G.O.A.L.S.

Global Awareness

As an International Affairs Scholar this goal is most prominent to me. Being in the scholars program itself has given me a deeper sense of self and a larger global perspective. The class I took for my scholars’ program, autumn 2014, along with the discussions at the programs bi-monthly meetings helped to engage me with world issues and make me a more informed global citizen. Along with my scholars class I have taken a History of East European Countries class and a Russian History class that have introduced me to new cultures. I traveled to India in May 2015 with IA scholars after taking a class on Indian culture that previous spring semester. This trip was my first foreign experience and really opened my eyes to the similarities between people who live such different lifestyles. It was easy to identify the differences between American culture and Indian, but what I found most striking was how similar these people were to me and my companions, how they had similar worries and thoughts as me. I plan to study abroad in France this summer and am ecstatic to be immersed in French culture. I think traveling and experiencing new cultures helps give people larger perspectives and open their minds, and that it is only with large perspectives and open minds that we can hope to tackle the problems facing the world today and tomorrow.

Original Inquiry

This past fall, I attended a “Getting Started in Research” information session. It got me interested in the possibility of getting involved in research, something I was not considering before. I plan to pursue research opportunities fall 2016. One event I attended for my scholars program, spring 2015, was over the Byrd Polar Research Center at OSU. This event really sparked my interest and I plan to research more into either visiting this center or seeing what opportunities the center has for students. I am interested in climate research and would like to get involved with it in the future. I plan to use the Denman Forum to find research opportunities. I am pursuing a Chemical engineering degree and have created numerous systems and devices for classes. For example, spring 2015, my team and I designed and programmed an Advanced Energy Vehicle.

Academic Enrichment

I am currently pursuing a Chemical Engineering degree with a French minor. My overall goal is to work as a Chemical Engineer in the consumer products sector with a job that allows me to travel often to foreign countries. French is the second most prominent language in the world and I hope by knowing a foreign language my opportunity for travel will be more likely. I am studying abroad this upcoming summer in France. While there, I am taking a French for Science and Technology course that teaches vocabulary and grammar related to the engineering and science industries while introducing students to France’s scientific history. This class will help me become better able to express myself in a professional manner and more aware of the French engineering field.  I have taken several GE courses that have introduced me to different cultures, and helped make me a less ignorant global citizen. Something that I hope I can use to relate to team members working as an engineer.

Leadership Development

I believe leadership is not about what one says, but, about what one does. Lead by example is my leadership motto. I work as a server and am constantly doing my best to stay busy and find extra work to be done when I have down time. I hope my actions inspire others to seek out extra duties in contrast to being idle. I think hard work is a priceless trait to have and is a trait I plan to carry with me in the future. I am a part of the French Club at OSU and plan on running for a leadership position within the club next year. As an engineering student I am constantly put into teamwork positions and I find that I naturally fall into the leadership role and have built my leadership abilities over the past two years with the various group experiences that I have encountered.

Service Engagement

I am of member of the Society of Women Engineers and find several volunteer opportunities through this organization. For example I volunteered at a career fair the organization held and I am participating in a 5K to help fund a local middle school’s STEM program. The club has an after-school program with a local school to help engage students in STEM activities and I would really like to become a part of that in the future. I was introduced to Chemical Engineering through a STEM outreach program and would love to influence others to find STEM fields like I did. Girls are extremely underrepresented in the engineering field and I would like to become involved in outreach programs to introduce girls to STEM fields. I am excited to be taking part in an upcoming event put on by the College of Engineering that makes to restructure children’s toys to be able to be used by kids with disabilities.

 

Artifacts

Taste of OSU is an annual event put on at the Ohio Union each February which involves a large majority of the culture clubs at The Ohio State University. It is an event where community members can come together to experience the various cultures represented at OSU through food and dance. I have attended this event twice. My first time I volunteered with the OSU French Club. In preparation for the event, I helped to prepare the food that the club would serve and I helped serve the food the actual day of the event. I enjoyed sharing French culture with people and found it beautiful that so many people were interested not only in French culture, but in all the various cultures represented. I think events like this are key to creating a tolerant community by expressing cultures in a non-overwhelming way that sparks interest and does not create backlash like some more overbearing events unfortunately do.

taste

Spring semester 2015, I took the second of two introduction to engineering classes required for students pursuing an engineering degree at The Ohio State University. The majority of this class consisted of a design project. Teams were tasked with designing and creating an Arduino code for an Alternative Energy Vehicle (AEV). This class introduced me to the engineering design process. I thrived in the team environment and realized engineering was in fact the degree I wanted to pursue. My team’s final report is a good summary of all that we accomplished over the semester. Creating reports for this class introduced technical writing to me and the various types of documents used in the engineering field. Link to Final Report

In May 2015, I traveled with the International Affairs Scholars Program to India. This two week trip looked to show participants Indian culture and give them a larger perspective on countries in the process of joining the “developed” world. This trip opened my eyes to the negative effects of development and the politics involved in the process. It struck me to see highly industrialized areas next to squalor. I realized there is a difference between sustainable development and development for developments sake. I noticed the priceless value of a strong foundation and the importance for strong infrastructure in the quest for sustainable development. Most importantly I realized sustainability takes time, more time than countries are willing to give.

