Welcome to my Interdisciplinary Honors Portfolio!
This website documents my journey through the University of Washington and the Interdisciplinary Honors Program, highlighting interdisciplinary learning moments throughout the years in quarterly artifacts. Scroll down to read my learning statement or navigate to other pages via the button below or menu at the top of the page!
Learning Statement
In my years as an undergraduate at the University of Washington, I have grown in so many unexpected ways that I don’t believe my senior high school self would recognize me. I’ve learned what I love to study and used it to solidify my commitment to becoming a socially-conscious physician. Interaction with countless different communities in both academic and social contexts helped me learn my place as both a mentor and a follower, and my (many) failures have served to fuel the immense sense of achievement I have from making it to where I am now. Although I don't have the space to include everything I did in college, I believe that my experience can be comprehensively summed up into four general themes:
With much of my starting college career being focused on finding what my academic passion was within classes, it was easy to see how synthesizing information became a core aspect of my education. In fact, what drew me into neuroscience and public health was that they were two of the most interdisciplinary topics that I could learn. Neuroscience has connections to every realm of study, stretching from computer science to psychology, and learning about how we perceive the world through our brain is what makes us, well, us. Public health provided a nuanced context in which I could view health from a community view rather than individual view in medicine. These are only just a few examples of the many interdsiciplinary topics that I discovered in college.
As I began to get more familiar in my classes, I began to find a place for leading in my college experience. While I love learning in class, I also wanted to take my own initiative to make an impact on other people's lives, whether it be outreach in my community or mentoring fellow undergraduates. Over time, I began to reaffirm that I had a true passion for teaching and education as I found fulfillment in taking on these positions in different contexts.
There were also many things that I did throughout college that I did primarily for the purpose of discovering things beyond my comfort zone, even if I wasn't explicitly leading them. From traveling to conferences to learning from mistakes in my independent research, I felt an unwavering desire to continue doing things that I felt passionate about. Much of this particular journey was also learning how to see past my mistakes, always working forwards and not backwards.
Lastly, I don't think it was until towards the end of college that I truly began to understand the importance of just living. That is, enjoying my life, even if it wasn't explicitly related to my academic passions. For me, this outlet was marching band, where I had the incredible opportunity to be a part of a community that I will feel a connection to for the rest of my life. Learning to live taught me valuable lessons of how to take care of myself, and also what it means to be a dedicated friend to others.
My portfolio is intended to be a collection of these four main themes, which you can explore by clicking any of the buttons at the top!
