Freshmen Year, Part 1, Completed. Winter Intersession.

So I just finished my first semester of college and second semester starts in two days. I just came back from an amazing vacation where I went to Germany and Sweden for a month during winter break. It was quite an experience traveling across countries and the ocean alone in an airplane, living without my parents for that long. I was scared when the plane was first taking off from New York to go to Frankfurt, Germany. I always had this fear that the plane might come crashing down at any minute but when I was going to Sweden alone from Germany by plane, it seemed like second nature. 


I stayed with my cousins in both places. When my aunt took me to their friends' houses, everyone always asked what I was studying or what I planned to be. I proudly said medicine, I want to be a pediatrician, a children's doctor. It sounds stereotypical when someone from South Asia says that they want to be either a doctor, lawyer, or an engineer, because in reality that is what the majority of people say. This occurs because of parental pressure; parents drill these expectations into their children's heads from an early age. It is true that my parents put that notion in my head as well; they have high hopes of me becoming a a doctor. Hopefully, I become one of the first in my family, extended and immediate, to achieve that dream. My aunt's friends were saying how it's going to take such a long time but I believe that it's worth the studying and time. 


I stayed in the capital city of Sweden, Stockholm, and in Offenbach, Germany. Sweden was not what I expected. It had a lot of hills and highways, barely any regular streets. It was also very cold, even though it was warmer this year than any other year. European countries are very beautiful. 


I found out my GPA in Germany. My aunt and uncle were very proud of my 3.935. I really felt as it I gave it my all this semester. Even though it's only my first semester, I hope I do as well in the upcoming ones, too. I'm really proud of the research papers I wrote for my history class. I wrote two, the last one I wrote was on how industrialization impacted imperialism and I got an A on that paper. I also applied for MRIP and CSTEP which are two programs that advises students on their college life. I also applied to the Scholar's Program, which is an honors program, that I hope I got into. I'm looking forward to second semester, and I'm going to try taking some summer classes or apply for an internship. It feels like a long time away to apply to Med-school, but it's going to happen sooner rather than later.