GROW
Phew this year flew by! Yet somehow, at the same time, so much happened that it felt like it didn’t. This year was one for new experiences and I looked forward to greeting them with open arms. As is my usual way of setting themes for my year-in-reviews, this year was titled “Grow”.
Starting off in the fall, I stayed in Cincinnati to return to my previous co-op at Emery Oleochemicals for my second rotation. I did this for many reasons. The primary reason would have to be how amazing my job at Emery was and all the useful skills I acquired. My co-workers and supervisor became people I looked up to for insight on a daily basis and formed closer bonds with outside of just being the “seasonal co-op”. Additionally, I was given a lot more responsibility than when I first got there, leading various projects and procedures while applying new concepts I learned on a daily basis. The other reason I enjoyed staying was how much the city of Cincinnati and UC meant to me as a city, university and a new home. This university and the friends I’ve made here have been some of the most important things to ever happen in my life and this fall semester really brought that to light. Being able to be on co-op and still attend football games, go to homecoming, be involved on campus and with the honors program and, most importantly, get to be with my closest friends made me feel no regrets for staying.
Spring rolled around quickly and just like that I was back in classes. It had just started dawning on me that the era of easy classes was over, and these would be the classes that were going to test my mechanical engineering grit. Regardless, I was excited to see what these classes were going to offer me. In addition to them, I was taking an Honors class titled “The Rome Experience – Art, Architecture and Engineering in Ancient Rome” with a study abroad element at the end of the spring semester. Outside of my classes, I served as a Peer Leader for the Learning Commons for the second semester, started my first semester as a ROAR guide and served as the Finance Chair for the Elections Facilitation Committee. My second experience as a Peer Leader was challenging and that same time extremely rewarding. It was the first time I had a class of non-mechanical engineering students, which seemed like a daunting task at first. However, I began to discover how small of a hurdle this would be and how our class would grow to be reliant and supportive in our brief time together. Student Government Election season is always a favorite time of mine and I never miss an opportunity to preach the importance of civic engagement and responsibility through EFC. This was also my first semester as a ROAR tour guide. I had been putting this off since freshman year and this year I finally committed to finishing the application and by the, end of Spring, became a fully certified guide. Becoming a ROAR guide meant a lot to me as I had begun realizing how much I owed to UC for becoming my new home and how I wanted to share that story to hundreds of other potential students who could feel the same happiness I discovered here. Overall, despite the sleepless nights buried in front of a laptop working on final projects, or the countless hours studying for exams or even the crushing defeat of our intramural soccer team, the great memories I collected will be forever cherished. The only appropriate way to cap off this incredible semester was with a 9-day trip to Rome for my study abroad trip. Rome and Naples showed me the importance of stepping out of my comfort zone and discovering the incredible culture surrounding Italy. Without spoiling things too much, I detailed the rest of this experience in my reflection on this website!
So where am I right now? Well, I chose to co-op outside of Cincinnati for the first time in my time at UC. About 4000 miles away to be more specific. This summer I accepted a research internship at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital through Imperial College working on areas such as soft robotics, pneumatics and 3D design. In my brief 10 days here, I’ve already learned so much relating to my major and I’m excited to find out what I will learn. However, the more exciting about all this is the fact that I am in LONDON. How wild is that? This city has already impressed me so much and the experiences I’ve had in the brief time I’ve been here and can’t wait to see what else this city and the UK has to offer me. Personally, this honors experience means a lot to me and discovering more about my comfort zone and how to expand it. For the first time in my collegiate career, I’m away from Cincinnati. Now this may not seem like much considering I moved 9000 miles from Sri Lanka to get there, but I never left. Through my last two and a half years there, I remained fixed in Cincinnati, growing my roots there. Voyaging London, a foreign city with foreign culture, will top the list of intimidating things I’ve done. Yet, on my arrival here, this fear started to fade. Despite the massive differences in culture and attitude, I was able to adapt seamlessly, with virtually no feeling of homesickness. This told me a lot about by adaptability to different scenarios and gave me new confidence to explore this adaptability; to test my limits and teach me how to not let fear of the unknown control my actions.
This year has taught me a lot and I expect it to teach me so much more during my time in the UK. My third year has had its ebbs and flows but I thankfully have no regrets. Is the fear of impending graduation and the real world keeping me up at night? Maybe. However, that’s not going to stop me from making the most of my time here at UC.
