Reflection – Page 3 – Kilachand Ambassadors Blog

Navigating Summer Internships and Jobs

By Bridgette Lang (CAS’23)

There are a handful of universal goals that most students have as they enter their freshman year of college: make friends, join a club, and obtain professional experience by the time they graduate. While all of us encountered COVID-19 as a bump in the road, many students here at the Kilachand Honors College still set out to reach their goal of working in their respective field through an internship or job. Furthermore, they adjusted, adapted, and learned to better themselves in a challenging environment.

Hear from some members of the Class of 2023 about what they did this summer:

Anika Brahmbhatt, Dual Degree in Media Science and Psychology

“I found my internship at MyHealthTeams through the College of Communication newsletter! Over the summer, I worked 20 hours per week writing medical and health content to be posted on 40+ social networking sites for people with chronic conditions. Now, I am continuing to write for the company on a freelance basis. I have gotten to learn about writing for search engine optimization, collaborating with a whole team of content creators, and of course, about how medical conditions impact people and their families’ daily lives.”

Tatiana Jose-Santos, Majoring in Psychology

“My internship was with a Boston-based company called Klarity. I found the opportunity through a friend in the Kilachand Honors College that also interned there. I worked throughout the summer full-time, mainly writing content for our website launch. I helped write a comprehensive guide on sales and marketing strategies and best practices for small to medium businesses and learned a ton about SEO marketing. I was also able to learn video editing, how to use HubSpot for email automation, and how to use different mediums, like Canva, to create graphics. Now, I am still working part-time as a content writer and am currently applying to more marketing internships for spring and summer.”

Leah Dobres, Majoring in Sociology on the Pre-Med Track

“In the fall of 2020, knowing that I was going to begin my sophomore year at home, I was interested in finding a job where I would gain experience working in a hospital. I did research into all of the hospitals in my area and positions they were hiring for, ultimately sending in upwards of twenty applications for various positions. I was hired as a unit clerk and telemetry technician at a long-term acute care hospital (LTAC). LTAC care is utilized for patients who are ready to be discharged from hospitals as we typically think of them but still need skilled care and close observation around the clock. As a unit clerk, I worked at the front desk on the unit where I wore many different hats. I answered phone calls, arranged transportation, scheduled outpatient appointments, scanned paperwork, responded to patient call lights, helped with staff communication, just to name some of my typical daily tasks. Additionally, as a telemetry technician, my job was to constantly monitor heart rate monitors and vital signs of about 20 patients at a time and page the proper staff if I noticed anything wrong (which happened often, as our patients were quite ill). In this position, every day was a different adventure, and I truly never knew what to expect when I walked into the hospital. I also gained so much experience from working at the hospital, learning about how a hospital functions and everyone’s roles. It was also a great way to get experience in the field I ultimately hope to go into, to make connections with healthcare professionals, to have something to do during the pandemic and to make some money.”

How Making Your Own Time Keeps You Balanced

By Morgan Donohue (CAS'22)

It is easy to get caught up in school assignments, work tasks, club responsibilities, and general life commitments. Once the semester really kicks into gear and your to-do list gets longer, the urge to just work can get really strong. For me, little daily rituals and personal to-do lists help me make myself as much of a priority as my school work, and help me stay refreshed and ready for the day ahead.

In terms of daily rituals, I like to find parts of my day when I can be quiet, sit back, and take some deep breaths. I like to make sure that I drink water and do some stretching before I check my phone in the morning, and even then I only download a podcast to listen to during my run. When I make breakfast, I take it over to my comfy chair by the window and sit in a warm sunny spot to eat. I like to plan my day out while I drink coffee. At night, after dinner and dishes, I make a pot of tea and sit down to do the last of my work for the day. One of my favorite parts of the day is right before bed when I like to journal and then read before I turn out the light. I am currently working my way through Anna Karenina, a couple of chapters every night.

The great thing about little rituals like these is that they are built-in checkpoints in the day that, once you start, become routine. I do not have to carve out time in my day to sit down for this because it is infused into my routine. Even short moments let you relax, take stock, and prepare for the next thing you have to do.

