Pre-Junior Year (2021-22)

My pre-junior year at the University of Cincinnati was the one with most rapid developments. The fall of 2021 started out with me being a Resident Advisor for the very first time. I had to miss all of the in-person training because I was in Switzerland at the moment so starting this position came more as a wave of learning a lot of new things very quickly. Either way, with the help of the rest of my staff and friends, being an RA became one of my most cherished memories of the year. The same semester, I also served as the Vice-President for the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences: another thing that I had never done before. That came with its own set of challenges and made me grow so much as a leader, leading one of the biggest organizations of the college. I also worked with UC International as the Social Media Chair for their student body called UC-IPALs (International Partners and Leaders). This was honestly one of the most fun positions I have ever help because of the community I was able to build with fellow international students, bringing me closer to one of my core objectives in college to help transitioning international student feel more welcomed. Attending and organizing multiple events for UC International brought me a lot of joy along with experience.

In the fall of 2021, I was taking classes after almost eight months due to my double co-op rotation so the transition from working for so long to going back to classes was a little challenging. It made me realize that it is utmost necessary to maintain a good study habit even while on co-op so that you don't have to struggle when you return. But we ended the semester strong and continued the streak of having a perfect 4.0. I got admitted to the Honors Program in this very semester and got to be a part of this prestigious community on campus. I also continued working with the Learning Commons as a Peer Tutor throughout the year. Every special occasion from the light festival at the zoo to Thanksgiving to Diwali to Christmas was special with my little family here at Cincinnati. I finally went home to India in the winter break.

The spring semester was pretty much the same with me taking classes again. The snow, the winds, the erratic weather of Cincinnati were all contributors to my dislike of the cold but I never missed a good snowball fight. I won the Mantei/Mae award for the second year in a row from the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences for academic excellence. I also received the Co-op of the Year award from CEAS Tribunal and landed a co-op as a Cloud Ops Engineer at Levi Strauss and Co. in San Francisco for the summer of 2022. A new thing that I did was talk about my culture and country to large audiences through mediums like the world fest and UC-iCats. That make me feel proud of the heritage that I carried and helped me share the same with people who had a genuine curiosity to learn about it.

In the summer, I went to San Francisco for my co-op. I had never been to the west coast before and the city of San Francisco was beautiful. Thanks to UC and this co-op, I had the opportunity to be the part of the first cohort of "National Co-op Ambassadors" and win a scholarship for the same. I also got selected as a UHP Ambassador recently.

This year brought to me a lot of major changes, challenges and accomplishments and I cannot wait for the year to come!