Starting off in the fall, I stayed in Cincinnati to return to my previous co-op at Emery Oleochemicals for my second rotation. I did this for many reasons. The primary reason would have to be how amazing my job at Emery was and all the useful skills I acquired. My co-workers and supervisor became people I looked up to for insight on a daily basis and formed closer bonds with outside of just being the “seasonal co-op”. Additionally, I was given a lot more responsibility than when I first got there, leading various projects and procedures while applying new concepts I learned on a daily basis. The other reason I enjoyed staying was how much the city of Cincinnati and UC meant to me as a city, university and a new home. This university and the friends I’ve made here have been some of the most important things to ever happen in my life and this fall semester really brought that to light. Being able to be on co-op and still attend football games, go to homecoming, be involved on campus and with the honors program and, most importantly, get to be with my closest friends made me feel no regrets for staying.
Spring rolled around quickly and just like that I was back in classes. It had just started dawning on me that the era of easy classes was over, and these would be the classes that were going to test my mechanical engineering grit. Regardless, I was excited to see what these classes were going to offer me. In addition to them, I was taking an Honors class titled “The Rome Experience – Art, Architecture and Engineering in Ancient Rome” with a study abroad element at the end of the spring semester. Outside of my classes, I served as a Peer Leader for the Learning Commons for the second semester, started my first semester as a ROAR guide and served as the Finance Chair for the Elections Facilitation Committee. My second experience as a Peer Leader was challenging and that same time extremely rewarding. It was the first time I had a class of non-mechanical engineering students, which seemed like a daunting task at first. However, I began to discover how small of a hurdle this would be and how our class would grow to be reliant and supportive in our brief time together. Student Government Election season is always a favorite time of mine and I never miss an opportunity to preach the importance of civic engagement and responsibility through EFC. This was also my first semester as a ROAR tour guide. I had been putting this off since freshman year and this year I finally committed to finishing the application and by the, end of Spring, became a fully certified guide. Becoming a ROAR guide meant a lot to me as I had begun realizing how much I owed to UC for becoming my new home and how I wanted to share that story to hundreds of other potential students who could feel the same happiness I discovered here. Overall, despite the sleepless nights buried in front of a laptop working on final projects, or the countless hours studying for exams or even the crushing defeat of our intramural soccer team, the great memories I collected will be forever cherished. The only appropriate way to cap off this incredible semester was with a 9-day trip to Rome for my study abroad trip. Rome and Naples showed me the importance of stepping out of my comfort zone and discovering the incredible culture surrounding Italy. Without spoiling things too much, I detailed the rest of this experience in my reflection on this website!
So where am I right now? Well, I chose to co-op outside of Cincinnati for the first time in my time at UC. About 4000 miles away to be more specific. This summer I accepted a research internship at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital through Imperial College working on areas such as soft robotics, pneumatics and 3D design. In my brief 10 days here, I’ve already learned so much relating to my major and I’m excited to find out what I will learn. However, the more exciting about all this is the fact that I am in LONDON. How wild is that? This city has already impressed me so much and the experiences I’ve had in the brief time I’ve been here and can’t wait to see what else this city and the UK has to offer me. Personally, this honors experience means a lot to me and discovering more about my comfort zone and how to expand it. For the first time in my collegiate career, I’m away from Cincinnati. Now this may not seem like much considering I moved 9000 miles from Sri Lanka to get there, but I never left. Through my last two and a half years there, I remained fixed in Cincinnati, growing my roots there. Voyaging London, a foreign city with foreign culture, will top the list of intimidating things I’ve done. Yet, on my arrival here, this fear started to fade. Despite the massive differences in culture and attitude, I was able to adapt seamlessly, with virtually no feeling of homesickness. This told me a lot about by adaptability to different scenarios and gave me new confidence to explore this adaptability; to test my limits and teach me how to not let fear of the unknown control my actions.
This year has taught me a lot and I expect it to teach me so much more during my time in the UK. My third year has had its ebbs and flows but I thankfully have no regrets. Is the fear of impending graduation and the real world keeping me up at night? Maybe. However, that’s not going to stop me from making the most of my time here at UC.