Year in Review 2018

Global Awareness

            In order to make myself a more diverse and culturally aware person, I intend to immerse myself in other cultures with an open mind and see what they have to offer. In terms of course work, I took Anthropology 2202H, which enlightened me to see the world in different ways. I had a very Western world bias, and thanks to this class I expanded my mind to consider how people live in all ages, times, and walks of life. The class focused on how to live life like an anthropologist, and while the course may be over, I still carry those lessons with me. In my personal life, I do enjoy the global atmosphere of this campus. I attended a dance performance that was a blend of traditional Indian dance mixed with Hip-hop because I knew one of the performers. The culture of the performance was truly inspiring and they served traditional Indian foods. I hope to continue finding new cultural experiences like this one and taking the leap to attend them during my time on campus.

Original Inquiry

            While anyone may learn and repeat materials presented in coursework, it really takes a lot of drive to engage in advanced or original work. I was fortunate enough through the honors program to be able to dip my toe into original research work through my courses. My Biology 1114H course did an independent project on endophytes that lasted several weeks and gave a great look at what independent study for the purpose of discovery looked like. We each picked a plant and tried to identify how many and if possible, which species of endophytes were living on that plant. My Chemistry 1920H class also did several weeks of independent research where we first made a perovskite solar cell, then read professional research works on possible methods to improve them and tested some of these methods for ourselves. A big part of this research was learning how to effectively read and understand the research work of others, a skill I am grateful to have developed. I also plan on getting involved with my boss’s research this coming summer (2018) in the Veterinary Anatomy Lab. He is working on a thesis to demonstrate the efficacy of different teaching techniques (clay/plastic models, cadavers, and online simulations for example) in a student’s ability to learn animal anatomy. I think this research will have a huge impact on the Ohio State Veterinary school in the future and its effects may even become prevalent in other anatomy courses at other schools. I am very excited to be involved in this.

Academic enrichment

            My academic plan is already geared toward my professional degree and is set up to help me succeed in my major, minor, and complete all necessary prerequisites to apply to vet school. I plan on taking advanced courses in addition to the courses that are required for my major. This includes advanced courses in Biochemistry, Physiology, Animal Sciences, and communication. These courses are not required for my undergraduate and are all upper level courses, but I plan to take them since they are prerequisites for vet school and the challenge offered by advanced courses will help to show me if veterinary school is a plausible option I wish to pursue. I chose my major to be in Molecular genetics because it completes most of the prerequisites for vet school, as well as being a field of study I’m genuinely interested in and could see myself pursuing a career in if vet school turns out not to be the best option for me. I selected a music minor because I have always loved music and it helps me to unwind and relax. I know that school is very difficult, particularly with such a hard major, and I needed something I could enjoy and something to relieve the stress from my day. When choosing my GE courses I tried to balance courses that would aid me in my future with those that expanded my horizons. Anthropology 2202H and British Literature 2202H are not typical courses for someone focused on a career in the hard sciences. These courses gave me insight into other culture and helped me to better understand the human experience and how we live, not just the biological aspect of why we live and how we function. I also chose to take Microbio 3704 History of HIV/AIDS and Psych 1100H because they compliment my prospective field of Veterinary Medicine, while providing greater detail and insight into topics that aren’t covered in depth in the field. I think the knowledge gained from these GEs will be very valuable to me to have as background and will benefit me later in my career.

Leadership development

            I have several unique experiences for an undergrad that involve me in both Ohio State and further my career plans. I am privileged to be a member of the Ohio State marching band and travel around the country to cheer the buckeyes on, while putting in countless hours during the week to learn drill and music and make halftime as great as it can be. I am hopeful to be chosen as one of the squad leaders for next season, but it will take a lot of commitment. Either way, by my status as a third (and next year a fourth) year member in the band, I will be the one to set the precedent for behavior and establish what it means to carry the Tradition of Excellence for younger members. I am also fortunate to have a job in the Veterinary anatomy lab at Ohio State. This job exposes me to different anatomy terms and also shows me what it is like to be in vet school, since I see the vet students at their breaking points and I also see them after their great successes. This job gets me hands on experience with specimens, and the biggest projects involved in my job include setting up the animals for exam days and embalming horses for the educational use of the vet students. As part of this job, I am currently training my successor, a freshman, who will take over for me when I graduate. As part of this training, I will spend the next year teaching her about how the job is done and what is expected with us. Since we have a whole year, every day I go to work becomes a teaching opportunity and I hope to give her the tools she needs to succeed.

