My Capstone Essay

In spring of 2024, I had signed up for BIMD 250 as it piqued my interest and I needed an extra class to be full time. The class focused on group work, so we would be partnered up with people randomly and for the rest of the quarter working on our final project together. This was fine as it wasn’t my first group project in college. As the class picked up we were required to work outside of class together, outside group calls, staying after class to work on the same portion. This was a first for me because normally we would divide the work and then each group member would work on their own portion. However the way the class was structured was, we were all assigned the same assignment and had to come together to discuss our findings on what worked for our assignment, what we liked best, and how we could move forward together. Every single step of the way, our group was on the same page. This group project showed me the difference between a standard group project and true collaboration which was the most significant impact on my development as it taught me how to truly work together with others rather than how to figure out how to divide work among people. Prior I was learning how to take a leadership role dividing tasks, now, I am learning how to work as a team.

Prior to college I attended a college prep high school. My problem-solving, critical thinking, and communication skills were shaped fairly well because of my experiences, however my time in college pushed these skills, evolving them significantly, refining them. In the beginning I would attempt to solve problems in an AP format, just “answer the prompt.” Overtime in college, classes asked me not what the text said, but rather what I understood from the text and how I could use it in the real world. I was stunned, confused, on how I could use information I gained from the texts in real world examples, so this forced me to take a step back and think about why I’m learning what I’m learning, how it benefits myself or others. For example in BISPSY 350 Intergroup Relations, I learned the psychology behind different groups, why they conflict, how they can come together as one, how our identities may impact how we interact with others. Instead of doing work just to complete an assignment and receive a grade, this course pushed my learning and taught me how to apply the concepts I learned in class to begin to come up with a solution for modern conflicts. Like my problem-solving skills, my critical thinking skills evolved during college. In BIS 490, an advanced seminar class, we were taught to expand our thinking, taking a step back and examining something for what it truly is. In this course I took a step back and examined the difference between a general medical doctor and a psychiatrist in prescribing antidepressants and found that their practices were vastly different despite both having a medical degree. In this assignment I measured the reasons they were different, and possible solutions on closing the gap allowing for improved general prescribing practices that would replace a general medical doctor’s trial and error antidepressant prescription practice. My communication skill has been my most important skill that I have developed and refined in college. In the beginning it was difficult for me to convey my thoughts clearly, to speak up in collaborative settings, and even to talk to my own professor when I was confused. Despite these struggles, through mistake after mistake I learned to rely on others and ask, being open to communication, struggling for a bit and then asking for help instead of struggling and staying confused. In BIS 490, our project required us to think outside of the box and that concept was completely foreign to me. It required meeting after meeting with my professor, constantly asking my peers for feedback, if my ideas made sense to them, and in the end my project took turns I never expected it to take because of the experience I gained communicating with the people around me rather than believing I had things right. Overall, these 3 skills were the most important to me that I especially noticed being developed during my undergraduate experience that not only helped me in academic settings, but will also further help me in professional settings.

During my undergraduate experience, I have been through countless moments that required me to adapt quickly to uncertain moments. I have had moments where I was suddenly down 1-2 group members in a group project, moments where it felt as if the professor teaching the course was expecting so much so soon, uneven pacing to an assignment that the class wasn’t ready for. While I wish I could say I navigated through these issues with ease, rather than getting through it with the best grade, I got through these moments with the best lessons learned. From these experiences I learned the importance of being flexible in my schedule to give myself more time to work on a project. I learned the importance of communicating effectively so when something unexpected happens I can communicate with others on how we can move forward as a team. And lastly, while I don’t hope for more unexpected events, I do embrace the concept that these unexpected events are the experiences where I have the opportunity to grow the most as a person. My undergraduate experience has prepared me to face the future with confidence, adaptability, and a constant learning mindset.

With the knowledge and abilities I’ve developed during my undergraduate education, I am able to dive into problems with confidence I can overcome the obstacles that may come up. I believe that the most difficult part of tackling an obstacle is the fear of failure but with my experiences during my undergraduate education I have learned to embrace that failure as an experience. Now what I’m afraid of isn’t the chance that I may fail, my fear is that I won’t get the chance TO fail. In the beginning I was fairly shy, would sit at the back and provide bare minimum for a decent grade. As I prepare for my departure from college, I have learned to treat everything and anything as an opportunity to learn and grow, to allow myself to fall and learn from my mistakes has been the most important lesson I learned in college. Moving forward into the future, whether it be in my career or my personal life, I plan to always be a student, having the mindset and drive to always be learning as I go along in life.

Reflecting on my undergraduate education as a whole made me realize that my journey to who I am now was a thorny path. The obstacles I faced were difficult and many times I questioned if maybe I wasn’t cut out to handle the difficulties I was faced with. What started as a way to please my family ended up being such a transformative experience that allowed me to build confidence not because the road in front of me is clear and easy, but because the road behind me was filled with obstacles trying to stop me. Each turn in that road was a difficult decision, whether or not I wanted to pursue one major to please my family or start to pave my own path to learn what I want to learn. In the end I chose to pursue what meant the most to me. Looking back on my undergraduate education, I see now that every obstacle that tried to stop me has shaped me into this resilient, constantly evolving, adapting person. The lessons I learned far extend past my academics. I know that the road ahead will be filled with more thorns but I walk this road knowing that I have the strength to overcome any obstacles.