Unfiltered: Fall 2021

In “Unfiltered,” we ask several students from the Class of 2023 five simple questions—over and over, each semester until they graduate. Junior year marks a time of transition. Many students move off-campus for the first time—encountering utility bills, grocery shopping, and cooking. This semester, our juniors explored their creative side with fun classes and gained insights into the importance of sleep and self-kindness. Here’s what they have to say this fall: 

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Ross Relic
Crystal Lake, Ill.

What class are you most excited about right now?

This is a first for me: the class I’m most excited about isn’t a physics class! *gasp* This time it’s Composition, which is a music class. Writing music is really difficult for me and it takes a very long time, but it is worth it. I’m really enjoying the process of learning how to write many different kinds of music.

What’s one recent triumph (large or small!)?

This semester I don’t have a meal plan, so I’ve been cooking a lot of my own meals. I really feel like I’ve been getting good at cooking, which is nice!

What have you learned lately?

How important it is to be kind to yourself even when you feel like you can’t do basic things that you feel like you should be able to do. If I’ve failed to meet my own expectations, no matter how small, I’ve stopped repeating to myself how terrible it was that I failed to do said thing and how “stupid” or “dumb” I am for letting it happen again. Being hard on yourself like that isn’t motivating and serves no purpose. Not only do you deserve to be kind to yourself even when you feel like you’re failing yourself and other people, but those are actually the moments when it’s most important to be kind to yourself. Self-kindness shouldn’t be conditional on success.

What do you wish you would’ve known six months ago?

This semester, I’ve been keeping an extremely detailed Google Calendar of exactly what I have planned for every day and when I’m doing it, and it has helped me organize myself a lot. As a result, I’ve actually caught a few conflicts long in advance and was able to fix them, which I wouldn’t have caught before. I wish I knew six months ago how helpful keeping a detailed calendar is for me so I could start doing that earlier.

What’s one thing you want to do in the next six months?

I really want to significantly improve my sleep schedule over the next six months. So . . . wish me luck!

 

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Carter Rutherford

Alexandria, Va., and Santiago, Chile

What class are you most excited about right now?
Photography 1 with Pao Houa Her! I’ve always wanted to properly learn how to use a camera, and I am finally doing that in a very fun, not stressful environment.

What’s one recent triumph (large or small!)?
I’ve been planning Winter Ball this year. Making the event happen during a pandemic has been a major triumph.

What have you learned lately?
I’ve learned a lot about statistical modeling—turns out I really love stats!

What do you wish you would’ve known six months ago?
I wish I would have known how time consuming it is to live off-campus. Paying rent and utility bills, getting groceries, turning on the heat, and cleaning the house take a lot of work!

What’s one thing you want to do in the next six months?

I hope to find an interesting and exciting internship or job for the summer.

 

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Hannah Scharrer

Tacoma, Wash.

What class are you most excited about right now?
It’s not an academic class, but I’m taking a one-credit salsa dance class that is super fun!

What’s one recent triumph (large or small!)?
I just finished my midterms!

What have you learned lately?
I’ve learned that I love my on-campus job! I’m a peer writing tutor, and it is so rewarding to get to talk about writing with students in person.

What do you wish you would’ve known six months ago?
I wish I would have realized how fast college is moving; I am planning on studying abroad in the spring, and when I get back, I will be a senior!

What’s one thing you want to do in the next six months?
I can’t wait until the weather gets cold enough to go ice skating!

 

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Sivali Bhandary
Kathmandu, Nepal

What class are you most excited about right now?
My Cognitive Neuroscience class is really cool. I love the content we learn and the energy that my professor brings into it is truly exciting!

What’s one recent triumph (large or small!)?
I had been putting off laundry for a while—got multiple loads of it done over fall break.

What have you learned lately?
I keep relearning this, but SLEEP IS SO IMPORTANT. It’s easy to let go of it, but I definitely feel like a zombie during my poor sleep phases.

What do you wish you would’ve known six months ago?

That there are so many cute cafés in the Twin Cities beyond the ones in my immediate vicinity. I love getting off campus to get school work done, and cafés definitely help boost my productivity.

What’s one thing you want to do in the next six months?

I want to visit a city in the U.S. that I haven’t already.

 

• Read the first installment Fall 2019

• Read the second installment Spring 2020 

• Read the third installment Fall 2020 

• Read the fourth installment Spring 2021