I have also become a huge fan of personal to-do lists. Over the past couple of years, I started writing down a few things that I wanted to do each day, whether it was to do the crossword in the newspaper or to go out for lunch with friends. I do this every morning while I plan my day out over my coffee, and while the rituals I have let me slow down and check in with myself, my personal list makes having fun and enjoying non-academic and non-work activities a priority for me as well.

When life gets busy, it is easy to slip in to the habit of class, work, sleep, repeat. By making sure that you have your own time and priorities, you are more likely to be excited for each day and enjoy your classes and work even more than you would already. I believe that college is a great opportunity to find what balance means for you. I cannot recommend enough finding times to wind down during your day and finding a way to make your wellbeing as important as your assignments.

Breaking Out of the “BU Bubble” with Kilachand

By Rebecca Sarkisian (Questrom’23)

One of the first terms you’ll hear during your time at BU is something called the “BU Bubble.” The Bubble looks different for everyone, but essentially it involves being stuck in the same routines and going to the same places on campus all the time. While BU is integrated into the city of Boston, it can be really easy to just always stay on campus and forget that there is an entire city of new experiences just a few steps from Comm Ave.

Kilachand co-curriculars are one of the best parts of being in the Honors College. You often get to hear from top experts in a wide variety of fields. But my favorite co-curriculars are those that help you break out of the BU Bubble by going out into the city with other Kilachand students.

This Fall, the first co-curricular of the semester was a visit to the Arnold Arboretum, a large park in Jamaica Plain maintained by Harvard University. Kilachand faculty and staff led small groups of students on excursions to the Arboretum throughout the beginning of the semester to participate in the Arboretum Experience. The Arboretum Experience is a mix of meditations, audio plays, and other guides that help shape your visit to the Arboretum.

I went to the Arboretum on a Saturday morning with a Kilachand advisor and four other Kilachand students. Not only did I get to meet new people from other class years, but I was able to take a break from city life for a bit. The trip also gave me an opportunity to visit a place that I may not have otherwise visited.

*Arnold Arboretum offers a quiet escape from the city. Credit: Rebecca S.*

It’s not just co-curriculars that take Kilachand students out of the BU Bubble. My first semester in Kilachand, I visited the Institute of Contemporary Art in the Seaport as part of my writing studio. One of the exhibits in the museum connected to the themes of the class, so we were encouraged to visit and write about the art. (Side note: the ICA is free for BU students!)

Kilachand student leaders also take small groups on city excursions during Kilachand Community Initiative outings. The outings are a great way to meet fellow Kilachand students, visit new places, take a break from studying, and just get to know Boston better.

No matter whether it’s a co-curricular, class trip, or Community Initiative outing, there are plenty of ways to break out of the BU Bubble with Kilachand.

KHC: Preconceptions vs. Reality

By Marie Kimball (CAS’23)

A few weeks before freshman year, there wasn’t much on my mind except going to work a few times a week and spending time with my friends. Sure, I was heading to college soon, but it hadn’t totally dawned on me that my life was about to change in a pretty big way. I only had a couple preconceptions floating around my head that would worry me occasionally. And don’t get me wrong – I knew that Kilachand was the best choice for me, and was very excited, however I had some preconceived notions about the stereotypical honors program that were bugging me. The best part is that soon after I got to school and to Kilachand, I realized that all of my preconceptions about honors programs never came to fruition. Kilachand stands out – I’ll explain why.

First, I was worried about a lack of balance. In other words, I understood that at Kilachand I would probably be completing a heavier workload than the typical student, in the amount and content of the work. I feared this would leave me with inadequate time for everything else, like socializing with friends, hitting the gym, taking alone time, and of course, sleep. After a few weeks in, I realized that this would not be the case. Sure, the workload of the typical Kilachand student is a bit more and a bit trickier, however it is manageable. As a junior now, I’m in two clubs at BU, have a part-time job, spend lots of time with my friends, get alone time, and get eight hours of sleep a night. Kilachand academically challenges its students in a healthy, efficient way. I’ve learned so much all the while maintaining my sanity and enjoying my college experience. Kilachand enhances my college experience, no doubt about it.

Second, heading into school I understood that Kilachand is a community, and that I would be spending a good amount of time with the other students in my grade. A worry creeped in that the environment might be competitive and cutthroat, like what I have heard in the news or seen on TV about honors programs. I like being challenged academically, but not at the expense of my well being. Learning in a toxic environment is never ok. Boy, was I wrong! My Kilachand friends and fellow classmates are collaborative and passionate. I am not only comfortable in my Kilachand classes, but also, I truly enjoy them. Kilachand classes are often my favorite each semester. My classmates are thoughtful and funny, and professors are supportive and quite accomplished.

