Month Shabbat at the CJL and seeing all my friends there to support me. The CJL was another great source of support this year, so much so that they embraced my idea to plan this Shabbat and helped me turn my dream into reality. The Director of Disability Services and I both made a speech, and it meant a lot that my friends showed up. It meant even more that my dad drove up and surprised me that night as well!
On the topic of disability, this summer I’m interning remotely for the Center for Disability Rights, a New York-based disability advocacy organization. I’m learning so much and gaining such valuable skills in a career I aspire to pursue. I’ll write way more about this in a separate blog post. My internship is not the only cool thing I’m doing this summer- in two days, I leave for a Birthright trip to Israel for young adults with disabilities! Later in July, I’m going on a family vacation to Montreal and Quebec. I’m really looking forward to these international adventures! At home, it’s been so nice to spend time with my friends and family who I miss during the school year.
As I’m writing this at home, there are many things that I miss about Princeton. I miss my friends, of course. I miss some of my classes more than others. I miss the beautiful campus, especially my favorite chair in Chancellor Green library. Most of all, I miss the excitement and passion that surrounds me every day on campus. There’s always so much going on, from speeches by acclaimed professors to fun student-planned events, and I feel extremely fortunate to be there. Freshman year really exceeded my expectations in so many ways. I had amazing accommodations for my disability-related needs, made such close friendships so fast, and had such engaging classes. I can’t wait to see what the next three years inside the Orange Bubble have in store for me!