This semester, I split my volunteer hours between my ROTC and my scholars program.

With my ROTC, I spent 5 hours volunteering at two separate football games, Miami and Wisconsin, while being on the flag detail. During these flag details I realized just how much of an impact seeing us cadets makes on the community, the veterans and active duty members believe that there’s still hope for our generation and the kids look up to us as someone to try and be like. I really like being able to provide a positive example for young men and women just by providing a simple, patriotic service to the community. One day, I want to be able to lead the flag detail.

With my scholars program, I spent 5 hours volunteering in the DSWS Day of Service. During these 5 hours we spent time planting, staking, and mulching trees at Centennial High School and cleaning up trash on High Street. We provided what I would call “beautification” and “environmental cleanup” within the community that day. I learned that more people care about helping the local schools than I thought because we weren’t the only volunteer group there helping with the trees.

Because of service learning I am able to look at life from another perspective and know that no matter how hard life gets, there is a way to clear your mind and emotions by helping others.

In my Spring Semester of 2019 most of my volunteering has been helping others achieve their goals. And when the volunteering wasn’t doing that, it was a service to the community.

I volunteered at the Dunn Dash Indoor Triathlon for 4 hours as a lap tracker for the run. But it was so much more than just lap tracking; it was a chance to motivate and meet people who had been training for months solely for this event. I would ask the runner their goal and then have them shoot higher than that, I even ran with one man on his last lap so he could reach his goal. This opportunity has given me a chance as a person and a leader to realize what the effect of a motivator can have on a person; even after training there can be doubts in your mind and having a person in your corner to cheer you on helps more than words can describe.

I have also volunteered for 2 hours doing flag details at hockey and basketball games for the university through my ROTC and the club I am apart of, Converse Guard. I believe that doing these provides a service to the community that reminds people about the country we live in and shows service members that there is a next generation willing to step up and fill their shoes. I learned that I enjoy the chance to show the community what affect the military can have on a person and that I enjoy representing my country, branch, and school in front of people. The older cadets have seen my appreciation and enthusiasm for these events and have talked to me about actually teaching the Converse Guard class to one of the future classes.

I am going to volunteer at the USAPL 2019 Collegiate National competition for 5 hours on Saturday, April 13. I learned about this from another DSWS member who is actually competing in the competition, Madison Rivero. At this event I will be volunteering as a spotter/loader for the competitors, again helping someone reach their goals that they have trained hard for. I will follow up this event with an email containing pictures of me doing this job.

Because of service learning I am more apart of the community on campus and of Columbus as a whole.

My first day volunteering this semester was on October 6th for an hour when I was a part of the football flag detail for the OSU/Indiana game. I learned about this from and volunteered for this with my AROTC. During this volunteering opportunity I escorted the flag from Converse Hall to The Shoe where I then assisted in raising the flag during the National Anthem, then after the game, I assisted in lowering the flag and escorting it back the Converse Hall. Through this act of service I learned that I thoroughly enjoy making veterans and families of veterans happy; during the walks there and back I could hear and see how much watching the younger generation doing this meant to these people.

My second day of volunteering was on October 21st for five hours when my scholars program helped set up and tear down the Columbus Marathon along with handing out water and Gatorade to the runners. I learned about this from my scholars program, Dunn Sport and Wellness Scholars. From this opportunity, I learned that I enjoy helping people reach their goals and that even a smile or a thumbs up can boost morale on a cold, windy Ohio day.

My third day of volunteering was on November 17th when, again, I volunteered with my scholars program. My scholars program informed me about this volunteering opportunity where I helped break down old college wardrobes that were then going to be turned into desks for families and individuals who cannot afford basic housing furniture. This was five hours of fun and joy working with The Furniture Bank of Central Ohio. On this day, I learned that I enjoy using my hands to make a difference; that manual labor to help really drives me.

As a leader, volunteering has made me want to go out and maybe start a volunteering group to help veterans that are on the older side. Not only would do they deserve the help after what they did, but there are so much history and so many life lessons that we as a generation could learn from them. Because of service learning,  I am feeling more a part of the Columbus community than I was at the beginning of this semester.

The “True Colors” personality assessment categorizes you into one of four colors: Orange, Gold, Green, and Blue. Each one of these groups have their own strengths, as well as their own weaknesses. If you know what group the people in your team, company, program, etc. are in then you can take steps to help create a more diverse as well as better achieving team.

For example, in the military the smallest organized group you have is the team. The team is comprised of four people each with a different position to play based on their strengths, but they work together despite their differences to accomplish the mission. It wouldn’t be that smart of an idea to put people with the same mindset (group color) all in one team; they might get along very well, but if they all think in the same way and that way doesn’t work for a certain situation then the mission won’t get completed.  You need some people who can plan the mission, as well as people who can think on their feet when the mission doesn’t go as planned.

Leadership to me is being able to get done what you need to get done while using the resources available, but more importantly being able to care for the well-being and development of those under you.

Back in middle school I tried out for the basketball team. Now, I wasn’t the biggest, strongest, or fastest, so when we had the cuts during tryout week I doubted that I would make it any further in tryout week. But the last day of tryouts rolled around and we were all sent home with a letter, some saying “Congratulations! You’ve made the team,” others saying “I’m sorry, but you have not made the team.” I was so doubtful of myself that when I got home my mom had to open my letter for me… I made the team. The next day at practice I went up to my coach and asked him, “Coach, not that I’m not happy. But how did I make the team?” He told me it was because of the effort put in. He assured me that he could teach me how to shoot but nobody can teach effort and dedication.

The reason I chose Coach Rawlings as my leader example is because he fit my definition of leadership; he chose to help me develop as a basketball player rather than worry just about winning. The second reason I chose him is because, even after that basketball season, he continued to be someone I could go to whenever I needed help. He never turned me away and always tried to help me develop further along throughout my high school career.

[Artifacts are the items you consider to be representative of your academic interests and achievements. For each entry, include both an artifact and a detailed annotation.  An annotation includes both a description of the artifact and a reflection on why it is important to you, what you learned, and what it means for your next steps.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]