My first year, I was fixated on grades; solely focused on my five classes, I became incredibly preoccupied with getting to class, getting back and trying my hardest to stay afloat when buried under piles of homework. A reality check came with the spring season, when I began hearing everyone around me freak out about summer internships. I felt as if I should be freaking out as well, but in reality, I hadn’t even contemplated applying to a summer internship… Suddenly, I was franticly applying to last minute internships, holed up in the CP&R office for hours trying to cram create a resume, cover letter and online career profiles. In all honestly, I had no idea what the word cover letter even was until the moment I stepped into the CP&R office. Needless to say, I was overwhelmed.
Yes Kim, I know the feeling.
Having only focused on my schoolwork the past year, I didn’t have many recent activities and extracurriculars to rely on for my applications. Luckily, I was able to land a great internship with a world-renowned museum, but I credit that opportunity to being an over-achiever in high school and having those experiences to back me up. From that experience, I shockingly realized that I needed to expand my horizons on campus. The following week, I applied to be a peer mentor for my sophomore year and received the position!
We can only go up from here…..
As sophomore year rolled around, right away I started off the year with an increased on-campus presence. As a peer mentor, I learned the ins-and-outs of campus life and the resources available at the 5Cs. As a result, I was able to take advantage of the different resources available to me and be a more present leader on campus. Immediately, I became more involved in areas I was passionate about. For example, I became involved in the Scripps Student Art Collective, taking a leadership role within the club to organize different events, specifically fundraising events that were a huge success and novel to the club. I also became involved in a 5C Art Club, expanding my reach further than just in the Scripps circle. Right away, I felt much more at home with my community, which made my sophomore year that much better.
Soon after, I discovered the Holy Grail: ClaremontConnect. After trolling ClaremontConnect for many days and countless hours, I was able to get an on-campus job as a French tutor and on-campus internship at the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery. My wonderful experience with both jobs not only allowed me to become well acquainted with the Art History Department and introduced me to the Deans, but I was buffing up my resume whilst taking classes. Ameliorating my resume while on campus throughout the year was invaluable to my applications for a summer internship later on in my sophomore year.
Yet, this was a total 180 for me. Moving from a stressful freshmen year with one focus (grades!!) to a multi-faceted student experience, involving clubs, jobs and leadership roles, I felt like a different person. Putting aside my obsession with grades and learning to experience everything life as a student has to offer, I not only became much happier and balanced, but learned about my passions and my strengths. I found that in the end, it was not as hard to balance my workload with outside activities as it provided me a much needed balance and schedule. Anyone who knows Professor Thomas Kim will recognize the following advice he consistently pounds into his students’ heads: Getting straight A’s in college is useless (unless you’re moving towards a specialty). For the rest of us, the connections we make and experiences we have which will define us and aid us in the future are exponentially more valuable and important. Although this was a tough wake-up call for me, I learned to fully embrace this message and implement it into my everyday life at Scripps.