Artifact 2

 

 

I am not the owner of this painting. I however chose this painting as it reminded me of the time that I spent in Ghana as a child. Reminiscing my childhood memories, I instantly see a clear vision of what my nights in Ghana used to be like. All the children in the compound houses around us gathered beneath a big tree near by my house with anticipation for what Story would be told next. My late grandmother used to be the storyteller and every night was a new story about Kwaku Ananse and the morals he learnt from his life journeys. Kwaku Ananse is a trickster who appears both a man and a spider who makes mistakes in his everyday interactions and has to face different consequences according to his actions. He perceived to have gained honor to be the keeper of stories and these stories were therefore names Ananse stories. After every story she also discussed with as the issues that Ghana was facing at that point in time. The topic was usually the conditions and treatments that patients faced in the hospital and how that had to change soon. These nights always left me thinking of what I can do to contribute to my motherland and has continued up until now. These stories also helped to build most of the moral grounds I have today in regards to respect and being open minded but has also strengthened my African roots.

 

Action for remaining time on campus

My first two years of my undergraduate career has been a very impactful experience. Through the ups and down, I have learnt to take things one step at a time. I have learnt that there are so many things that I do not have control of and instead of focusing on that, it is more important to focus on the things that I can control.

For my remaining years, I plan to continue to work towards finishing out my courses for my degree as well as my prerequisites for medical school. I will be applying to medical school the summer of my senior year as I am taking a gap year. I hope to gain more clinical as well as shadowing experiences during my gap year. I also would love to continue going to mission trips as I love learning about other cultures. These mission trips serves as a driving force for my future goals and really motivates me to keep on pushing.

Year In Review (Sophmore Year)

The ending of my freshmen year taught me many valuable lessons. This included taking my undergraduate years at my own pace as well as not comparing myself to others. I learnt that there is a difference between looking at the achievements of others and being motivated by that rather than being hard on myself for not being able to accomplish what others have.

My classes this year were very challenging compared to my freshmen year. This is due to the fact that I began to take more science courses and they were also more challenging. Through the challenges, I was able to reevaluate my progress and develop better studying skills along the way. Organic chemistry challenged me the most, especially since we had to switch to online classes due to COVID. I utilized office hours alot and I found that they were very helpful in clearing up misunderstandings as well as helpful in reinforcing the class materials.

In terms of extracurricular activities, I have been more involved in volunteering, attending club meetings and done more internships. One of my highlights was attending a Mission trip to Kenya in December of 2019. I have always been very passionate about disparities in the healthcare system. The purpose of this trip was to provide healthcare services as well as healthcare equipments to our designated location in Kenya. Throughout the trip, I was devastated when listening to the challenges and obstacles that the citizens faced when it came to receiving healthcare and how this had affected their lives as a whole. This trip motivated and reminded me of why I have always aspired to become a physician and how impactful I can be, starting now.

Overall, sophomore year has had its challenges but I am very grateful for how much I have been pushed out of my comfort zone as this has helped me grow in many ways.

About Me

 Christiana Arkorful-Bondzie, is a freshman at The Ohio State University. Although she is  Ghanaian-American, her childhood upbringing in Ghana plays a large role in her self-identify. She was raised by my extended family, while her immediate family lived in America. Her parents and her American-born younger siblings spent so many resources trying to re-unify her with them. This has helped shape a part of her I identity as she acknowledges the efforts and sacrifices it took for her parents to get her to the United States. She in no way want those sacrifice to be put to waste. She also comes from a strong Christian family background and she attends the Columbus Ghanaian Seventh Day Adventist church. As a first generation college student, her goal is to be  a good role model for the rest of my family members and prove that any dreams that one has in mind can be pursued. She hopes that her college experience will helps to broaden her knowledge on other cultures other than her own. She believes that this is vital  as she acknowledges that an individual’s culture has a great impact on the perspectives and views of that individual.
 She volunteered at the Riverside Methodist Hospital for two years and this really helped her to improve on her interaction skills and reinforced her passion to contribute to society in whatever means necessary. As an intern she was responsible for discharging patients and delivering gifts and supplies. However, in addition, she  often visited and had conversations with patients as permitted. She realized that even her small gesture of a consistent visit, no matter the duration of visit, can still bring so many patients joy. Having the opportunity to do this showed her that even though she is only a student, the actions and decisions she  make now can still be very impactful.

