Year in Review

My year has definitely been one full of struggle as I’m sure it has been the same for most, if not all, first years. From struggling with Chemistry and Calculus, to volunteering and trying to find a balance, this first has been a learning experience. Coming to college was the most exciting part about everything especially the first day of classes. Starting a new chapter and meeting new people was the best part of the first week. I was excited and looked forward to the new semester as a freshman in college. I remember coming in with a false mindset that Chemistry and math would not be a problem for me since I did good in both of them in High School. I found that I was wrong the hard way. The first exam for Chemistry was the one I did the best on and was convinced it couldn’t get harder after the first exam. As the semester went by, I began facing challenges with studying for all my classes and finishing my assignments on time. The stress was overwhelming mostly because of doing worse than expected on tests. The five and four-credit-hour classes were the most time demanding but you also had to create time for your other three-credit-hour and fewer classes. The first semester was a struggle; it felt like trying to hold on to a thread that I felt was about to break anytime. I barely made it past the first semester with decent grades. The second semester was also quite a challenge. Started off the semester really poorly in nearly all my classes except one. I was already sure that the rest of the semester would be completely the same after my performance in the beginning but with the help of friends and resources, I was able to keep myself on track and do better on my next exams. Fast forward to March, the coronavirus pandemic happened and we all had to transition to virtual learning. This was not easy because the distractions at home proved to be big inhibitors toward learning. It was difficult within the first two weeks of it but I was able to establish a routine that I would follow until the end of the semester. I was able to attend zoom lecture meetings up and keep up with my assignments. I ended the semester well despite having not done as best as I’d hoped for in one of my courses. I have learned a lot in my first year at Ohio State. I hope that in the coming semesters I procrastinate less and will be able to finish my assignments earlier so I can have more time to study. For the summer I am planning on taking online classes and hopefully research once I get an opportunity. I will also consider volunteering or shadowing if the circumstances with the pandemic allow.

My second year of college has been one to remember. From the coronavirus to struggling with classes, this year has been one full of challenges. I was doing well academically but mentally, it was all very stressful. I had a hard time adjusting to the new online format introduced during my second year in college. I couldn’t figure out a balanced schedule at first because of the distractions I had at home. It felt like I wasn’t going to be able to cope with it but once I talked to some of my professors and friends, I was able to get myself together and maintain a stable schedule and manage my distractions. Finding service opportunities was an even bigger challenge as most people were very wary of covid. The virus had proved to be a standstill for most organizations when it came to finding volunteers. I found some opportunities I could volunteer in but finding something to do long-term has been an issue. I am hoping to find research for the summer but if not, I will start my studying for the MCAT.

G.O.A.L.S.

Throughout my first year at Ohio State University, I have been able to engage in serving the community. I have been involved in service trips such as a community commitment trip to cosi where I was able to work with fellow students to help pack accessories that will be used to better the education for kids. I was also able to visit the garden of hope and help remove weed barriers and store them away for future use. Through Pay it Forward, I was able to go on another service trip to a homeless shelter and help set up Christmas decorations and interact with the people staying there. I am looking forward to being able to serve the community more in my coming years. I am planning on indulging in research this coming summer to gain more knowledge on the research process. I plan on being able to help the homeless more by being involved with clubs such as the crosswalk outreach who strive on helping the homeless in any way possible. As I progress in my education my coursework will get harder but hopefully, I will be able to prevail and come out successful. Leadership is something I am trying to improve on and I am looking forward to getting involved in experiences that help me increase my experience in leadership.

After the completion of my second year, I have had a lot of global awareness, academic enrichment, leadership development, and service engagement. I have been unable to gain original inquiry during this year due to a lack of research experience. I have been able to gain global awareness through attending informational meetings conducted by HSS, doing implicit bias training, and actively informing myself about global problems. I have also been able to gain academic enrichment through rigorous courses such as organic chemistry and Biology and perform well in those courses during a pandemic. I have also gained some leadership development by being a part of a task force team for the HSS bi-weekly meetings conducted during the spring semester of my second year. I have attained some more service engagement by actively participating in any volunteering opportunity that fits my schedule. I am still in search of research opportunities that I can find and get myself involved in to increase my knowledge on original inquiry.