Basically, over the past couple of years my Kilachand experiences have proven my prior preconceptions of an honors college experience downright wrong. From day one, the professors, advisors and students of Kilachand have enhanced my education and overall BU experience, and for that, I’ll always be grateful. To sum it up, Kilachand is the best!! Feel free to reach out to me to chat more about this or any other part of the Kilachand and BU experience.

I Promise You’ll Like Office Hours

By Morgan Donohue (CAS'22)

What is an “office hour,” anyway? In my senior year of high school, the most common piece of college advice I heard was “go to office hours.” It is one of those things that everybody says, but which you don’t really believe until you do it for yourself. Office hours are scheduled times that professors and instructors make available for meeting with students outside of class, and all of those people are right. You should absolutely go to office hours, talk to your professors, and build those connections. After three years, I have finally learned that lesson, and I would recommend all students go to at least one office hour session with each professor at the very least to introduce yourself. Not many people utilize office hours, so you have a good chance that you’ll be able to have a nice conversation and ask questions about your class. Your professors are probably excited to talk to you and share their knowledge. But that is not why I am writing this! You should also talk to your Teaching Fellows (TFs)!

A TF is a graduate student at BU who helps a professor by leading discussion sections, running labs, and grading assignments. They also have office hours! Your TF is a wonderful resource. They know what goes into the weekly planning for lectures and discussions, so they can help you identify and understand the most important topics from lectures. In big classes, your discussion section TF is probably grading your assignment, and if you speak to them before an assignment is due, you might get some good tips. I’ve even had a TF offer to read and comment on a draft of a research paper if we got it to her a few days before it was due. This automatically gives you the opportunity to revise, edit, and improve your paper. Going to their office hours is a chance to speak with someone who is a little closer to your age but who has valuable insight into what you are studying in class and how to succeed in a course.

Office hours are only the start. TFs hold review sessions before exams, can provide feedback on labs and research topics, and tell you about graduate school if that is something you are interested in. Your TF is probably a pretty cool person, too. They are doing research themselves, and they will definitely share what they study with you if you ask. You could learn something new from someone who is passionate about the subject.

All of this is to say that you shouldn’t forget that your TFs are there to support you, and taking advantage of their office hours and expertise is definitely beneficial. Your professor’s office hours could be at an inconvenient time or are unusually busy. Maybe it can be a little intimidating to talk to someone who used to work at the Department of Defense before becoming a professor. Perhaps you just want to talk about something one more time. And sometimes you just want to talk to someone closer to your age. Whatever your reason, you should definitely check out your TF’s office hours!

The 3 Questions I Get Asked at Every Admissions Event

By Catherine Devlin (CAS’22)

As a Kilachand Ambassador, I’m always impressed by the unique perspectives that each class of newly admitted students brings. Yet, despite the individuality of each new student and class, there are certain questions that remain consistent across years and admission events. So, to close these matters once and for all, here are the answers to the 3 things that get asked at every BU admissions event:

Q1: How does BU not having a campus affect student life?

A1: This question always manifests in a vaguely passive aggressive form. We never seem to be asked to “discuss BU’s campus” in a general sense, but are instead called to account for what is framed as an obvious deficit. I completely understand the question. When I was looking at colleges, even once I realized that BU was the best choice for me, I still needed a moment to mourn the leafy oaks and grassy quads that had graced so many admissions pamphlets (and my subsequent dreams). Upon attending BU, however, I realized that the assumption that our school does not have a campus is not an accurate one. Practically every building on Comm Ave between Yawkey and West is a BU building, and when you walk down the street the air is alive with the energy of students hurrying to class, laughing with their friends, and earnestly discussing research plans with their professors. For a more picturesque walk, take Bay State Road instead, and enjoy the tranquility of trees in bloom and historic brownstones. The BU community is vividly apparent and accessible on BU’s campus, so much so that some of my fellow ambassadors have written their blogs on how to break out of the BU bubble! If you are worried about getting lost in Boston and not having a community to anchor you as a freshman, let go of that worry. BU might not have the traditional campus layout, but it definitely has a campus community. And that community is as strong and beautiful as any oak tree.

