Author: bair.143

BuckeyeThon 2021

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This year I got to be the team captain for my scholars team in the biggest student-run philanthropy event on campus: BuckeyeThon! We raise money and awareness for children in the Hematology/Oncology unit at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and have raised millions over the 20 years that this philanthropy has been in place. As the team captain I was responsible for recruiting team members and then supporting them in their fundraising efforts. I did this by compiling ideas fr fundraising, serving as a liaison between team members and BuckeyeThon administration, and organizing ways for them to get involved. Our team has consistently raised the highest amount of every team at BuckeyeThon for the past many years, and this year was no different! We raised a record-high amount of money this year and were able to do a record-high amount of good with the cancer patients at the children’s hospital! I loved getting to meet the patients who have been helped by our efforts, and seeing the huge change we are able to make as students.

G.O.A.L.S.

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My experience on the Mount Leadership Society Social Change Committee has perfectly encapsulated the G.O.A.L.S. of the OSU Honors & Scholars Program. Given the opportunity to work closely with 3 other scholars, who became close friends, as chairs of a 15-person committee. I helped coordinate a myriad of different social justice events and publications. We covered social justice topics from stigma against the hijab to fast fashion. We were able to meet faculty members at the university from multiple different specialties, as we recruited their skills to teach dozens of students at a time about how they can participate in social change. We encouraged them to use what they learned to educate others, in the hopes of inspiring change in our community.

My love for educating others on the underrepresented extends into my research as well. As a research assistant in the Eye and Ear Institute of The Wexner Medical Center I get to work on a project that uses eye-tracking and audio recordings to identify how children with cochlear implants learn language. Though I hope that my research teaches others how to better consider implanted children in their curriculum and daily conversations, the project has taught me more than I could have ever expected. In addition to our data collection and analysis we participate in a sort of “reading group” where we read nonfiction books about the science behind language development and the causes of some inequities in healthcare for deaf children.

Last summer I had the chance to shadow extensively in the Ear, Nose, and Throat Clinic at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, under a kind and patient physician. I was able to see kids of all ages come in for all reasons and watch that physician provide top-notch care for them, regardless of their background. I was taught about listening closely to patient’s and patient families. Interestingly, I also watched that physician fight for the healthcare rights of all of his patients. He went to bat for them numerous times, calling on resources with a zeal that was far beyond what would be “required” for a doctor. He truly believed in the totality of healthcare. It was not enough for him to fix the anatomical problem and send them on their way. He made sure that they were emotionally and socially provided for as well. I cannot wait to implement that same concern for holistic well-being when I am practicing medicine on my own!

Biology Grass Research Paper

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During the Autumn 2020 semester I took an intro Biology class where I was required to perform 3 months of scientific research, write a formal research paper, and present my research to the class. This paper helped me to develop both my research and writing skills. I collaborated with other members of my class to find and cite other scientific articles. Most importantly, I learned the importance of data collection and analysis. This experience has made me very excited for future opportunities in scientific research, and has given me a greater appreciation for the work of others.

Link to final research paper: GRP Research Paper Final

20-21 Year in Review

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This year was a lot different than I always expected it would be. While COVID-19 continued to make its way around the world and into my everyday life, it caused me to reevaluate a lot of my beliefs, and recognize the things I had always taken for granted. It has been a very scary time, but some amazing things came out of it and that is what I want to have immortalized on this ePortfolio. The pandemic stopped me from doing a lot of things I love, but with that came so much time to really delve into school. Assignments that I had previously just wanted to “get over with and get the grade” became actual opportunities for learning. The new screens in between me and my professors caused them to become more compassionate, and offer more resources to my peers and I for mental health services and tutoring. Being forced to stay in small groups meant that every moment with my friends and classmates was an intimate one, a stark contrast from Zoom webinars with hundreds of people, and allowed me to get to know new people better than I ever would.

