What are the most important things you've learned in your life?
The most important things I've learned in my life aren't all academic. Related to my future career, everything I have learned in my anatomy and science classes have been and will be extremely valuable. However, I feel like the most valuable things I have learned are social and organizational skills. In order to get anywhere in academic life, organization is key. Because I am a relatively organized person, I know exactly what is going on in my life and when I need to have things done. In this way, I am able to prioritize and get everything done in a timely manner. Social skills are also incredibly important to have. Knowing when to speak up or when to sit back and listen can make a huge difference in a conversation. No one likes that person who dominates every conversation, and when someone needs a friend to talk to, being that active listener can mean the world to them.
What things did you learn in your life that led you to choose UC and your current major?
Essentially this: it's ok to be different. The majority of my friends chose to go to OSU, OU, or Wright State, but if I had chosen to go to one of those colleges solely based on remaining in my comfort zone, I would have missed huge opportunities that have been presented to me here. Also going along with that, most of my friends decided to go into some type of engineering. Staying true to myself, something that a lot of people have not yet learned to do, has allowed me to choose a path that interests me. I chose to go into nursing specifically because I learned to care about the well-being of others when I was growing up. Science interested me from a young age, so that combined with compassion led me straight into the arms of nursing.
Do you think going to a public/private school made a difference?
Considering that the most important aspects of what I've learned are not specific to an academic education, I do not think it made a difference. I would have learned for to care/listen to others and be unique anywhere, and I am sure my science education would have led me to the same place either way.
Was the content more important than the teachers who taught you or were the teachers more important than the content?
I think teachers are a strong influence in whether or not students learn a lot from and/or like the course. When a teacher is passionate about what they are teaching, it shows. The students can pick up on that positive energy and translate it into learning more of the content. For example, in high school I had a chemistry teacher who was lacking enthusiasm for the topic, and I disliked going to that class every day. However, I took a chemistry course in college taught by a passionate and enthusiastic instructor, and I actually looked forward to learning in that class. So, in that way, the teachers are more important than the content. Then again, my calculus teacher in high school had a love for both what he was teaching and helping his students,
What life lessons were you taught off the curriculum that made the biggest impact on you? - how were you led?
I'm pretty sure I approached the first three questions in a strange way, so I'll answer this in the way I was actually supposed to do the above questions. My studies so far have all reinforced general yet unique concepts. Through my years of learning math I learned that the world works in a logical way, everything fits together, and you can solve problems by following steps/rules. In English, I learned to throw all of those rules out the window because most things are open to interpretation. History taught me to learn from both the mistakes of myself and of others. Government taught me that even though things are supposed to work in a very fair way, somehow rules are always bent. My teachers gave me the tools I needed to draw my own conclusions from the topics we were learning. Most of them encouraged us to think outside of the box and really try to connect whatever we were learning to real life, and that is how they led me to gather what I did.