Autumn 2020

Courseload

I took 17 credits worth of classes. Classes are listed as follows:

DEPT ### (# credits, grade): Description

Quarter GPA: 3.94, Cumulative GPA: 3.94


Artifact Gallery

A page from my first MATH 134 midterm. I didn't completely finish this problem, but it's fine.
The final working result of one coding project, Election Simulator, from CSE 143. This was the hardest project by far (aside from the final project).
A moment from the Global Challenges event, which I found extremely helpful to understand how to convince an apathetic public to care about crises.
A homework assignment for CHIN 111, where we drew and labeled a diagram of our room. I spent too long on this assignment (measuring everything was NOT required!), but at least it looks good.
A more light-hearted moment from MATH 134. For Halloween (October 30th, as Halloween was on a Saturday), some of us wore math-related shirts to class! My shirt reads: "Math puns are the first sine of madness." 😄
A screenshot of a CSE 143 lecture. In this class, we learned about Binary Trees! Aside from me, a few of my friends also have cameras on (Casey and Rene).
Me relishing in winning the MATH 134 Kahoot! game. I actually didn't get the most questions right, but I snagged all of those streak bonuses. 🙂
A casual conversation among some HONORS 100 gang. It was so great being able to talk about politics and current issues and religion in a very conversational and polite manner!
A hard oomph on the written section of the CHIN 111 midterm exam. (That's an 88%.) I am a perfectionist, but I really thought I did better. At least I'm learning! 😅
An exerpt of the MATH 134 homework from Week 5. Although the work can be tedious at times, it's super fun doing proofs. Also, the Dirichlet Function is terrible and amazing.
Some of the code I wrote to compile the dictionary that our CSE 143 final project uses to generate kind-of random sentences... It produces gibberish most of the time. Occasionally though, we are blessed with pure gold.
Professor Bekyel Working through a MATH 134 lecture. Setting up Work integrals is fun! The concept was a little odd to get used to, though. Oh, and I'm sure Professor Bekyel loves when I argue about proofs in class. Sarcasm unknown.
Part of a story that I read for CHIN 111. It's about two kids who want to fly to the heavens to witness the one day in the year that two folktale heroes get to meet each other. Pretty repetitive story, but great educational value. 🙂
Some of the code used to make this page right here! (Well, at least as of December 8, 2020.) Making the Honors Portfolio completely from scratch is obviously very time-consuming, but has great educational value!

Reflection

To be honest, I didn't have super high hopes for this first quarter of my college life. With everything being online, being stuck at home, I can hardly imagine worse circumstances for a first quarter of college.

If you think I'm about to say that all of my expectations were shattered, well, no. But for the most part, they were, at the very least, met. My initial assessment may have been a bit on the pessimistic side.

What expectations did I even have for such a seemingly bleak quarter? Well, I hoped to still be able to learn through online learning. I also expected that I would familiarize myself with the UW system and resources. Then I desired to make a few new friends and not be a so-called isolationist.

So, let's go through the list, shall we? Did I learn things? Well, yes, I did. I can speak Chinese a little better. I can math proofs [sic] better. I know more advanced data structures. Check. The basic requirements for a minimally successful quarter at a university have been met. That said, I would say that my overall academic performance leaves a little bit to be desired. That is, until I have to reprimand myself for being the perfectionist bug that I am. Really, I'm objectively doing well in all of my classes. But I'm that kind of kid (yes, I'm basically a kid) that cries over sub-90s. Chinese class has especially been rough in that department. However, I think I have grown a little in this aspect. After my second math midterm (which I got a "solid" 80% on; blame sillies), I realized that I wasn't going to get a 4.0 in MATH 134. I had to reconcile myself to that, and that I need to be easier on myself and not expect perfectionism. In some ways, getting a couple of 3.9's relieves me of the pressure of maintaining a perfect 4.0 later, which is probably good for my mental health.

What about becoming familiar with UW and university resources? Well, I do know how to access potential research or internship opportunities, via the fairs, cold letters, research labs, the Symposium, etcetera. This is particularly good because the one plan I had for the coming summer might unfortunately be falling through as a consequence of the pandemic. I have the ability to contact advisors for computer science and honors. And I now have a list of a few RSOs that I may consider joining post-pandemic. While this could certainly be better, all things considered, this is sufficient, thanks to those one credit seminars.

How am I in the friends department? Surprisingly good, to my pleasant surprise. Through the small Honors section and CSE 143 quiz section, a surprisingly tight-knit MATH 134 group (having a thriving Discord helps), conscious effort to join a CSE 143 study group, and some involvement in the UW Esports club, I can actually say I have a few friends and several aquaintances that I did not have before September. (Well, close as you can get without having ever met face to face.) And this is coming from someone who did not have a lot of good friends in high school. I suppose that it remains to be seen whether these friends will become "good" friends, but for now, check.

On the whole, this quarter has gone better than expected. So with one quarter of experience under my belt, what is reasonable to expect from myself in the future? Continued academic performance, even if it's not always up to a perfectionist standpoint. Then whenever in-person resumes, I want to get to know my professors better. I loved my high school teachers, and some of them I legitimately would call friends, having talked to them so much, not just about homework or even academics. That has been basically impossible with online learning. Also when in-person resumes, I hope I can convert some of my time to RSO time (looking at you, math team). And I hope I can solidify my friendships and have a solid friend group I can rely on through graduation.

Note to future self: if you're reading this, don't judge me for how wrong I inevitably will be. I'm a terrible fortune teller. Please send me a crystal ball so I can improve on this skill.

This webpage was made by me, Nelson Sun! You can contact me at nelsonys@uw.edu.