Year in Review (Freshman Year)

Throughout this semester, I have been faced with many decision makings that might impact my experience at The Ohio State University. My transition from high school to college was very challenging in regards to adapting to the course load required for each class. Coming into my first semester, I came in with so much confidence on what I can accomplish in college and I noticed that as time went by and things got difficult, I began to loose that confidence. I came in thinking that I had a set path to go and I soon noticed that this does not have to be the case as Ohio State has so much to offer. For me that sent me straight to panic mood as I did not like the idea of change. As time went on however, I noticed that my concept on what was considered success began to mature and I began to view change with a positive perspective as one was life does not always have a set path.

The biggest lesson I have learnt so far is that college and life is not a race. We are all from different backgrounds and even though college constantly feels like a competition, the only person that I should be in a race is myself. And the only person that I should want to beat is my best self because at the end of the day, I know who and how that looks like. This kind of attitude and thinking will help me stay more sane in regards to my mental health as well as the decrease any unnecessary stress level caused by self comparison. For the rest of my first year, I want to be able to maintain good grades to help me set a strong foundation for my remaining years. My goal is to develop persistence in everything I do as I feel like that is an excellent trait in becoming a successful college student. Another goal that I have is to be able to utilize all the resources available to me in order to help me In my classes as well as outside my classes. I plan to keep going to my professor and TA’s office hours as I noticed how helpful it is and how reaching out for help can make a great difference grade wise as well as communication wise.

My classes this semester really challenged me to think of factors other than school and school work. My sociology class helped me to better understand the evolution and still ongoing process of different types of inequality including economic inequality, race inequality and as well as gender inequality. My leadership class for Morrill scholars allowed me to have practice the skills and topics of leadership discussed in the class. This has helped me improve upon my leadership skills and how to handle difficult situations as well.

Overall, my experiences at The Ohio State University have had both positive and negative effects unit I am however eager to learn and experiment as time goes on.

G.O.A.L.S.

The Honors and Scholars G.O.A.L.S that resonates with me the most is Global Awareness. At the moment, I am taking sociology and a community leadership class. The community leadership class has broaden my view on topics like intercultural incompetence and ethnocentrism. Intercultural competence deals with ways in which we try to understand other cultures. It is important when trying to understand one’s culture to leave behind the idea of ethnocentrism. Which is thinking that your culture is better than another person’s culture and this judgement is usually based of from what one considers as social norms and values within their society. Ethnocentrism is the complete opposite of intercultural competence as it prevents gaining understanding or more insight on a culture. Having a positive mindset, and the curiosity to explore other cultures helps when it comes to intercultural competence. An aspect of the class is service-learning and I volunteer at the Milo-Grogan Boys and Girls Club. This has been very impactful on me as I have been able to apply what I have been learning in class to my site. I recall one of the teenagers telling me that “these are not Disney kids but rather kids that are used to the constant sounds of gunshots in their daily lives”. This helped made me realize that I was in the position to make a positive impact on the children as not all of them are as fortunate as I am. Sociology has taught me that understanding a person means to understand the societal values and norms to which they grew up in and how their history has helped shape them to the individuals that they are. These two classes have helped me understand that different experiences can be produced from the same circumstance as everyone has different perspectives and opinions and that factors into their overall thoughts and outlook of things. This is an important perspective to have and I hope that I can use what I have learnt to make our society and the work field that I want to go in to a better place.

   I am a Teen Leader and Secretary for The Columbus Ghanaian Pathfinder club. Our purpose is to know God and participate in community activities like donating to homeless shelters and organization revivals. I have been recognized as one of the first teen staff members. As a teen leader,  I organize trips to nursing homes and homeless shelters, to engage the residents in stimulating activities to increase their quality  of life. I also lead an outreach team of 8 people, working to spread the word of the club’s purpose throughout various neighborhoods community events while we also host yearly community breakfast during holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas to bring the community together. I am also the Camp official at our biannual Midwest Youth Camp. I help in organizing and making arrangements in the rooms that the attendees will stay as well as checking the camp members in and out.

Artifact 1

 

 

I have been a member of the Columbus Ghanaian Marching and Drilling Team since the age of 12. It has always been a way for me to release my stress and at times, it reminds me of who I am when I feel discouraged and or begin to doubt myself. I sometimes command the drill team and other times, I perform with the baton. Whenever I lead the team, I always feel confident in my abilities to do so and I do away with all the self doubt. This baton serves as a way for me to also self reflect on how much I have grown over the years.