Year in Review

My first year as a college student and a member of the Dunn’s Sports and Wellness scholar group was quite a great experience. During the first semester, I really got to know my fellow scholars and create friendships that are special to me. At first, I found it hard to balance friendships, schoolwork, and student organizations. However, as the year went on, I was able to find a rhythm that worked for me. There were some success in my first year, such as finishing my first semester with a 4.0. But, there were also some struggles, especially the coronavirus pandemic that cut my first year short. The time I spent on campus was enjoyable, and it brought comfort to my mind in knowing that had had made the right decision to attend THE Ohio State University. It was a bit sad having to leave campus so soon, not knowing when I would be returning. The moments I had with the friends I developed throughout the year make me hope I am able to return to campus in the fall and continue to build these friendships and also develop new ones.

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.]

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 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.]

Artifacts

Dunn’s Sports and Wellness Welcome Week

Welcome Week was a highlight of my first year of college. Not only did I get to interact with new people, I ended up becoming good friends and developing a community with them. As a scholar’s group, Dunn’s Sports and Wellness moved into Morrill Tower on Thursday, August 22nd, 2019. After move in we congregated at Drake Union where the first year scholars met the second-year parents along with the rest of their family for welcome week. For the remainder of the weekend we all competed in several events and team-building activities. I was placed in the Yellow Family and we had a great time getting to know each other. Coming into my first year of college with none of my friends from high school to join me, this experience gave me some skills to help me make new ones on campus. Throughout this weekend, I made new friends from my welcome-week family, and some more from the others. I was afraid to meet new people at first, but this experience helped me grow as a person and I became better at interacting with others once I realized a lot of people were in a similar situation that I was. I learned plenty of skills that will help me with networking in the future, and I am grateful to have been apart of this wonderful experience

About Me

Hi! My name is Joshua Shepley. I grew up in a small town called Girard, Ohio, right outside of Youngstown. I graduated from Girard High School in 2019 as a valedictorian and the President of the Class of 2019. These positions of leadership were translated into my life at THE Ohio State University through my participation in the Dunn’s Sports and Wellness scholars group. I am also involved in the Actuarial Science Club. This is due to my major being actuarial science with a minor in quantitative economics. I am interested in becoming an actuary for an insurance company post-graduation. I chose to pursue this career, because I have an interest in mathematics and the application into an important business seems interesting to me.

Aside from school, I am involved with my community as well. Through Dunn’s Sports and Wellness, I am required to have ten hours of community service per semester. However, I always try to help where I can. In my hometown, we host a Special Olympics state-qualifying meet every May, and I enjoy volunteering at this event. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing the athletes at the event having a great time, not only competing but interacting with the volunteers as well. I truly enjoy volunteering my time in any way that I can.