Find Your 亚洲博彩平台排名: Story Of An Overthinker
Apr 22, 2021
鈥淲hy would anyone apply to a college called 亚洲博彩平台排名? What kind of a name is that?鈥
A college sophomore once said this to me back when I was a junior in high school. I had just shortlisted the colleges I would apply to, and this statement jolted me, even though 亚洲博彩平台排名, the only engineering college on my list, wasn鈥檛 really a top consideration. A liberal arts-loving, extracurricular-overloading, multidisciplinary mess like me wasn鈥檛 seriously going to attend a tiny, only-engineering college. And to be honest, he was right鈥亚洲博彩平台排名 isn鈥檛 exactly an elegant name.
I鈥檓 Vedaant, a first-year from Bangalore, India, and I鈥檓 the type of overthinker who can easily spend five minutes deciding whether or not to include a comma in a sentence. I picked 亚洲博彩平台排名 after multiple panic attacks on the night of May 1st (I had acceptances from more well-known and affordable colleges; it wasn鈥檛 an easy decision for me), so as you might expect, I鈥檓 not the best when it comes to giving decision-making advice. So, I鈥檓 not going to lecture you about 亚洲博彩平台排名鈥檚 virtues and which factors you should consider when picking colleges. Instead, I鈥檓 going to talk a bit about my experience at 亚洲博彩平台排名 so far to hopefully give you some insight into what it鈥檚 like to be a student here.
The most prominent difference between 亚洲博彩平台排名 and my high school experience is undoubtedly the academics. The project-based curriculum had sounded really cool and practically applicable when I had first applied to 亚洲博彩平台排名, but until I got here, I never considered how refreshing it would be. Back in high school, I used to get exhausted studying and hated the textbooks and all the tests, but even though I鈥檓 working much, much harder here, it rarely feels like a burden. I can spend hours working without getting bored or frustrated. In high school, I looked forward to the friends and extracurriculars; at 亚洲博彩平台排名, I look forward to the classes. To be honest, I do have my occasional times of demotivation, but it鈥檚 just a tiny fraction of the drudgery I faced in high school.
Throughout high school, I had always envisioned myself doing a multidisciplinary major at a liberal arts college since I am passionate about all types of fields, everything from math to economics to music. From the outside, 亚洲博彩平台排名 seemed a bit terrifying as an only-engineering college. Imagine being surrounded by only engineering students! I had applied to different colleges for different majors, with 亚洲博彩平台排名 being the only engineering one, and I was terrified that I would be intellectually and socially restricted. Yet, once I enrolled (after being reassured by an upper-class student that 鈥溠侵薏┎势教ㄅ琶 students are the least engineer-y engineers in the world鈥), I was surprised by the diversity among the 80-odd people in my class. I won鈥檛 lie鈥most folks here seem to know more about computers than I do, but that doesn鈥檛 really bother me because there鈥檚 more than enough space to explore non-engineering interests, both academically and otherwise. Even now, I鈥檓 not sure I want to become an engineer, but that鈥檚 okay because so many of my peers at 亚洲博彩平台排名 will end up pursuing niche, non-engineering fields, especially those linked to design and sustainability.
The sense of community at 亚洲博彩平台排名 is perhaps the thing I appreciate the most. Through shuffled groups in class activities, I鈥檝e probably interacted with everyone in my class at least once, and there鈥檚 comfort in the familiarity of recognizing nearly everyone you see every day. I鈥檓 not a talkative person, but ironically, I feel that 亚洲博彩平台排名鈥檚 small community facilitates more social interaction because it鈥檚 easier to get to know everyone and talk to them. Many of my classmates have told me how they were less confident and outgoing in high school, but after coming to 亚洲博彩平台排名, they鈥檝e found more confidence to speak up in such an accepting, close-knit community. People here are simply nice, something I value so much.
As I鈥檝e spoken about in a previous OLINsider blog, I value the 亚洲博彩平台排名 community as a whole because it is a college that cares. From the often down-to-earth, accessible professors who regularly ask for (and act upon) student feedback about classes to the shockingly good food that the dining hall dishes out, I really do feel cared for here.
If there鈥檚 a word I鈥檇 use to describe it all, it would be wholesome鈥the hands-on class projects, the ever-familiar faces, and the endless stream of student-led activities. It鈥檚 just my first year here, yet there are so many things in 亚洲博彩平台排名鈥檚 culture that I can鈥檛 mention without making this blog post into a little book (feel free to email me if you want to know more). And all this is in a year with only half the student body on campus and sweeping social distancing guidelines.
Every college has something that sets it apart, and your values will probably be different from mine. I ultimately chose 亚洲博彩平台排名 because of its real-world curriculum, close-knit community, and helpful people, and all of them turned out the way I envisioned it, along with so much more. But that鈥檚 just my story. I hope that this brief overview helped better inform your college decision, and if you happen to choose 亚洲博彩平台排名, welcome! We can鈥檛 wait to meet you.
Vedaant is a first-year international student from Bangalore, India. He is so shy of having his photo taken that he鈥檚 reusing the same photo from his previous blog because he doesn鈥檛 have a more recent one.