Project Title:  Ohio State’s 2015 – 2016 Relay for Life

Describe your involvement with this organization:

I am a 2 year team captain for the Health Science Scholar’s Relay for Life team as well as a member of the Accounting/Online committee for the Relay directors board.  As a team captain my duties were to recruit team members and inspire fundraising within the HSS organization.  As a member of the accounting/online committee I was a part of a team that posted updates on the Relay website for fundraisers, kept relay participants informed, and counted the money raised on the day of the event.  My other duties withing the organization were High Street Blitz (go door to door on High st. and ask local businesses if they want to sponsor Relay) and I helped to make the decorations for the Relay event.

Describe what you gained as a result of this experience:

In being a member of Ohio State’s Relay for Life team I improved my communication and networking skills.  I learned what it takes to put on a successful large fundraiser, even though this years Relay was cut drastically short due to weather.  I think most importantly though I made some close friends.  My subcommittee, the accounting/online committee, was a group of 5 guys.  I was the only one that didn’t know anyone in the group beforehand.  By the end of the year we were easily the most well-knit subcommittee which made our job a lot easier and more fun.  I’ve enjoyed the experience so much that I am currently applying to be a director within the organization.  I hope to share my passion for Relay with others and continue to fight for the cure.

Describe Positive Changes to the Community as a Result of Your Experience:

While the immediate community wasn’t directly effected, the greater cancer community gets a lot of benefits through the American Cancer Society.  The ACS is the second largest cancer fundraiser behind the United States Government.  All the money raised by Ohio State’s Relay for Life went directly to the ACS.  The funds go to research and the many programs that the ACS has, such as Hope Lodge.  For cancer survivors and caregivers in the immediate area, the Relay for Life experience is a memorable one.  The celebration of those who have beaten cancer, are fighting cancer, or lost there battle to cancer is very emotional.  Having an event that recognizes the strength of these individuals is a truly moving experience.  Every time I Relay I am reminded just how amazing the power of people coming together for a cause is, and I am proud to keep fighting.

Describe a Person You had an Interaction With That Had a Strong Impression on You:

As I stated earlier, working within my subcommittee was amazing.  Vijay, Kashish, Amahd, and Gavin are some of the nicest guys I’ve ever met and it was a true pleasure working with them.  They are all extremely intelligent and driven individuals and it was really inspiring to work with them.  They brought so much good energy to the committee meetings and to our different tasks that they didn’t even seem mandatory.  It was genuinely fun to go and hang out with them and get stuff done.

Because of this experience, I am a more mature person.  Working in a committee like this is a lot like having a job.  People are counting on you to come through.  This experience has helped me put my absolute best foot forward in all my endeavors.

I interviewed my abnormal psych professor, Ben Pfiefer, who is a graduate student studying clinical psychology here at Ohio State.  I chose to interview him because I am interested in clinical psychology, but I am also not 100% sure what I want to be when I grow up.  I may even join the peace corps or take a year off after graduating.  Seeing that Ben is a graduate student, I figured that was way closer to what I am now and what’s closer in my future.  One of the questions I asked him was “what is an average day in the life of an Ohio State Graduate student.”  He told me that, generally, he gets to campus around 8:00 AM and catches up on work, or current research in the field.  Afterwards he may have a therapy session with a student here at Ohio State.  From there he teaches 2 sections of abnormal psychology and holds office hours if students want to come meet him.  He then might have another couple of therapy sessions before he heads back home at around 6:00 PM.  I asked him how he became interested in clinical psychology and we talked about his undergraduate schooling at Notre Dame, and what kind of things he learned there.  He was involved in depression research and took several high level classes in psychology, including an advanced seminar on stresses impact of depression.  One of the more open ended and interesting questions I asked him was if he could do it all over again, would he change anything.  He told me that in all honesty he was completely satisfied with his decisions, but if he could change anything he might have taken a year off work or travel.  Finally, I asked him where he sees the field of clinical psychology in 5-10 years.  This is where the meat of our discussion came from.  I am a neuroscience major myself so we talked for a while about the increasing influence of biology on psychology and how we as the scientific community know very little about the brain.  As we make new discoveries we can take these findings and try to help those with mental disorders, either psychopharmacologically, with psychotherapy, or a combination of the two.  Ben said that there’s no way of knowing just what the field will look like and that’s what he’s most excited about.  All in all, my conversation with Ben was nice in that I got to meet the man behind my professor and really pick his brain.

This year has been the most formative year of my life in terms of figuring out who I am and what I want to do with my life.  I started off my sophomore year on the pre-med track, but pretty early on autumn semester I started to think that maybe I didn’t want to be a doctor.  By the time winter break rolled around I was officially off the pre-med track and back in the world of not knowing what I wanted to be when I grew up.  This may have been the best decision I ever made.  When you’re pre-med all you see in your future is becoming a doctor, and for a lot of people that works, but that was kind of unsatisfying for me.  Spring semester I thought a lot more about different things I could do with a Neuroscience degree like research, education, and even clinical psychology.  We’re nearing the end of the year, and I still don’t have a definite plan, but I really like having options.  The big things I was involved in this semester were Ohio State’s Relay for Life and Buckeye Stand-Up Comedy Club.  Relay helped me to develop professionally and mature in my handling of my responsibilities.  Stand-up club changed how I think about the world.  I’ve definitely changed as a person as a result of these two groups.  I’m not 100% sure how, but I feel different and I guess that’s what matters.  I still don’t know exactly what I’m going to do as these next two years progress, but I can tell you that I will be enjoying myself the whole way through.

I attended an event focused on stress management.  In this event we talked about what stresses us out in all areas of life from school to relationships.  I feel I do a pretty good job managing my stress as is but going to this event showed me some new tips and tricks to staying focused and budgeting my time.  Being a college student I am no stranger to new stressors constantly coming in and out of my life and I feel it’s important to maintain a level head when experiencing stress.  If you’re worrying about looming deadlines and assignments you won’t be able to put 100% of your skill into your current task.

I am heavily involved in Relay for Life here at Ohio State.  I help to recruit volunteers as well as recruit members for the HSS team.  As stated previously we have weekly meetings and sometimes I must attend back to back meetings, one for members of the executive board and one for team captains.

I am the team captain for HSS’s Relay for Life team.  I attend weekly meetings and any information I learn there I get to my team members in a timely fashion.  Also within Relay for Life I am a member of the executive board, as a part of the Accounting and Online subcommittee.

I try to maintain a diverse course load.  This semester I am in a Shakespeare class.  We have read several of the more famous sonnets, and are working through some of his plays.  Thus far we have read The Tragedy of Richard the Second, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  I highly enjoy reading Shakespeare’s works.  It gives me a break from all the heavy science courses I must take as a Neuroscience major.

Recently I joined Buckeye Stand Up Club and have been doing a couple open mics a week.  I walk around with a notebook and if I have an idea I think is funny or interesting I write it down.  It’s really helped me to become a more creative thinker and consider ideas in new ways.