Hello, my name is Juan Pablo, and I recently completed my undergraduate education at the University of Houston. As it stands, my goal is to become a clinical psychologist, and I just recently sent out applications to various graduate programs in the hopes of beginning my journey towards obtaining a doctoral degree. As I was thinking about my time at the university, I noticed that, if I could go back in time and start all over, there are a lot of things I would have done differently. Unfortunately, I cannot time travel, so I decided the next best thing was to write down all of my thoughts on the matter in the hopes that they may help someone else. Before that though, I would like to provide a bit of context surrounding my undergraduate studies, along with some rationale behind why the reader may want to take my advice.

           I completed about 8-10 semesters of undergraduate studies (depending on whether you count summers or not) during a relatively tumultuous time. My second semester was when the Covid-19 pandemic emerged and ran rampant all over the world, forcing shutdowns and an unprecedented move to full online education at the university level. My first and second years were also during the second half of Donald Trump’s tenure as president, a time period many considered as controversial and hectic in terms of political discussion, particularly within younger populations.

           I, like many others, was affected in some way or other by these things, especially the pandemic. In fact, I ended up dropping a full semester of college in 2020, largely due to some of the personal and academic issues that came from virtual education and being inside all day. Still, I feel like these things provided me with a relatively complete perspective of college life and undergraduate education, and I feel as though that perspective can be relatively instructive to many students who will be entering that space within the next few years.

           With that being said, the next important point is why anybody should listen to me. The biggest reason why you may want to consider my advice is a practical one: I was a good student who was able to manage his time in a way that allowed himself to develop a somewhat competitive resume. I finished with a 3.77 GPA overall, a 4.0 GPA in Psychology, and a 3.76 in Biology. I finished both of these majors in what would have been four years (if I hadn’t dropped one semester), and that is largely due to me having consistently taken 17+ hours every semester. In terms of standardized tests, I scored in the 95, 70, and 99 percentiles in the verbal, quantitative and writing portion of the GRE, respectively. I also worked on research projects within three different labs at the University of Houston, participated in a summer long research program, and accumulated 200 hours of clinical experience in the form of suicide hotline volunteering. Because I will be providing practical advice on how to do well in classes, manage your time, and garner some experience, those statistics might encourage some to want to listen to me.

           Still, even though the advice I can give on being a good student is useful, it’s not the only benefit you can get from this sort of writing. In fact, some of the biggest takeaways come from the not-so-practical, more personal realizations I made during my time as an undergraduate. I am a human being, and I made a lot of very human mistakes. I had times where I drank too much and failed quizzes because I was hungover; I had times where I had to drop a class because I didn’t study enough for the upcoming test; I had times where I fought with a significant other to the point where I ignored my responsibilities. I went through periods where I felt down and depressed, and periods where I felt on top of the world. I had periods where I exercised consistently, and periods where I couldn’t manage to go to the gym once or twice a week. I lost a lot of weight, then gained a lot of weight, then lost some of that weight once again. I struggled to eat good or healthy food, and even had a time where McDonald’s was for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And on top of all of that, perhaps the biggest thing I went through was that I had absolutely no clue what I wanted to study for about 4 years of my undergraduate life.

            The reason that’s important is – it isn’t special or unique to me. I promise, the great majority of people who are reading this that go on to pursue an undergraduate degree – at least those that are in a similar position to me age and life wise – will experience many of the exact same things. I firmly believe that people are more similar than they think and am certain that many of my experiences will be relatable. I am hoping that this writing can highlight that.

           My goal when it comes to my not-so-practical life advice is that I want people who are going through turmoil similar to my own to be able to identify with it. This is not only because I hope that some of the ways I went about solving my issues could prove useful for those experiencing something similar, but also because it can feel incredibly overwhelming to think that you are unique or alone in your struggles. Most of the time, when you are going through a tough time, it can be helpful to take a deep breath, realize that what you’re going through is normal, and understand that things are going to work themselves out.

           This can be especially true when it comes to college and undergraduate life. College is an incredibly influential and defining period of your life. You not only choose a route which could determine what career you have for the rest of your life, but you also have to make many personal decisions that can leave lasting marks on who you are and who you will become. It can be incredibly cutthroat and stressful, and you will meet many people that feel as though they are head and shoulders above you. Still, even when dealing with something so seemingly daunting, I promise, everything is going to be alright.

           As you go through the years, you will come to realize that some of the decisions which felt so important at one time are now only distant memories. You will realize that some of those people that felt so far above the rest of the pack are humans and make mistakes, just like you, and everybody else. And you will realize many things about yourself which you will hopefully come to appreciate, accept, and love. I am writing down my story and advice in the hopes that I can show the reader that, as long as they allow life to happen and learn to take advantage of it, everything is going to work out for them.

           I will be dividing this work into four separate parts. Each part is going to discuss each of my four years at the University of Houston and the lessons I learned in each year (I did 4 ½ years but I will consider the final 1 ½ as being part of senior year). Each part will be organized in much the same way. It will begin with a bit of a story of who I was at the time, what I cared about, what I wanted, and what I thought. From there, it will delve into some things that happened throughout the year and how they changed my perspective on things. Finally, I will give some general advice in terms of how to approach university life, each of the four years, classes, and so on.

           The idea is for there to be both practical/general advice, and also some specific advice for people who are in a similar situation to my own. If you decide to read through all of it, the hope is that, afterwards, you’ll feel a bit more prepared for undergraduate life, or you’ll feel a bit more comfortable knowing that some of the struggles you may be going through are the same struggles I went through. With all that being said, this marks the end of the introduction, and points us towards the next blog post: Reflections on my Undergraduate Education – Freshman Year.