LAS Honors has helped me connect with myself

Ishita Jadon is currently a sophomore studying psychology and minoring in journalism. Over the school year she tried new foods, met new people, and learned new things. Next year, she’s looking forward to being an LAS 122 Intern and Honors Peer Mentor co-coordinator. In her free time, she loves to read and spend time with her friends.  

Connecting with people on a campus of 30,000 students can be hard. Connecting with yourself and the person you’re becoming is even harder. The LAS Honors program helped me with both over my past two years on campus.

As a student, the points-based honors system rewarded me for pursuing my academic goals and interests while pushing me to consider options that I normally wouldn’t try. As a result, even without having any background experience in research, I applied to become a research assistant as a freshman. Over the years I’ve become more involved with my lab and the professors I work under, and I’ve had the chance to meet different people across campus and connect with them over shifts and during meetings. Knowing that the LAS Honors system recognized the work put into my research motivated me to be a part of something that I will always remember as an integral part of my college experience.

LAS Honors also guided me to participate in opportunities that helped me develop as a person and not just a student. Through the honors system I’ve received points from being a part of campus organizations, serving in leadership positions, and even for working with incoming students. Since the system awards students for such a wide range of activities, I was able to pursue anything that I personally found interesting or inspiring. This motivated me to keep trying new things on campus and break out of my shell coming into college.

From meeting new people to learning more about myself, above all, being a part of the honors program has given me the opportunity to grow and push beyond my comfort level. I hope it does the same for you.