Q2: What is the Hub?

A2: As the first class to have gone through the Hub, I remember the vast number of information sessions and panels dedicated to explaining the system during Admitted Students’ Day and orientation. I also remember that, after all that, I still had no idea how to navigate the program. Now that I am planning courses for my senior year, I feel that I finally have a grasp on the Hub. Mostly. In the simplest terms, the Hub is BU’s gen-ed requirements. In order to allow students more room to explore different skills and topics, Hub requirements extend beyond specific course categorizations. For instance instead of having a history class requirement, you need to take a class that helps develop your “historical consciousness.” Some of the Hub requirements are more catered towards soft skills, such as “creativity and innovation” or “oral and signed communication.” But don’t let the fancy wording scare you! Kilachand will take care of most of your requirements, and the Kilachand advisors are great at helping you figure out how to fulfill those that are left over. Hub units can be earned through classes in your major and minor as well as electives and some AP classes, so there are a lot of ways to get it done and to explore a lot of different subjects while doing so!

Q3: Did you choose to be assigned a random roommate or did you request someone?

A3: This seems like a very specific and somewhat random question, but let me tell you I ALWAYS get asked this. I’ve found that when accepted students aren’t standing next to their parents, the questions tend to be more on the personal/social side than the strictly academic side. I think this is great! When a student asks questions about life at BU, I know that they are really trying to visualize themselves coming here, which is so important when choosing a school. To answer the question: I went random and it worked out really well for me, but I know people who chose and had great experiences as well (and of course less fortunate experiences for both random and choosing). It all comes down to your own preferences and what you feel most comfortable with. But the bigger reason I chose to share this question is because I want to encourage you to ask seemingly small questions like this! You are already into BU, so you don’t need to use admissions events to prove how smart you are (we already know that!). Take this time to ask things that are genuinely weighing on your mind, no matter how mundane they may appear. It will make your freshman year that much easier and more fun!

So there you have it! Those are the three most commonly asked questions, but there are lots more that come up frequently. To make sure you hear the answers to all of the most relevant admissions questions, and to have the chance to ask your own, connect with a KHC Ambassador, or attend one of our open house events! I can’t wait to see you on Bay State.

How Friendships Bloom

By Gabriela Morgan Longo (CAS’22)

College has taught me that friendships bloom in unexpected circumstances and despite our most embarrassing shortcomings or insecurities.

For example, my now close and supportive relationship with my freshman year roommates defies the reservations I had about living with “strangers” and the clumsiness with which our interactions started. Even if the general adage is that you never get a second chance to make a good first impression, my personal experience is solid evidence that you can overcome many initial social blunders with hundreds of subsequent interactions that better reveal your true nature and lead to genuine bonds of friendship.

As soon as I accepted my admission to BU, I became rattled by nerves. I had chosen a school far from home, where I would be forced to meet and live with new people. I’d have to share a room with strangers! This initial apprehension did not allow me to do any Facebook introductions or anything like that before I came to the deadline on filling out my dorm room application. Therefore, I was filling the form in the dark and putting my name in the random draw.

When I got 4 names back my restlessness increased. I was assigned to a suite where I would have to share my room with not one, but TWO strangers! I received 4 names and a room number, but other than that I had no idea how to reach out to them. I checked my email all the time and searched every social media platform I knew but couldn’t find any matches for the names I was given. Finally, sometime in July, I got an email from BU Housing in my personal account inbox telling me I could find information about my housing assignment in my school associated email account. My school associated email!?! I did not know I had one of those! Low and behold, as soon as I signed in to the me @bu.edu account tons of emails answering every question I had about college sat waiting for me, including, of course, an email from my suitemate Jillian with a phone number and an invitation to join a suitemates groupchat. My first message to that groupchat was something along the lines of “Hi guys! Sorry I missed all the introductions but I don’t know anything about college :/”. So that was my first impression!

