Columbus To Do List #3

Unfortunately, I was unable to do my Columbus adventure with my peer leader group due to prior commitments.  Instead, I went to Condado’s with Rachel Leitson and Alex Ng, two other first years in HES. This past Friday night we went to the downtown location and ate a lot of chips with guacamole, queso, and salsas, and tacos. The restaurant was very busy and high energy, but delicious food. I learned from this experience to expect a long wait on Friday nights, but that it’s worth it. I’ve been to Condado’s before, and I will definitely be back. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to a friend, but I would probably warn them that a lot of the tacos are very spicy.

Columbus To-Do List #2

The picture above was taken at Luck Bros Coffee House in Grandview Heights, Ohio. The picture of me and my iced Bullseye mocha was taken by my friend Rachel who got a cinnamon mocha. She found this great coffee shop online, and we took a short bus ride there and spent the afternoon doing homework. It was definitely nice to have somewhere else to do homework, the service was great, and the coffee tasted good, too. I would recommend it to a friend whether you are just looking for some good coffee and a snack, or if you’re looking for a place to get hours of work done.

The picture below was taken by the Olentangy River trail. This trail is runs right along OSU’s campus. I love to run north along the trail, or stop and watch the sunset. It’s a great way to feel submerged in nature while only venturing a few minutes from campus. If you go at the right time, there is a dog park on the trail that is full of happy dogs. I would highly recommend it to anyone who likes some scenery while they’re running, or just for a breath of fresh air.

My favorite experience from this project was my trip to the Columbus Museum of Art. This was my first Columbus to-do list item, but it succeeded my expectations and was just what I needed on that rainy Sunday. Throughout this project I’ve learned that Columbus has a lot to offer. I’m keeping my eyes open for other interesting opportunities in Columbus. I want to continue to explore farther and farther away from OSU’s campus into parts of Columbus I’m less familiar with. I think it would be fun to explore different parks in the city. I truly believe Columbus is one of the most underrated cities. If I were to give advice to someone else doing this project, I would tell them there’s no way you can go wrong. There is so much to do in Columbus and so far everything I have done has been totally worth it, so you will have no trouble.

Artifact #2

 My artifact from my second semester is an iced mocha from Connecting Grounds (with almond milk please). I would never drink coffee before coming to college. I never thought I would be a coffee person since I’m naturally very antsy and jittery, but now it is an essential for my long study sessions. I love getting coffee as a treat for myself on Sundays that I’m locked up in the study room working. My go-to order is an iced mocha with almond milk because I only like coffee cold, I love sugar, and my stomach doesn’t love milk. Sometimes I’ll get caramel syrup, but I’m not really a fan of all of the fancy coffee flavors. Connecting Grounds is right next to my dorm and tastes super good so they get a lot of my business. I also get coffee from Crane Cafe in Hagerty Hall because it is sometimes difficult for me to stay awake through my 80 minute Spanish class that is in Hagerty Hall. Coffee is turning into a seriously big habit in my life, but college (specifically first year engineering) can do that to a person.

Artifact #1

 My artifact from high school is soccer. Soccer is significant for me since I’ve played it most of my life. Throughout my childhood I made a lot of my friends from various sports teams, so sports like soccer were very important to me. I’m not the best player on the team, but playing soccer makes me happy. My senior year of high school I got very sick with mono and had to quit soccer the day before our first game. I was heartbroken that I never got to start a varsity game, but even more heart broken I wouldn’t be able to play alongside my teammates all season. I still went to some of the games and cheered with whatever energy I had. Now that I am recovered, soccer is a part of my life again. I belong to a intramural team with some of my friends from my floor, and I have a lot fun playing with them.

Columbus To-Do List #1

I chose not to pick a list to pick to when exploring Columbus, because I didn’t want to limit my opportunities. I am looking forward being able to explore Columbus without restrictions. One goal of mine is to be able to navigate the bus system confidently, on my own by the end of this project. Currently, I can take COTA bus 1 downtown, and to Short North, but I want to become more confident in taking buses that do more than just go straight up and down High street so that I feel comfortable visiting more parts of Columbus. Additionally, I hope to be able to know Columbus well enough that when friends and family come to visit me I can show them my favorite spots.

Today, my friends and I went to the Columbus Museum of Art. We successfully took two COTA buses there, and two buses back. While waiting at bus stops in the rain wasn’t particularly fun, the museum was definitely worth it. There were many cool exhibits like one where the visitors were encouraged to make their own art out of twist ties and display them on a wall. The image above shows a seahorse I made. The other image shows another one of my favorite exhibits. It is a room upstairs filled with lights and mirrors at different angles. I would definitely recommend the Columbus Museum of Art to a friend.

Year in Review

[ “Year in Review”  is where you should reflect on the past year and show how you have evolved as a person and as a student.  You may want to focus on your growth in a particular area (as a leader, scholar, researcher, etc.) or you may want to talk about your overall experience over the past year.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

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

Hi, my name is Helen Victoria Aber and I am a first-year student at The Ohio State University. I am in the Humanitarian Engineering Scholars program, and I plan on majoring in Industrial and Systems Engineering and minoring in Spanish. I hope someday to be fluent in Spanish, and travel either for study abroad or for my job. In high school, I was a part of Habitat for Humanity club, and SPRING Initiative club. Both of the clubs worked to help the disadvantaged population of Clarksdale, Mississippi through working to improve the housing situation and tutoring children in public schools, as well as their families, respectively. I was also business captain of my FRC Robotics team where our team won the FRC Entrepreneurship Award at the 2017 Peoria Regional Competition. I also played varsity soccer and cross country for three years. This past summer I worked as a Day Camp Leader at Leonhard Recreation Center for my second year, and as a Swim Lesson Instructor at Sholem Aquatic Center. During the school year I worked as an After School Program Leader at Leonhard Recreation Center. I enjoy working with children, and hope to incorporate my passion for helping children into my college career and beyond.

My top five themes from the Gallup CliftonStrengths report are strategic, learner, individualization, empathy, and adaptability. I can see how I am someone who is strategic because I always try to consider all possible options when approaching a problem. I enjoy unpacking problems and using patterns. Similarly, I am a learner since I have a strong desire to learn and expand my outlook on the world. I am talented in individualization because I am interested in what makes people different, and how unique people can work together. I am also very empathetic because I can very easily imagine what it feels like to be in other people’s situations. I live in the “now” and take things as they come, making me talented in adaptability.