Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - September/October 2015 - (Page 40)

one step ahead Be Fearless by Rashika Verma Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - H. Jackson Brown After I graduated from high school, I reflected back on my high school experience. I realized that even though I wanted to become a doctor, my best memories from high school weren't all science related. My favorite classes had been International Business and AP Literature, and my proudest achievement had been publishing a research paper with my classmates on the economics of ecological restoration. As I looked forward to starting college at Emory, I knew I wanted my academic experience to include more than just math and science classes. I wanted to take courses in different disciplines, gain new perspectives, and meet interesting people. When I arrived on campus, I got hundreds of messages and flyers about the best activities to get involved in and the best classes to take freshman year. I was torn between joining all these clubs and focusing on my classes. To get a better idea of what college would actually be like, I started talking to the sophomores in my classes and seeing my professors during office hours. They all helped me realize that while it was important to focus on grades, college is about so much more. I decided to experience it as fully as possible. I dove in. In just one year, I participated in a reenactment of the French Revolution, investigated promising leads in breast cancer research, and met truly engaging thinkers, such as poet Anis Mojgani and CDC Director Dr. Rana Hajjeh. I took classes ranging from Differential Equations to Medieval English Literature, and, outside of academics, got involved in organizations such as TEDxEmory and the campus newspaper, The Emory Wheel. In class, I often saw surprising connections between my work in different areas. My final paper for Sociology on the development of gender inequality helped me understand the social atmosphere of The Canterbury Tales in my English class. The complex math problems I learned in Differential Equations helped me gain a better grasp of kinetics in Chemistry. And the confidence I gained from leading discussions in French class helped me earn leadership positions on campus. I started to see that learning isn't necessarily divided into neat little boxes. In a sense, I had started to grow in all directions; I was smarter, sure, but I had also become a better public speaker, gained more self-confidence, and learned to take initiative to get the things I wanted. 40 imagine Some of my best experiences were outside the classroom, doing things that were new and outside of my comfort zone. TEDxEmory, an independently organized TED conference held annually at Emory, was one that stood out to me at the college club fair. As a member, I had to learn the details of event planning, marketing, and leadership to help the team put on a successful conference. I had never done anything like it before, but I learned to listen and to ask for help when I needed it. Beyond the skills I gained, TEDxEmory introduced me to some of my closest friends and gave me some of my best memories of freshman year. So the one piece of advice I want to give to anybody going to college (or considering it) is this: Be fearless. Before you step out of those university gates with a diploma, make sure you've learned something about the world beyond your major. Take some classes that just sound intriguing in your course catalog, and try new things outside the classroom, too. Join a cultural club or the a capella group just for fun. College will show you that there are many roads leading from here to there. And while the straight path might seem the easiest, it's the others that hold the opportunities to grow in many directions, directions you'll value no matter the final destination. n Rashika Verma is a sophomore at Emory University, where she is majoring in anthropology and human biology. When not in class, she spends most of her time participating in sociology research investigating food deserts, working as a volunteer activities coordinator, and watching TED talks. Sept/Oct 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - September/October 2015

Circuit Training Electrical Engineering at CTY
Turning Brainwaves into Action Meet ARTIE, the robot activated by thoughts
Robotics in the Real World How robots are helping us explore space, overcome disability, and so much more
My First FIRST The climbing robot that taught me to aim high
Adventures in Botball
So Much Fun, It’s Inhuman Destroying the competition in combat robotics
Born to Build The making of an engineer
The Engineering Summer Academy at Penn Three weeks that launched my future
Music in the Woods Six weeks at Tanglewood
Big Picture
In My Own Words Daniel H. Wilson, author of Robopocalypse and Robogenesis
Selected Opportunities and Resources
Off the Shelf Review of Obert Sky’s Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo
Word Wise
Exploring Career Options Interview with NASA robotics engineer Jaakko Karras
One Step Ahead Be fearless
Planning Ahead for College Express lessons in financial aid
Students Review Dartmouth College
Creative Minds Imagine Poetry contest winners
Mark Your Calendar
Knossos Games

Imagine Magazine - Johns Hopkins - September/October 2015