Graduation happened this past week. As a now alum, I find that I’m really coming to understand the meaning of the word “bittersweet.” Bitter because I am going to miss this place, my friends, and the memories we have shared, but sweet because I am so appreciative of the opportunities I’ve had while here. In response to my friend Liam’s post about 115 things he’ll miss about UChicago for the 115 weeks of school, I wanted to share 12 non-regrets for the 12 quarters that I had while at UChicago starting with this most recent spring quarter.
Capture the Flag on the Main Quad
Third Year Soccer Season
The Amanchukwu Lab
Swish Kebabs after winning the Championship
- [Spring Quarter 2022] Giving in to my dream of playing Capture the Flag on the quad by organizing an ecumenical Christian Field Day during ninth week of my senior year. I just made a Facebook event and invited all my friends from various Christian RSOs and I was really happy with the turnout – over 50 people came out! First, we played 7 innings of kickball on the Midway and then we moved to the quad where we played Capture the Flag. One team won kickball while the other won Capture the Flag, so I guess it’ll have to be an annual tradition until it’s no longer tied up! But seriously, it was a lot of fun to bring everyone together for some light, competitive fun.
- [Winter Quarter 2022] Choosing to go on Extended Status during my last quarter at UChicago. Since I had already taken enough classes to graduate by the end of winter quarter of my fourth year, I decided to focus solely on my honors paper. By going on Extended Status, I waived my tuition but still was able to participate in RSOs and intramurals, and keep working for the admissions office!
- [Fall Quarter 2021] Taking a creative writing class as an elective. It was one of the classes that I wasn’t sure if I should take since it didn’t contribute to my engineering or computer science interests, but I decided to take it because I remembered writing a lot in middle school and early high school. I really enjoyed the class and I realized that it’s something that I would want to continue.
- [Spring Quarter 2021] Finding as many pickup sports as possible, whether that be Spikeball on the quad (approaching random people and asking if I could join), soccer on South Field on weeknights with new friends from massive pickup soccer group chats, or basketball with friends! Spending as much time outside during spring quarter was a nice contrast to the colder days during winter quarter (though snowball fights on the quad were another fun addition to winter).
- [Winter Quarter 2021] Going to daily mass and attending Catholic Students Association events! Being involved in the Christian community at UChicago really enriched my experience and also helped me grow in faith.
- [Fall Quarter 2020] Playing soccer with the varsity team! While we had Covid restrictions during this quarter, I was coming off an injury from the season before, so regardless of whether we were able to have real competitions against other universities, I was just grateful to be able to be with my teammates playing the sport I loved.
- [Spring Quarter 2020] Not drinking caffeine. While UChicago has tons of great coffee shops, managing to avoid coffee helped me to have more energy when I woke up in the morning and also definitely saved me a fair amount of maroon dollars over the course of my four years.
- [Winter Quarter 2020] Choosing to reach out to different Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering labs to see if they would take a chance on an inexperienced undergrad (disclaimer: they did!). Originally, I didn’t think I would end up liking research, but once I joined the Amanchukwu Lab, I ended up really enjoying my project and the lab.
- [Fall Quarter 2019] Going to random speaker events if I thought they were of interest! By going to this one event about good books and literature (not something l would typically do, but I was semi-interested so I attended), I ended up being introduced to the Veritas Forum and an RSO on campus called CANA Journal. All my academic focus had been STEM, so it was very nice to be able to explore these other areas.
- [Spring Quarter 2019] Applying for house lottery trips! I was able to go watch musicals like Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen, and also go to a Cubs game with friends in my house! On the way back from the Cubs game, my friends and I decided to Divvy back to Hyde Park along the lakefront which made for a very fun day!
- [Winter Quarter 2019] Getting seriously involved in intramurals--and I mean not only joining a team with my house--but captaining multiple teams with friends, such as an intramural women’s basketball team made up of my varsity soccer teammates (called the Swish Kebabs), playing coed basketball with the Catholic Students Association, indoor floor hockey with another group of friends, and going out to try to capture the title for Coed and Open Spikeball leagues. Also, working for intramurals as a soccer referee and supervisor was a lot of fun as well since I got to meet a lot of people and watch a lot of soccer!
- [Fall Quarter 2018] Applying to UChicago in the first place! It was a fun process from start to finish whether it was writing about the coursework involved with Pig Problems in my uncommon essay or getting to visit campus and watch the soccer team play. I’ve made so many incredible friends and memories and am so grateful for the experiences I’ve had. I’m excited to go out and take on whatever comes next, knowing that UChicago has prepared me well.