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Hack OHI/O

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This October, I was able to participate in my first ever Hack-a-thon, namely Ohio State’s “Hack OHI/O.” This event is an annual competition where students are encouraged to work in teams to put together and present some sort of technology-related project in 24 hours, which would then be scored by a panel of judges from several companies and fields. For this challenge, I worked with three CSE majors from my high school to develop an app that would track fitness and exactly which muscles were affected after every workout. The goal was to encourage people who get bummed out by not seeing instant results to continue with their routines, rather than give up. The app would also suggest which workouts to implement to achieve the desired results, and track their progress as the user went.

Hack OHI/O showed me very early on that the team needs to be entirely on the same page before beginning to work on the project, or else no progress would be made for hours. We bickered and joked and realized that our end goal wouldn’t be feasible within the remaining time. Regardless of that fact, I realized very quickly how much computer science relies on other fields of study to put out a final product. While I’m a coder, I ended up working on digital art to keep the user experience optimal, which is the last thing I thought I’d do. Overall, the experience was eye-opening and definitely helped to prepare me for the working world.

WOW Service Outreach

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As a STEM Exploration and Engagement Scholar, I had the delightful opportunity to volunteer at the Wonders of Our World STEM Outreach Program, which involved showcasing scientific experiments to inner-city elementary students to expose them to what STEM has to offer. As someone who grew up wary of small children due to my inability to properly communicate with them, signing up for this program was a bit of a gamble for me. I wasn’t sure how well I would be able to handle not only spending time with kids, but also keeping them on track with our curriculum. I had participated in a mentor program back in high school, but it wasn’t nearly as involved as this one seemed to be.

Fortunately enough, I didn’t have anything to worry about. My adviser welcomed me with open arms and made sure I was properly trained to answer any kind of question the kids threw my way. The entire process was fun and exciting for both myself and the students, and it turned out to be a huge stepping stone for me. Communicating with kids is just as important as communicating professionally if I hope to be a well-rounded individual in my field. The WOW Program brought me one mile closer to that goal.

Welcome!

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This site describes Sarah Aftab’s achievements and progress as she completes her undergraduate career. The About Me includes personal details, while the Artifacts highlight her accomplishments and finalized pieces of work from her coding and digital art experience.

 

Year in Review

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[ “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.]

G.O.A.L.S.

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The G.O.A.L.S (Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement) outlined by Honors and Scholars set the standard for self-growth and intellectual maturity as individuals progress through their degree. Global Awareness emphasizes the importance of diversity in order to broaden each individual’s horizons and open up their mind. Original Inquiry involves engagement in experiences to fully understand the research process and gain connections with researchers across the field. Academic Enrichment is the drive to achieve more than the bare minimum specified by the university to obtain academic excellence. Leadership Development hones the necessary communication skills required for their future roles and occupations in society. Service Engagement grounds students as they learn to commit themselves to their community.

The facet of the Honors and Scholars G.O.A.L.S that applies most to me is Global Awareness. Having grown up in a suburban, relatively white community, I have not been exposed to many global perspectives. After coming to Ohio State, however, I have realized how much the world has to offer that I am missing out on. In my future, I aim to work in as many places around the globe as possible, expanding my exposure to various cultures and meeting all sorts of new people. The other facet that speaks most to me is Original Inquiry. The field of computer science will continue to grow and develop for as long as I am alive, and the thought of being on the cutting edge of innovation propels me to take an active role in research, even as I begin my undergraduate career. As a technology and science-oriented individual, I plan on completing years of research during my study of programming.

Currently, I am part of ACM-W, which promotes gender diversity in computer science and electrical engineering. This club allows women to foster a community in which they bolster each other and expand their influence in a generally male-dominated field. I also hope to learn several new programming languages this coming term. By the time I graduate, I hope to have several connections with the various cultural groups across campus, as well as increased knowledge of the various fields within computer science. My ultimate goal is to work in cybersecurity and ethical hacking, where I hope to blaze a trail as one of this era’s few female hackers of color .

Career

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[“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

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[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

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Sarah Aftab is a first-year student at The Ohio State University studying computer science and engineering. Born in Vermont and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, Sarah grew up involved in the Lakota East’s various clubs. As president of the Model United Nations, she implemented real world situations to spark conversation and debate while pushing students out of their comfort zones. She also took part in mock trial for three years, where she played the roles of witness and attorney in order to battle out court cases against her opponents. Sarah also has a love for coding; after having done it for two years, she has been exposed to mainframe work, android app development, Unity game development, and software development in C# and Java. After attending the Women in IT conference at Xavier University, Sarah discovered an interest in cybersecurity, and hopes to specialize in her third year at OSU. In the future, she hopes to work for a cybersecurity firms that works in cohesion with the FBI to target criminals on the dark web. Outside of her CSE studies, Sarah enjoys digital art and fiction writing, as well as basketball and badminton.