Career

RESUME

Luke Ajowi

514 Gayle Drive, Gahanna, Ohio, 43230 *614.736.2971* lukeismael5@gmail.com

OBJECTIVE

Aspiring to be a diagnostic radiologist working for an organization that is focused on improving healthcare and providing services to the less fortunate while taking advantage of some skill sets such as organization, determination, and communication.

EDUCATION

The Ohio State University                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Columbus, Ohio

Bachelor of Science in Biology                                                                                                                                                                                                              Anticipated May 2023

ACTIVITIES

The Ohio State University Health Sciences Scholar Program                                                                                                                                 August 2019-Present 

Crosswalk Outreach                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            November 2019

  • A student organization that works to provide meals to the homeless.
  • This organization encourages volunteers to assist in not only lending supplies to the homeless but also serving the community while doing so. Listened and communicated with some of the homeless people and realized how much of an impact the organization has had on them.

Garden of Hope                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        October 2019

  • The garden of hope is geared towered helping cancer survivors maintain a healthy lifestyle by giving them access to healthy grown fruits.
  • Ensured the equipment used in the garden such as black plastic weed bags were removed and stowed away for the next plantation.

Breathe Hope Craft event                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       October 2019

  • Breathe hope is an organization aiming to raise awareness in OSU and around Columbus about Cystic Fibrosis
  • Assisted in creating and bagging up some fall crafts for children at Nationwide Children’s hospital for Haloween to create an environment where kids don’t feel as nervous in a hospital setting.

Community commitment event                                                                                                                                                                                                                              August 2019

  • Aimed toward serving the community by coordinating different events where students can volunteer to serve the community.
  • Collaborated with fellow Health Sciences Scholars members to assist in packing balloons, straws and other resources for children at Nationwide.

HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

International club                                                                                                                                                                                                                              August 2016-March 2019

  • Collaborated with the principal to help spread awareness on the importance of cultural diversity in the school.
  • Coordinated events such as cultural diversity celebration and hands across Westerville in order to maximize leadership.

National Honors Society                                                                                                                                                                                                                       August 2017-May 2019

  • Focused on service projects in the community and a special focus on the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. The main focus of National Honor society was community commitment and the ability to be selfless and work for the betterment of others.
  • Contributed in developing a plan to help the children in Guatemala by donating pencils and notebooks and other essential school supplies for the children.
  • Supported in the movement and setup of bulky equipment for the preparation of an event called starry night.

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

Foreign language proficiency in Swahili

Artifacts

When I began my second semester of freshman year, I was relaxed because I thought the first Chemistry midterm was going to be easy since it was only a few weeks after the first day of classes. I did not prepare for my first midterm as much as I should have. I remember thinking that it was going to be fine but when I took the practice exams, I realized that it was not going to be an easy first exam. I went into the exam hoping for the best because of the lack of preparation. I remember leaving the exam room thinking I had done poorly and that was the case when the results were released. I was devastated and almost gave up because of this one exam that, if only I had prepared for, I would have succeeded. I was stressed out more than I have ever been for an entire week. I did not talk to most of my friends during the time since I did not want to be reminded of the failure that I thought I was. As much as I would have liked to believe the phrase “one exam does not determine how you do in the rest of the course” at the time, I couldn’t. I was certain that because of this first exam, my whole semester was ruined and I could not perform any better. I learned later on that we have to fail in order for us to succeed. As cliche as that sounds, I had to have an experience like that in order for me to succeed in Chemistry. I was able to seek help and practice on my Chemistry and because of this, I was able to improve in the next exams and even the final. I managed to gain an important attribute from the first exam; resilience. This experience helped me learn to accept my defeats, learn from them and make improvements where necessary.

About Me

My name is Luke Ajowi and I am from Columbus, Ohio. I went to Westerville North High School and what I can say is that it was fun while it lasted. The first day of high school was overwhelming with figuring out the school and meeting new people. I was very shy throughout my freshman and most of my sophomore year. Luckily my junior and senior year I was able to be more outgoing. College is now the way forward as I plan on studying Biology in my undergrad and hopefully going into medical school. I hope to learn new things and make life long connections in my time in college. In my free time I like to watch YouTube, play soccer or basketball.