Freshman year - Every day after class I headed straight to my dorm to watch KDramas and play video games. I didn’t study much because the high school-to-college transition process was extremely difficult for me to accept. Thus, my self-esteem began to slowly spiral down..
Sophomore year - After my exboyfriend and I parted ways, everything else collapsed. I performed poorly in all of my classes and gave up too soon. I wanted to drop out of SDSU and attend community college. Lastly, I even considered suicide multiple times because the stress and depression was beyond my control… I felt hopeless, unworthy, and STUPID…
Junior year - Switched my major to anthropology and followed my interests. I wanted to make up for my poor performance in fresh-soph year so I pushed myself and changed my priorities. 24/7 coffee shops became my home for the following nights, months and years to come. Towards the end of junior year I was introduced to medical anthropology, public health, and research. I, again, allowed my interests to guide me.
Senior year - I worked as the Lead Research Assistant for the (then) Division Head of the Health Management Policy Program at the Graduate School of Public Health. I was also hired to work as the Lead Research Associate for the President of Society for Medical Anthropology. I traveled more for academic/career growth: Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Canada, Hawai'i, and San Francisco. I won the Research Award for Diversity, Social Justice, and Inclusiveness at SDSU’s Student Research Symposium for the public health research study. I also won First Place at the poster competition at the Southwestern Anthropological Association Conference for the medical anthropological research study as well. Now - my first job(s) out of college are working as a Research Assistant for the Director of Undergraduate Studies and a PostDoc at the Graduate School of Public Health.
The purpose for sharing a brief overview of my college experience is to remind everyone how nonlinear college can be. I crawled, fell flat on my face, walked, and ran for what I believed what was right for me. I didn’t allow my failures to define me forever. I strategically used negative energy to power my drive to work hard for my dreams, goals, and aspirations. THAT’S HOW I DID IT. I continuously set the bar higher and higher to further myself from the freshman self I once knew.
To sum everything up: IF YOUR DREAMS DON’T SCARE YOU, THEN THEY’RE NOT BIG ENOUGH.
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