India

Over summer 2015 I was charged with looking after a few cats of my friend’s while she was on vacation. While visiting her house to look after the cats, I took a series of pictures that I am very proud of. These pictures show off the beauty of nature and I love the way the clouds play with the lighting. This photo session helped feed my interest in photography, more specifically photos of nature. Below is a collage of a few of the pictures I took.

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Also over summer 2015, A couple of friends and I embarked on a camping trip. This trip was a recipe for disaster, or so it seemed at the beginning; one of the group members arrived late, we arrived at the camp site after dark had fallen, it was raining, and we found that our tent had no workable polls. Several of the group members became frustrated and not helpful what-so-ever. I helped to form a plan of action and with another friend found some string in my truck to “MacGyver” a tent together and got everyone fed. Below is the tent we managed to put together. The camping trip ended up a success and I learned the value of a good attitude in stressful situations.

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Over winter break 2015, I read the book, Antarctica, An Intimate Portrait of a Mysterious Continent. This book was transforming. It refreshed my sense of wonder and sparked the idea of possibly attending graduate school. This book revealed my interest and passion for climate change and showed me some research projects I could further look into to expand my interest. After reading this book, I have actively tried to develop my climate interest and have considered graduate school, an option I was not considering before reading this book.

Ant

Over the 2015-16 school year I took part in the Second Year Transformational Experience Program offered at The Ohio State University. One of the advantages of taking part in this program is students have the opportunity to receive funding for a project of their choosing. My project was for my study abroad for summer 2016 in Montpellier, France. Creating my proposal gave me the opportunity to reflect on what this study abroad experience will mean for me and put in to perspective what goals I have for myself going forward. It revealed to me the value I put on being a globally aware student and the influence being an International Affair Scholar has had on my global perspective. Link to Proposal

About Me

Hi, my name is Sierra Boone. I am a second year Chemical Engineering student at The Ohio State University. I am also studying French and plan on completing a minor in the subject before I graduate. I hope with a French minor my opportunities for travel within my career will be more likely, specifically international travel. After earning my engineering degree I hope to work within the consumer products sector of the field. I would like to be involved with plant production or research and development. I am really interested by the idea that products that I would be working on and helping produce at work would be available at stores where I shop and where I can see others buying the products.

My goal is to complete an internship before the fall of my fourth year at OSU. This coming summer I plan to study abroad in France for six weeks. This past May I traveled to India with my International Affairs Scholars group. Along with my scholars group I am also involved in French Club, the English Conversion Program, which explores the different ways English is spoken around the globe, and the Society of Women in Engineering program on campus.

I currently work as a server at Sloopy’s Diner in the Ohio Union. I work hard in order to raise money for my education and study abroad this summer.

 

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Year in Review

My second year of college has been one challenging ride, both personally and academically. I started the year with pressure to do well academically in order to be accepted into my major and ended the year with an overwhelming schedule and need to do well in order to maintain my scholarship status. I can say that I was accepted into my major this past December after a very successful autumn semester. Autumn semester I earned grades to put me on the dean’s list. I took pride in this and after taking part in a meeting with the dean and talking with another student at this event my motivation for academic excellence was refreshed. However this refreshment was not enough to ebb the overwhelming tide of coursework and other responsibilities I took on spring semester. While taking 18 credit hours and working 15-20 hours a week spring semester has been a constant struggle to keep my head “above water”. After meeting with my advisor, I reworked my schedule to a more manageable course load and decided to extend my college career into 4.5 years. This new schedule eases my tension for the expectations of the following semesters and gives me more time for interning or Co-oping.

This year has seen personal development as well. I’ve met new people and been put in situations that I have excelled in, but also that I have failed in. I’ve learned where my weaknesses are, but have yet to overcome them. This I am at ease with though because overcoming obstacles takes time and I am making progress towards their downfall and that is all I can ask. I have realized the value of being a supportive friend to somebody else and have gained a whole new group of friends while cutting loose some friendships that I did not value.

This summer I see as a huge summer of development. I am studying abroad and plan on working on tackling some of my limitations and developing my French language skills. I hope to learn how to better connect with individuals and better express myself. Next school year I want to get more involved with volunteering and hope to volunteer at a school to help get students interested in STEM fields. This is important to me I have realized and hope to make more time for things I value and waste less time for those that I do not. This past semester has been overwhelming and made me realize the value of my time and the need to allocate time for what I value.