The year taught me all about being proactive in reaching out to people, and being patient when others don’t show the same initiative. It did also teach me that some meetings really could just be an email. I spent more time outside, more time being active, and more time learning about what I truly love: the human body. The classes I took this semester all related to each other more than ever before, and within a few weeks I could see myself making all sorts of connections between them and my real life. I shared the knowledge I gained with everyone who was willing to listen, though I think my family is pretty tired of hearing about how much I know of the digestive system of a mink from anatomy dissections. I was also so lucky so be a part of the Mount Leadership Society Scholars Program, which gave me opportunities to volunteer and do service projects countless times throughout the year. Though I have lived and served in Columbus my whole life I don’t think I have ever felt this connected to the community! My Mount Legacy Week Projects in particular helped me to achieve that feeling.

There are a few things I don’t want to stay next year. Wearing a mask to run on the treadmill, never knowing how tall people actually are, having to say goodbye to my closest friends because they have to go into quarantine. But there are many more things that I do want to stay! Everyone working together for the greater good, movement upon movement for social change, prioritizing students’ health over their productivity, getting outdoors as often as possible, and so much more. It was a crazy year, but I most certainly wouldn’t change it for the world.

Career

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This is a very fortunate section for me, since I am applying to medical school I have always had to keep close track of everything I have ever been involved in, so I will consider this a running list!

Shadowing: done in NICU, ER, and ENT at 3 different hospitals, hoping to add one or two more experiences to this!

Clinical service experience: OSU COVID-19 vaccine clinic volunteer, volunteer in Mother/Infant Unit of local hospital

Nonclinical volunteering: OSU Pay It Forward, Mid-Ohio Food Bank, volunteer research assistant

Leadership Experience: Leadership and Social Change Committee Chair, BuckeyeThon Team Captain, Team Lead for Mount Legacy week service projects with NCCC and Ronald McDonald House

Extracurricular involvements: BuckeyThon, Mount Leadership Society, Alumnae Scholarship Program

Habitat for Humanity Service Project

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On October 7th I was able to participate in a service project through the Habitat for Humanity Club at OSU, my first big service project of the semester! We were responsible for organizing bags of supplies for Safe Point, a safe needle exchange program in Columbus, OH. What sounded like an easy and quick project, ultimately ended up lasting around five hours. It was extremely tedious and time-consuming, and I was only responsible for a small portion of the supplies. With huge outreach made by Safe Point every day, it is a miracle that they have enough supplies prepared, and they must run their supply organization almost entirely on volunteer work.

This project made me realize how extensively volunteer work holds up a lot of charitable organizations in the world. I had previously thought that most organizations only used volunteers for special occasions, or when absolutely necessary, that the groups could sustain themselves even in the absence of volunteers. Realistically, however, volunteer work is absolutely essential to the success of so many organizations. Although I have been an active volunteer in the past, this experience has made me aware of the cruciality of service in that capacity, and excited to continue helping my community through volunteering!

About Me

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Morgan Bair is a first-year Mount Scholar at The Ohio State University studying biochemistry on a pre-med track. She is from Hilliard, OH where she attended Hilliard Darby High School. She has attended Ohio State since her junior year of high school and graduated with nearly two years of college credit. She was extremely involved in service activities and extracurriculars in high school and continues to be as involved in her college career. She currently spends her days studying to be the most successful college student she can be and forming relationships with professors and doctors who will be able to help her on her way to medical school.

Morgan has been, and continues to be, involved in the student-run philanthropy, BuckeyeThon, at OSU, where she is able to fundraise and raise awareness for pediatric cancer. She is also a part of the Mount Leadership Society Scholars group, where she sits on the Leadership and Social Change Committee. She is becoming increasingly involved with the Ronald McDonald House, and is able to participate in various service events through the Habitat for Humanity club. She loves to run, spend time outside with her two siblings, and learn about the way the human body functions, which makes her career choice ideal!

She intends to attend medical school where she will specialize in pediatrics, and go on to be a neonatologist. She has spent considerable time in a hospital setting, between volunteering in the Mother/Infant Unit at Dublin Methodist Hospital, and shadowing in the NICU and ER at other local hospitals. She hopes to halt the impact of the opioid epidemic in Ohio on newborn babies, and by doing so, create a safer, healthy place for these babies to grow up. Her desire to serve the community in this capacity stems from her intense passion for social change and love for children.