Gabe Robison

11/25/19

Autumn Reflection:
Preface
Overall, I am fairly proud of my autumn quarter. I came in overwhelmed by the drastic change in
lifestyle and didn’t know how I would handle it. However, I managed to work out my schedule without
overloading myself and I enjoyed the classes I took. While Math 134 was hard to adjust to due to its
theory over calculation approach, I’ve learned more about the relationships between different fields of
mathematics and how they work. I am, however, disappointed with my second midterm score. While my
busy schedule and procrastination put me a few days behind when I wanted to begin intensive studying, I
am proud of my work ethic. Unfortunately, I fell for a trick problem that dropped my score to 66 instead
of an approximately average 82. While getting a lower grade will be disappointing and a new experience,
I plan to take steps to prevent this in the future. While I initially found my Honors 100 and Engineering
101 classes tedious, I’ve gained valuable insight on how to approach the rest of college. Outside of
classes, my time in Husky Drumline has been invaluable for helping me integrate into the community and
build relationships.

Questions
When I started this quarter, my goals were to make new friends, develop my passions so I can
continue them throughout my life and to use honors classes to help me find the one thing that really clicks
with me. I’ve met my first goal, primarily through drumline and the awesome community that gets along
so well. As I’ve acclimated and become more comfortable, I’ve interacted more with students on my
floor: Terry 3. While my busy schedule, thanks to band, has limited my opportunities to spend time going
out with my new friends, I foresee being able to do so more easily in winter quarter. The underlying
reason for these goals of wanting to help find a clear path through university doesn’t feel as strictly
necessary, alleviating much of my worry. Going into winter quarter, my new goals are: to reach out to my
new friends and continue to grow more comfortable with groups and the often raucous social scenes that
college is known for, utilize office hours and TA’s to practice overcoming my fear of asking for help
(especially in my advanced math classes) and to keep organizing my time to become even more
productive. Overall, my goals have shifted from attempting the impossible task of planning out my whole
college plan, to more short-term goals. This should help me live in the present and relieve substantial
stress.
One thing that has surprised me in Honors is how comfortable I can be speaking up and being one
of the more active voices in the classroom. My Honors 100 section definitely leans introverted, but I’ve
found myself trending towards being one of the most active participants and helping to start conversations
when nobody else wants to answer. This isn’t like me, and while I certainly attribute this success to the
small class size and being in the company of fellow introverts it nonetheless has helped raise my
confidence in social situations. I want to remember this confidence and use it to put myself out more by
spending more time in my floor lounge and actively seeking plans with my floormates, whom I typically
only talk to when we happen to cross paths.
 A major focus I will adopt for winter quarter is to develop my confidence using UW resources.
Traditionally, academics have been my forte and I simply haven’t needed to ask for virtually any help.
Math 134 has definitely proven challenging and while I am adapting quite well, I can tell that using office
hours and flat-out asking my professor and TA for help when I need it will make me all the more
successful. Now that I’ve had a quarter to feel less like a stranger and an actual UW student, as well as to
help replenish my social circle from the damages that splitting off for college inflicted, I feel much more
confident in seeking help. Additionally, my schedule should allow me to attend office hours more
frequently which will further help me with this task. My strategy will be spend more time digesting my
notes and doing homework earlier in the week so I can pinpoint my exact struggles so that going in for
help feels less like asking for a re-explanation and instead for a clarification, which carries less stigma.

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