I also can completely relate to this. I even went around telling people that I wanted to go to law school, just like the author here. In my defense, I definitely had an interest in law school, although the real reason I was saying it was because due to my high achieving history before college it seemed like something 'prestigious' enough that people would expect to hear it. Instead I am now following my real passion, in the world of astrophysics.

To me, this is what the general education program is really about. We begin our educational journeys by being exposed to all sorts of courses and concepts that span across several fields of study. We can then choose what seems most interesting to pursue, only to reach the next milestone where only more and more options are presented to us. This is a huge part of being a lifelong learner.

I find this to be incredibly insightful. Just because someone has done something intimidating once does not mean that it will get any less intimidating the second or third time. Pushing through this adversity is simply part of being human and essential to fulfilling one's life.

I believe that as humans this is something that we experience through a multitude of facets that do not require us to explore cultures abroad. I spent my childhood moving around the United States, and have experienced enough community shifts that I would be just fine in settling down after my college career for a few years of peace. The idea of seeing the other side of the white picket fence is certainly insightful, but should be kept in moderation.

I find this statement to be fascinating. I know that the ePortfolio will present itself as an archive of our educational career rather than our private and public experiences, yet I still feel as though this statement speaks to the importance of the ePortfolio and how it will aid us in the future.

I find this to be perhaps the most important lesson from this article. A growth mindset will allow is to turn failure into learning opportunities in any and all areas of life, something that can completely reinvent a negatively minded person.

I believe that this is an incredibly insightful part of this article. Perspective can completely change the way that someone develops their educational career. I know that I have many times responded to feedback with justification rather than slowing down and actually reviewing the feedback and analyzing my own work.

I particularly appreciate this statement. For me, it often feels as though I am firmly locked into my major. I fear that if I lose interest in my studies at this point, I will just think 'Well I've gone this far' and keep pushing through. But in reality, there is always time to change focus and still end up doing something that I truly love to do.

I find this statement incredibly insightful. One often measures their educational career as a series of final projects or exams all leading to various distinctions or certificates. However the true learning comes from the little moments in between, and can sometimes occur in the most surprising of assignments.

I believe that this statement has a huge application in all of our educational careers. No matter what we are studying, we will learn valuable skills that will likely bleed into other areas of study as well. This allows a huge amount of versatility when it comes to deciding what and when to study.

I greatly appreciate this statement, as I know that there were certain courses that I took that while I took them felt as though they would not help me in the future, but actually provided certain skills that I did not know that I needed. For example the Architecture course I took seemed tedious, but taught me how to effectively participate in an asynchronous online course.

I greatly appreciate this statement, as I am having a little trouble appreciating the value of the ePortfolio at this moment. However I understand that in 5 years looking back at the ePortfolio will have a completely different feeling attached to it.

I find this concept fascinating. It is very prevalent how certain skills can translate across several fields of study. I am already seeing this in my relatively short academic career. The writing skills learned in English courses are heavily paying off in my Physics courses in the form of writing lab reports.

In my independents research and experience out of country, the sense of individuality is much more important in the United States than in other countries. I find this to be highly insightful and representative of our nations raucous history. I wonder how other countries view the 'American' thirst for individuality, and how it impacts those that move from the United States to these other countries.

The sheer diversity of the University of Arizona is something that I find fascinating. Finding and meeting those from all around the globe is highly illuminating in many regards. If there is one thing I have learned, its that almost everyone else is just as apprehensive as I am to reach out and meet new people in the melting pot that the university provides. This gives me confidence to reach out myself, and it is hardly ever received negatively.

The art of searching is something that I believe should be taught sooner than it already is. I greatly struggled in finding good sources for projects and essays my first year at UA because throughout most of high school, the sources or requirements for sources were given in intensive detail for each assignment. I had to do a lot of trial and error to be able to find suitable and prevalent sources for much of my first projects here.

This is something I frequently find myself inherently doing. I often find myself crafting responses long before whomever I am speaking to finishes their thought, meaning that my response often does not actually pertain to their whole thought but rather just the first part of it. Not doing this will likely not be something that is simply learned but something that I, and others like me, will have to keep working on forever.

I find this to be an excellent and insightful piece of information for students. Not only is it applicable to academic writing, but it is an important concept in all forms of communication. When addressing any group, it is always the necessity that the least informed of that group understands, and therefore that should be where the baseline is placed for the complexity of the writing or speaking.

I could not have had a more opposite upbringing as the author as I spent my life moving around every 2 to 3 years. My friends and family all told me that this versatility meant that I would find it easier to incorporate myself at the University of Arizona, and I therefore would not have so much of the lost feeling. This is absolutely untrue however, and I found myself feeling just as lost and intimidated as almost everyone else my first year.

Understanding and productively applying metacognition is an incredibly tricky thing. Though it is mainly applied through academics it is an important skill that bleeds into all areas of one's life. I feel that this is a skill that cannot be simply learned but must be gently reinforced throughout the entirety of one's life.

I appreciate how this chapter inherently outlines how items that seem used or spent can still aid us as we move on and continue our journey. I find this to be an important lesson that is highly relevant for those of us that have many years left in our educational careers.

Reflecting on past courses is always an insightful task for students, as there are often skills or information learned from a certain class that are not revealed until they are pertinent in a different class or situation. Naturally some classes teach more than others, and I wonder if the classes that I believe I learned the most from align with those of other students from those classes.