Being globally and culturally aware, in my opinion, is one of the most important goals that young people should strive for. It allows us to understand people and the world more thoroughly, and increases the amount of empathy that we feel towards others. In order to heighten my own global awareness, I decided to minor in Spanish. The Spanish speaking world is so diverse, and each country’s culture is unique in its own way. By taking classes to earn a Spanish minor, I will be able to delve into the complexities of Hispanic culture and understand more clearly about the life that millions of people around the world live.

In addition to taking Spanish courses, I strive to study abroad during my time as an undergraduate to experience first-hand the culture of a Spanish speaking country. The summer after my senior year of high school, I was afforded the opportunity to visit and stay with a host family in Costa Rica. I was able to learn so much about the culture, the people that lived there, and myself while making life-long friends in the process. I would love to visit another Spanish speaking country and grow more culturally aware, all the while discovering things about myself that I never even knew and reaching my full potential as a Spanish student.

Since I was little, I have always been inquisitive. That nature holds true today, and is reflected in both my efforts in school work and extracurriculars. While taking Chemistry 1920H, instead of having weekly experiments from a lab manual for the lab component of the class, each student completed a semester long research project. I was introduced to the process of conducting scientific research, from the proposal to the final presentation of results, and learned multitudes about a booming field of solar cell research when related to a promising compound called a perovskite.

In addition to this semester long research project, I also conducted a different sort of project of original inquiry in my philosophy writing course. For the final paper of the term, our professor challenged us to craft our own philosophical argument about a topic of our choosing. I am very interested in environmental ethics, and so this is the topic that I chose. In order to write the paper, I had to research many other arguments on environmental ethics and incorporate them into my own opinions on the ethical standard that individuals hold to be environmentally conscious. This project allowed me to delve deeper into what I held to be morally right and lead me to ask broader questions about society’s role in solving problems like climate change.

Lastly, at the beginning of the sophomore year, I started to work in Dr. Claudia Turro’s research lab. Her lab deals with the chemistry of transition metal ligand complexes and their applications in fields such as drug delivery. Working in her lab, I am able to contribute to not only the community of Ohio State, but beyond as well.

My dedication to academic enrichment shows through the rigorous coursework that I have chosen to take on during my time at The Ohio State University. My freshman year, I chose to pursue the Honors General Chemistry sequence, which has greatly deepened my understanding and passion for the field of chemistry and its real world applications. I chose to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry because of my love for the field, which has also been augmented by my experiences in Biology 1113H and the connections I was able to make between that class and my honors chemistry courses.

While scientific courses spark my curiosity, the humanities peak my interests as well. I decided to pursue a minor in Spanish due to my interest in the culture of the Spanish-speaking world and my desire to learn more about it. Many of my GE’s, as well, are humanities courses, and provide me with an understanding of how society and people work. These classes are mostly honors courses, exemplifying my dedication to attain a deeper knowledge on a variety of subjects. In my opinion, the sciences and humanities compliment each other, and by taking many classes in both fields, I will graduate with a well-rounded education that allows me to analyze situations and data from multiple viewpoints.

I have attempted to develop my leadership skills in a variety of ways, one of those ways being my involvement in the Honors and Scholars program. In the fall of my sophomore year, I was given the opportunity to be an Honors and Scholars Ambassador and I accepted the position. In this role, I have been able to talk with current students and help them through different events that the program holds. I have also been able to connect with prospective students and teach them more about Ohio State and the Honors and Scholars program here. In this way, I am able to lend my experience so that students can make collegiate decisions that best suit their needs.

In addition to my involvement in the Honors and Scholar program, I started to get involved in my residence hall council at the beginning of my sophomore year. Although I did not hold any official position on the board, I attended general body meetings and was able to vote on decisions that affected my residence hall experience. Being more involved in my residence hall, whether it was through hall council meetings or attending general programming events, helped me to form a stronger community within my hall and allowed me to feel more integrated into Ohio State’s larger community.