The Scholars experience this year was much different and limited than in previous years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is sad that we only had one semester of Scholars in-person classes, as the community aspect was really only formed this year, since we were able to interact with the people around us. Obviously we can still talk to the people we met in Scholars, but I think the experience would have been completely different if we were able to have an in person freshman year. I think we would have been able to make more connections that way, as compared to the online classes we had. I know that they did their best with making online classes interactive, but it is much more difficult to connect with people in an online class in a completely new place while being stuck at home. This one in person semester allowed us to finally work in groups, and then be able to even talk after class and meet up later, compared to being isolated in a room online. I think the interest groups that we formed towards the end of the semester were a good idea as it allowed us to meet new people with a common topic to talk about, and sort of filled the gap that I think was missing from not having as many bonding activities as freshman usually do. I signed up to be a peer mentor, which was a part of the program that influenced me the most, since I was able to interact with the freshman and help them navigate some things, although I was, and am still navigating things as well, since this is my first time really experiencing college and being on campus. Before classes started, the freshman had a service day that I was able to go to as a peer mentor. I think this service day was really important in helping give back to the community, but also helping the freshman bond as well and meet the people in their program. This is one of the things that would have been nice to be able to do when we were freshman, but was limited due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I know that they are planning on possibly taking our class on the field trip in the spring, so I really appreciate them trying to replace what they can with what we missed as freshmen in that community aspect. I do not know how much I really have changed during my Scholars experience, since it still feels like it is 2020 in a way, and like I am just now starting college. 

Honestly, I feel like I became much more stressed last year, since I only experienced the stressful assignments of college, and none of the community parts, so I think being isolated is what had a greater impact on me than the idea of being in college. I am only now really experiencing college, so with talking to people and exploring campus, I am starting to navigate college better, but I am still undecided about my major, and since I am a sophomore, I soon need to decide on my major, while if I was a freshman, I would have much more time to really explore. Last year, I took a variety of classes to explore, but I did not really like any of them since I was constantly on my computer with no interaction with others, but if they were in person, I think I would have had a better sense of which ones were interesting. Overall, it has only been 3 months of in person classes, compared to the year and a half we spent online, so I am still navigating college, but Scholars did give me a sort of community online and made me feel more comfortable, since it was a smaller, more personal class compared to the other online classes where I could not interact with anyone since the classes were so large. 

As for the program, Media, Self and Society, it did help me see the media in a different way, and pay attention to it more, especially in the Covid-19 pandemic, and 2020 election. There was a lot going on and the country was becoming very divided. I was aware that media was biased and that it was important to look at things from different perspectives, but I guess I did not pay attention to this as much, or look at the news in general as much. My understanding of media has changed as I realize it is more than a medium for news and information, but it is also a place that influences the world and creates a culture. It is crazy to see how effective it is, especially in the pandemic and election. It was interesting to see how different stations would completely spin a story differently than another, and how people that watched these stations believed that view, and acted on it, creating a lot of movements, like the Black Lives Matter protests, or Anti-Mask and Vaccine protests. These protests were pushed through the information, and often misinformation that people saw on the media, where social media plays a big role in the organization of these protests by spreading the information to so many other people and making a community. Social media can build a new culture with all of the trends that it creates, especially with apps like Tiktok and Twitter that let people share their activism and let others join. I learned a lot from the group presentations in class about the role of media in a lot of movements in history, and how medis was important in bringing attention to these movements, and getting people the information to start them, and this is still relevant.

As for the connections between media and my major, this is a similar idea. I am still a bit undecided about my major, but I am thinking about majoring in something medical like biology.  The media is especially prevalent in medicine because of the pandemic and the way they are framing stories about masks and vaccines. Some stations make vaccines irrelevant and masks useless, allowing conspiracies to go around and many people are not getting vaccinated due to this. Media also is an outlet for the vaccine information to get out, so people know how many shots to take, from what company, where, and how the virus is spreading, so it is also very important in informing people of what to do, if the information is correct. It is crazy how people will not trust medicine because of what they saw on the media, and how the media will spin things out of control sometimes. People will believe anything they see. This is important to apply beyond the program since it shows to be knowledgeable about media, and know that not everything there is real, as it only depends on how someone spins the information, and that it is important to use your own brain and think about what is said in the media, before saying it and telling everyone else about it.