Hi all! I am a new blogger to the I’mFirst! Series. I am very excited to share my experiences so far at Washington University in St. Louis. In this post I want to introduce myself, talk about life at WashU so far, and how’s it been navigating higher education as a first-gen student.
My hometown is Springfield, Virginia – a town right outside of the DC metropolitan area. My hobbies include reading, baking, and cycling. I am in my second year, with intended majors in Global Studies and Marketing. I am choosing to study these subjects since international relations and geo-political history is a big interest to me. The classes in this major are also multi-disciplinary, and allow me to take courses in different departments, which I enjoy a lot. On the other hand, I’m doing marketing at WashU’s business school (also known as Olin) because I really enjoy the hands-on work we do here, such as case competitions. I really like the different subjects we touch on in this major, such as accounting and economics. I hope to apply these business skills in the future to support small businesses globally. I am also Pre-Law, but that is still tentative since I’m open to other routes post-grad and there is still a lot of time left for me to decide on that.
Why WashU? Initially, I wasn’t sure about this school, but when I was admitted I fell in love with how welcoming the community is. I applied regular decision, but I had the opportunity to be admitted early because I was selected as an Annika Rodriguez scholar. This scholarship is one of the most enjoyable and important communities to me at WashU, since I’ve fostered friendships and growth here. WashU also made a great effort to give me access to different opportunities within my first year. For one, I was able to secure a paid internship in Saint Louis this past summer through the school’s civic engagement program. I also am a part of great clubs, such as Uncle Joe’s, a student-run peer counseling hotline. While the academics are rigorous here, the school has given me support throughout the way. I’m looking forward to the next 3 years I have here.
While I am highlighting the high parts of college, I will say that the lows are prevalent, but that is completely okay too. This is a completely new environment and juggling difficult classes, new relationships, and your own identity can be a lot to handle at once. I’ve found and continue to find different mechanisms that are helpful for me to recalibrate, such as scheduling alone time for myself to do things that I enjoy and leaning on others for support. It takes time and trial to find what works for you, but the process of adjustment is individual.
– Catherine <3