Year in Review

My first year at The Ohio State University went by quite fast, and now it is time to recap my time thus far at the university! Coming into the university, I was very eager to learn in class and explore all that the university has to offer. The strong community and great advising offered by my major was the perfect encouragement for my first successful semesters here at OSU. In addition, taking part in the Health Science Scholars Seminar provided solid ground for my pre-professional school education.

My extracurricular involvement at Ohio State fully rounded my experience. I discovered the great faith filled community that the Newman center offers. Diving deeper into my faith has been my greatest personal growth here on campus. I found great opportunity to share the Good News through ministry to the sick in the university hospitals. Fulfilling the spiritual needs of patients, along with addressing social determinants of health through another student organization called EncompassOSU, brings me great joy. Through this organization, I served in an OB/GYN clinic at Wexner Medical Center in order to give patients resources that are not fulfilled through a classic doctor visit, yet may serve as barriers to achieving maximum health. Often times paying rent, buying food, finding a job, or having a safe place to live impedes on ideal health. Through EncompassOSU, we aim to curve these determinants of health by uniting patients to the resources they need. Serving patients while taking classes gives me great hope for my future medical professional occupation and motivates my passion of learning now in order to have an even greater role to assist the undeserved in the near future.

Artifacts

Pictured here is a snippet of a project that my fellow Health Science Scholar and Biomedical Science major peer, Luke Pepperney, and I completed in our Honors Biology 1114 class. In the lab section of this course, it was our goal to impose a research study on organisms called endophytes. Endophytes are symbiotic fungi living among the flesh of plant tissue that contribute to the overall health of the plant. Luke and I chose bananas as our sample specimen and the result of our cultures of various fruit tissue are pictured above.

The nature of this class is very open, thus lending our scientific minds free reign in terms of imposed trials. Luke and I focused our project on identifying the species of endophytic fungi based on bananas of varying ripeness as this would provide insight on the implications of banana fruit rotting. Diving into this project with my peer was a very fruitful experience that induced great scientific rationalization, basic laboratory techniques and methods, as well as an introduction to writing academic science literature.

 

G.O.A.L.S.

[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. 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.

  • Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc.
  • Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
  • Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
  • Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
  • Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]

About Me

Greetings! My name is Megan Rinehart and I am a first year student studying Biomedical Science. Along with my undergraduate studies, I am preparing for medical school. It is my greatest goal to become a pediatrician. My passion to assist the under-served, coupled with my innate scientific curiosity, drives my zealous attitude towards medicine. Yet, as I begin to fathom the fundamentals of the chemical and biological processes of life, I feel compelled to practice my problem solving mindset as well. Therefore, I also prioritize the opportunity to conduct research as an undergraduate student.