"Co-op was quite an experience. I had been in classes for 9 terms straight- I did my freshman year, did research over the Summer, did 4 terms of Sophomore year, and Fall and Winter classes during my per-junior year before I finally went on my first of two co-ops in the Spring. The first half of pre-junior year was rough because I had the mindset that 10 weeks of work and then that’s your grade. There’s a lot of rushing during that period and before you know it, you’re onto the next 10 weeks with a whole new set of classes. Co-op was like hey! You can actually relax and unwind a little. Rather than the fast-paced pair of 10 week quarters, my work was stretched out over a 6-month period. I could actually take time and learn what I am doing instead of just cramming. The stuff that I did there is still fresh in my mind. I also gained some sense of importance because at work, I was not treated as in intern. My o[inion and input mattered. I was considered an equal among all the employees. When they were making decisions about what to automate, they took what I said into account. That sense that my work is just as valued there felt really nice. It helped me realize that if there is something I want to learn well, I should take the extra time it takes me instead of just mindlessly cramming only to forget it later. And that knowledge that I gain through it would be more important than a higher grade I could get by just memorizing and replicating it on paper."