Bumbling and nervous and probably a little goofy… I worried about this first impression for days. The first impression I made on my roommates was a text message I sent in a suite groupchat which I joined weeks after my other four suitemates had been using it to share their hopes and expectations for a wonderful new year. So, I started our relationship by having to explain to my “future best friends” (hopefully) that I had not been ignoring them during those weeks but that I simply had been clueless about the separate email for all things BU and had, therefore, been completely unaware of ALL the updates and information related to college and dorm and roommate assignments for over a month. For days after sending that text I worried that my suitemates would perceive this opening faux pas as evidence of the fact that I was too goofy to befriend. Somehow, however, the incident that I worried had painted me as clueless and bumbling had been perceived by my kind suitemates as sincere, nice, and maybe the sweet expressions of shyness.

Luckily, that dopey first impression ended up being less impactful than the subsequent hundreds of interactions we shared after move-in. The first night we all slept in the room, my roommate Mira and I went out for a walk, shared our concerns and expectations for our college years and ended up clicking immediately; talking and sharing our thoughts as if we had been friends for years. When I was late to class on my first day, my roommates Mira and Caro helped me collect myself as I rushed to get across campus and earned my devotion due to the tender kindness with which they tolerated my flustered nervousness. As the days and weeks went by, we shared our apprehensions by bringing each other sweets when we got back from class and we walked together into our neighbors’ rooms to introduce ourselves and develop new bonds and friendships. Day by day, one small kindness after another made us an inseparable unit and created shared memories and joys that bonded us together. The transition from strangers to friends was so seamless that I can’t remember or pinpoint when or how it happened. I am certain today, however, that these unexpected interactions with the “strangers” assigned by BU Housing to live with me have made college not only bearable, but fun.

Photo credit: Gabi Morgan Longo

What to do the Summer After Your Senior Year

By Bridgette Lang (CAS’23)

The summer before you enter your freshman year of college can be a confusing time. You made a decision for your future, but now what? For the first time ever, you won’t have assigned summer work, meaning that you have a lot more free-time. Though it may seem like you have all of the time in the world, it’s still important to ration out some time for activities to prepare yourself for your first year of college! Here are some of my suggestions about what you should do the summer after your senior year:

1. Get a part time job

Getting a part time job doesn’t sound like the most exciting way to spend your last summer of freedom, but working during the summer can set you up well for the school year. It’s no secret that Boston is an expensive city, and having some spending money can’t hurt to offset some of those costs.

2. Learn skills to become more independent

Use your parents as a resource while you can! Do you have questions about how to open up your first credit card? Or maybe you’re just unsure how often you need to wash your sheets. College is your first step into adulthood, so ask questions before you get there. I’m sure your parents will love getting a phone call from you during the semester, but maybe they won’t be as happy if you are asking them how to clean the toilet two months into the semester.

3. Set up professional social media accounts

You might already have a Linked In or Handshake account, but if you don’t, go set one up now. Creating your account and entering in some basic information before you get to school will help you get a head start. Instead of creating an entire account when you’re looking for a summer internship in the fall, you can simply update your profile.

4. Make your Boston bucket list

If you’re not from Massachusetts, Boston has a lot of new sights for you to explore. If you make a bucket list over the summer, you can try to stop by everything that you want to see. You can maybe even make a one year and a four year bucket list. You’ll never get bored!

5. Find clubs to join and activities outside of class

In high school, I’m sure you participated in clubs that helped enhance your academic experience, but college offers a wider variety of clubs, organizations, and activities. It could be useful to evaluate what activities you enjoyed and what other ones you didn’t have an attachment to. Is there anything new that you want to try that wasn’t available at your high school? Check out BU’s full list of clubs here:

https://www.bu.edu/admissions/why-bu/student-life/student-activities/

6. Give your brain a rest

Every single summer, I am sure that you’ve been given summer work by your teachers. Reading five chapters of your AP textbook, writing three papers for your summer reading books, and solving math problems is what my summers normally looked like. With that being said, it's important to give your brain a break from learning and do what you enjoy. Congratulate yourself for what you’ve accomplished, and give yourself the space and time to reflect on your journey so far.

How to Remain Organized

By Carolina Becerril (SAR’22)

I graduated high school with both excitement and fear as I knew I was embarking on a completely unknown experience. While I was preoccupied with meeting new people and becoming as involved as I possibly could, I paid little to no attention to my study habits, organization and time-management skills. In my head, I had mastered them in the little time that 4 years really is, so really what was there to worry about? Turns out I just needed a little humbling. Over the last few years, I’ve taken the hardest lessons and turned them into tips I would give to first year students, just like you!

