Animals have always been one of my favorite things to learn about and study, and are part of the reason I chose to seek a career in the field of science. Because of that, I greatly enjoy making trips to the zoo. Every time I visit I learn something new about at least one animal, or something new about how humans and animals interact. I hope to go there many times in my life, and love to see how it continuously improves.
This ePortfolio is an updated tab on my life, career, and schooling. It gives a good representation of who I am and where I would like to get in life. My main goal of it is for the reader to leave with a positive view of me and show that I really do try my hardest in life.
As my first semester of college winds down, I have found that it has been a much easier transition than I thought it would be. Ohio State has plenty of stuff to do around campus of all varieties so that it is easy for everyone to fit in. Football season was a blast, even though half of the games were freezing cold. Classes are slightly harder than I expected them to be, but overall I am happy with where I currently am at. Midterms and finals are insanely stressful, but the good feeling you get when you finish one and get a good grade is worth it all. Overall, I really loved my first semester at Ohio State, and cannot wait to see what the future holds.
Global Awareness: This is how accepting a person is of others and how including they are. It also can encompass how much knowledge one has of other cultures and groups of people. This is important in science careers because the whole world is working together when it comes to issues. Everyone has to be on the same page in order to advance. Studying abroad or studying other cultures could help me be more globally aware, although right now I have no intentions of studying abroad.
Original Inquiry: This is the ability to come up with your own ideas and projects. Original inquiry is especially important in science fields because it is the main way of scientific breakthroughs. People doing their own research in labs is what advances the field and brings us closer to the problems we want to solve, such as disease. If original inquiry did not exist, science classes would not exist. It is very important for me to get a research position while still in school to give me experience and learn more about the field of science that I am in.
Academic Enrichment: This is the ability to apply yourself in the classroom to better understand your field of study. This is very easy to do as Ohio State, as they offer the best science courses out there. I just need to continue to apply myself in all of my studies and the knowledge will definitely come.
Leadership Development: This is pretty self-explained, as it is the ability to develop leadership skills. It is important to be a leader in the field of science because it needs people to be the ones to make breakthroughs and show everyone else how to do research. It is easy to develop leadership skills in college because they offer such a broad array of classes and programs designed specifically to build leadership skills.
Service Engagement: This is important in any field of study, or just in life in general. Volunteering is incredibly helpful to people or businesses in need. The ability to give and be fine with getting nothing in return is hard to develop, but is a very good trait to have. It makes everyone feel good when you volunteer. Columbus has so many volunteer opportunities that it would be hard not to find something you are interested in helping with.
The book Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton is what really drove me to choose my career path. My current major is molecular genetics, and obviously this book is a good representation of that. Without the knowledge of how genetics work, this great fantasy zoo would have never existed. Whenever someone asks me what I want to do with my career, I jokingly say, “I want to build Jurassic Park.” As I obviously know that is pretty far out of the question, it is undoubtedly something I would love to. For now, however, I need to focus on school so that I can get a little bit of a more realistic career.
One of the things I am the most proud of myself in my life is when I built my own computer. The above picture is not a picture of the actual computer I built (sadly), but it is similar. At the end of my freshman year of high school, right before summer, I told myself that I was going to work the entire summer to save up enough money to build my own PC, which would cost about $1000. It was tough, but a couple months after summer ended, I finally had saved up enough money to build it, and it was definitely a worthwhile investment. I learned a lot about how to manage money, how to set goals that I can accomplish, and a lot about how computers work. All of those will help me greatly in my career.
There are many aspects of life that make a person who they are. Some are good, and some are bad. For a lot of people, their good aspects and traits greatly outweigh their bad. Unfortunately, there are those few where it is not that way. Hopefully those bad people recognize their bad traits and put in the effort to fix them. That is all we can really hope. Other than that, we just really need to worry about ourselves.
It is hard for me to look at myself, because often I worry that I am looking too highly upon myself. I don’t want to come off as arrogant or cocky in any way. I do have enough confidence, however, to recognize that I have a lot of good traits. I see myself as a nice person who likes to give everyone a chance in my life. Most of the time I have a positive outlook on life and that drives me to have a good work ethic. I am good at handling problems that arise in my life, and I like to think that nothing can keep me from completing a task or challenge.
As a student at The Ohio State University, all of the aforementioned traits help in a huge way. I know how to include these into my life here, and they help both in and out of the classroom. I know that a big part of college is making connections, and I like to think that I am a likable person, which will lead to many good friendships and relationships. My drive to succeed will help me in the classroom, as I know working hard will pay off big time both in the near and far future.