Service engagement

            It is important to every community to have members willing to engage in community service. I have begun volunteering a TNR (trap and return) clinics in Hebron hosted through Refugee Canyon Veterinary Clinic. This is a volunteer clinic that traps feral cats, spays/neuters them, provides them with vaccines and anti-parasite medication, and re-releases them to the area where they were captured from. By helping with this great cause, we are hoping to help control the feral cat populations in the area and prevent the birth of so many unwanted kittens. By re-releasing the cats, who are too feral to be placed in a home, they maintain the property and will keep other feral cats from moving in. I will also be volunteering at a school called Briar Patch this summer and am very excited. The school is an alternative school for children with disciplinary or traditional schooling issues. The schools balances in -class work with farm animal care, as the school itself is actually home to dozens of farm animals. I will be working on animal care this summer and am very excited to be a part of this unique experience. Both of these volunteer opportunities aid me in forwarding my career and help my community, and I am very fortunate to be a part of them.

G.O.A.L.S.

G.O.A.L.S.

Global Awareness

In order to make myself a more diverse and culturally aware person, I intend to immerse myself in other cultures with an open mind and see what they have to offer. In terms of course work, I will be taking Music Cultures of the World 2250 for my minor in music. While I am very involved in music, I am primarily educated in Western style music, and I think experiencing, hearing, and analyzing music from other parts of the world will really help me expand my horizons about something I truly love. I also plan on joining the STEP program my second year and doing a study abroad program during the Maymester. I have not yet thoroughly researched all the programs available, but I plan on applying for a trip to a country that offers a culture very unlike my own so I can leave my comfort zone and experience life outside of America.

 

Original Inquiry

While anyone may learn and repeat materials presented in coursework, it really takes a lot of drive to engage in advanced or original work. I plan on taking advanced courses in addition to the courses that are required for my major. This includes advanced courses in Biochemistry, Physiology, and communication. These courses are not required for my undergraduate and are all upper level courses, but I plan to take them since they are pre-requisites for vet school and the challenge offered by advanced courses will help to show me if veterinary school is a plausible option I wish to pursue. I also plan on getting involved in a research project within molecular genetics. Genetics has always interested me, and if I choose that vet school is not for me, or decide I really enjoy what I did in my research, Genetics is another field that I could easily see myself going into. The research experience will expose me to new things I would never have done before and help me to definitively decide what I wish to do with my future.

 

Academic enrichment

My academic plan is already geared toward my professional degree and is set up to help me succeed in my major, minor, and complete all necessary pre-requisites to apply to vet school. I chose my major to be in Molecular genetics because it completes most of the pre-requisites for vet school, as well as being a field of study I’m genuinely interested in and could see myself pursuing a career in if vet school turns out not to be the best option for me. I selected a music minor because I have always loved music and it helps me to unwind and relax. I know that school is very difficult, particularly with such a hard major, and I needed something I could enjoy and something to relieve the stress from my day. I am very excited about my British literature course 2202H and my microbiology course on the history of HIV and AIDS microbio 3704. I am excited to read and analyze literature, because I enjoy reading for fun and excelled at literary analysis in high school. I highly anticipate the microbiology course because it seems like a course that the average student wouldn’t take and the content sounds very unique and isn’t your typical general education coursework.

 

Leadership development

I have several unique experiences for an undergrad that involve me in both Ohio State and further my career plans. I am privileged to be a member of the Ohio State marching band and travel around the country to cheer the buckeyes in, while putting in countless hours during the week to learn drill and music and make halftime as great as it can be. I am also fortunate to have a job in the Veterinary anatomy lab at Ohio State. This job exposes me to different anatomy terms and also shows me what it is like to be in vet school, since I see the vet students at their breaking points and I also see them after their great successes. This job gets me hands on experience with specimens, and the biggest projects involved in my job include setting up the animals for exam days and embalming horses for the educational use of the vet students. As part of this job, I will train my successor my senior year and be able to truly test my leadership skills.

 

Service engagement

It is important to every community to have members willing to engage in community service. Locally, I plan on volunteering at the Capital Area Humane society the summer of 2017 to gain hands on animal experience and help out with a great cause in the area. This not only gets me exposure to some less-stable and less healthy animals than I am used to, which is excellent for advancing my career path in veterinary science, but also helps out the animals that are most in need. I also plan on picking a study abroad program in my second year that is more geared toward service. I have oftentimes visited other countries from a tourism perspective, but I have never served another country, which I think is a valuable thing for all young people to experience.

Career

[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career.  Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated.   For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

Artifacts

[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 is a reflective description of the artifact that attempts to communicate its significance.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

About Me

[Your “About Me” is an introduction and should provide insight into who you are as a person and a learner.  This should include a picture of you that is appropriate in a professional/academic context. This information should be continually updated.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio.  Delete these instructions and add your own post.]