1. Find a system that works for YOU (aka what works for others might not work for you and that’s ok)

If you’re anything like me and love learning how others organize their work, you know that it’s easy to want to do the same for yourself, but that doesn’t always work. Some people can simply write down what they need to do on a sticky note, others can set reminders on their phones or even rely on their own memory. For me, unfortunately, that’s not the case. I personally heavily rely on my good old paper agenda for school work aka any assignments, projects, exams, etc. as well as any tasks I might have for my job as a resident assistant. In addition to my paper agenda, I use google calendar as my “master calendar”. I have essentially everything I do in this calendar: school, work, meetings, advising, clubs, etc. As overwhelming as it might sound, it has helped me remain organized and on top of what I need to do. However, this is what works for ME and I encourage you to try out different systems and truly understand what works best for you. Do your own research, watch youtube videos (highly recommend checking out my friend’s YT channel: Mira Dhakal) and try different combinations of different resources. It’s ok if things don’t work out the first, second, third, fourth time. I’ll talk about why you shouldn’t worry about this soon. Hold on tight for me.

2. Attend workshops offered around campus on time-management and organization

Boston University has a Center for Career Development that offers a variety of really useful and informative workshops on a myriad of topics. They often host workshops on time-management skills, studying strategies, organization, etc. I would highly recommend attending these as they are a great resource on campus! Additionally, you can always feel free to ask advisors for more information on this.

3. Have a designated work/study space

Something that I find is JUST as important as having a good organizational system is having a designated work/study space. I’ve found (especially during this pandemic) that it can get really tricky and overwhelming quite quickly to get work done when you mix your social or “me” space with your study space, like studying in your room. While that might work for some people, I think it is highly beneficial to separate your rest space from the space where you spend time working hard on assignments and studying for exams. It doesn’t matter what that looks like, it could be a library, a coffee shop, a study space on or off campus, just make sure you find a space that best fits your needs and goals!

4. Most importantly, be willing to fail

Something that I wish I would’ve understood my first year is how important it is to be willing to fail. I wish I would’ve understood that failure is your friend rather than your enemy. I think it’s important to know that finding what best works for you and what will yield you the best results (academically and personally) will take a while, and even when you DO find that works best for you, you might still have to change it! My willingness to try out different ways to stay organized has led me to where I am now, where I feel like I have a good system but I’m still happy and excited to see how this will change to make me a better student.

I hope this was in some way helpful. Don’t ever hesitate to ask for help and use the resource you have available to you. Good luck!

De-Mystifying the Keystone Project: Deciding on a Topic

By Nikita Sethi (CAS’21)

The Kilachand senior Keystone Project offers students free reign to craft a project in a subject they are interested in with the resources of Kilachand to back them up. For the first two years of my time in the Kilachand Honors College, I had very little idea what I was going to do with this opportunity. I did not have too much experience in my field outside of my classes, and spent most of my free time in choir practice or working. The summer after my sophomore year, I happened to pick up a book called “The Privileged Poor” by Anthony Abraham Jack. In this book, Dr. Jack outlines the ways that the lived experiences of low-income students at elite institutions are affected by their status as low-income. Reading that book, I recognized a lot of the things that I had been struggling with in my first two-years at Boston University. This was research about me, about my experience, and I needed to know more. I rushed down to the Kilachand office and told Eric and Danny all about why this subject was important, and why more people needed to know about it. The two academic advisors laughed a little bit, as they both had graduate degrees in the subject I was just beginning to become interested in, but they both lent me books from their personal libraries that covered the subject. The rush of excitement I felt in researching the issues that had plagued my undergraduate experience was initially just for my own personal research, but by the end of the summer, I realized that I could contribute to the body of work on this subject through my Keystone Project. And that’s just what I did -- I am currently in the last semester of completing my project entitled, “The Lived Experiences of Low-Income Students at Boston University.” I have been using the resources that Kilachand provided to interview low-income students on campus and create a podcast about their experiences. In the end, for me, the correct path for my Keystone Project was to just lean into the thing that I spent the most time thinking about in my four years. If I could give advice to incoming freshmen about the Keystone, it would be to not sweat it too much -- just pay attention to the things you are passionate about.