This is my schedule for Spring Quarter. Ignoring my Chemistry Lab, I had an amazing schedule. Starting 10:30 was great (did some homework and review before classes), and ending by 2 was fantastic. This gave me plenty of time to do homework and participate in extracurriculares. This is 18 credits with three credits being an Independent Study through the Disability Studies program, which isn't scheduled. 

Overall I had a fantastic quarter and year and will hopefully have a schedule like this more!

I took this Education class for my Disability Studies Major. The name of the class is "What is the Purpose of Public Schools in a Democracy?" and this essay is my final reflection on what I believe is the purpose of Public Schools in a Democracy. I reflected on many of the readings and themes of the course as well as my own education. This course fits the Honors Interdisciplinary department very well with opportunities to reflect about my own privilege and education motivation. The professors for this class were fantastic, very engaged and enthusiastic. The other students were motivated and encouraged me to participate frequently. I loved the environment of this class and the constant student participation that was fostered, ideas that I will take in my future of educating others. I don't have a single bad thing to say about this class, I genuinely found this class to be one of the best classes that I have taken all year and would recommend it to any. 

Attached is my artifact for this class where you can read my entire essay. 

During my first quarter at UW, I took the Introduction to Disability Studies class taught by Heather Evans. I am very passionate about working with people with intellectual disabilities and have been doing projects in my Olympia community expand inclusion and friendships for people with and without disabilities. During the summer of 2019, I launched a summer camp for people with and without disabilities (see my project on the Special Olympics Website here). This project really motivated me to continue with creating year-round opportunities for engagement between people with and without intellectual disabilities which has lead to me launching a nonprofit called Thurston County Inclusion. I asked the Disability Studies adviser if it was possible to get credit for doing the paperwork related to starting a nonprofit and so I did an Independent Study, DIS ST 499 with Heather Evans as the professor leading it. 

Doing an Independent Study set aside time for me to devote to the nonprofit and truly helped me to connect my thoughts on what I want the nonprofit to look like. Professor Evans also really encouraged me to apply for the Harlan Hahn Grant in the Disability Studies Program which funds projects related to Disability. I applied and won the grant that is funding the entire start-up process/fees for the nonprofit (announcement here). 

Doing an Independent Study in Disability Studies really helped me to devote time to field work and involvement outside the classroom. This was a highlight of my year and I could talk forever about this quarter and my nonprofit. 

Spanish 301 was a challenge for me this quarter and I didn't do as well as I would have liked. However I thoroughly enjoyed the class as a whole, the people, professor and activities. We got the opportunity to talk weekly with students from the University of Mexico and this really helped my Spanish conversation skills. I think that I could have worked harder on small details this quarter, but I am still pleased with my Spanish skills and look forward to using them again in the future. 

Chemistry 162 was a challenge as well this quarter and I think that it may be from being a little over confident from doing well the two previous quarters. I didn't do great the first or third exam. Some part of this was not doing "amazing" in Chemistry 152 and I was discouraged at the beginning of the quarter. The flip side of this is that I am now remotivated and reminded of the hard work that goes into doing really well in science courses. I would like to go to Medical School, so I need to do a bit better in order to give me self an even better chance of getting in. Being a volunteer at a hospital is also helping to motivate me to work really hard this coming year.