G.O.A.L.S Essay

Many of the G.O.A.L.S from the University Honors and Scholars are present in my everyday life. Both inside and outside of the classroom, I feel the G.O.A.L.S shaping me as a person, and giving me ideas of the kind of person I want to be and the kind of things I would like to accomplish in my life. However, two of the G.O.A.L.S are more present and weighing than the rest: Leadership Development and Service Engagement. These two characteristics have always been a big part of my life, are a huge part of my life now, and will be everything in my life moving forward.

Leadership Development and Service Engagement are two attributes that I am proud to say have played a large role in shaping me in the man I am today. As a youth and well into my high school years, Leadership and Service were apart of sports for me, as well as volunteering at my church. Service to me was everything from serving in the soup kitchen to helping set up beds and areas for homeless to sleep. Also during my high school years, I volunteered at the Virginia Air and Space Museum where I worked with children wanting to learn more about science. It was nice being able to mentor young kids and help them to reach their potential and explore their interests. Although I do enjoy service, I feel that my greatest strength is leadership, hands down. On all of my high school sports teams, Cross Country, Golf, Lacrosse, and Basketball, I was voted team captain and took every opportunity to lead by example. I love the feeling of having people depending on me and looking to me to see what I will do in different situations. This, I feel, inspires greatness, and that is what motivates me moving forward: the need for greatness.

I can confidently say that leadership and service are apart of my everyday life. I live, eat and breathe these attributes. This is because I am a Cadet in the AFROTC Program at Detachment 645 here at Ohio State. Going through this program has changed me more than any other single action in my life, I had to change, or I wouldn’t have made it this far. In the Air Force, the first thing we learn are the Air Force Core Values: Integrity First, Service Before Self, Excellence In All We Do. Service Before Self is extremely important to me currently, and it isn’t just a nice catch phrase or something I take lightly. I helped out with the annual 1 Day for the KIA race around the oval, which raises money for families of those who have been KIA, POW, or MIA. This past year, the organization raised $20,000 for the cause, something I like to think I helped with. I made bags lining the track with the names of fallen OSU heroes, their service branch, the conflict they were in, and their rank. I also did the Color Guard for the race as part of the Centurion Drill Team. Leadership is the other thing that we learn all about in AFROTC, and a trait that I find unique to me. Leadership is something we never stop learning about, and something that isn’t concrete or something that has a set pattern or way of being done. General Omar Bradley said a great quote that depicts this: “Leadership is intangible, therefore no weapon ever designed can replace it”. There is no set rulebook on how to lead, no step-by-step process in which one can become the next Dwight D. Eisenhower or Abraham Lincoln, it is something that must be figured out individually, and in my opinion, through trial and error.

In the future, I hope to be commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. Leadership and Service will be the bedrock for which I form my career as an Officer, and will be of the utmost importance. As an officer, I will be responsible for overseeing the operations of 50 or more enlisted airmen, and this will involve leadership abilities that need to be instinctive and already proven. A great man once said, “learn from all leaders, good and bad”. This is another thing that is important, to learn from other leaders. Service to my country is what I see in my future, which is why Service Engagement is so important to me. I want to fight for those who don’t have a voice heard; I want to be a defender of freedom and to be somebody to be looked up to. As I said before: leadership and service aren’t in my future, they are my future.

 

Artifact #1

Color_Guard

In AFROTC you have the option to join extra-curricular organizations. In order to join these organizations you have to go through different processes in order to become a member. I chose to join the Det 645 Centurion Drill Team. Becoming a Centurion was an extremely difficult yet rewarding experience. I learned leadership, teamwork, service, and professional skills that I will carry with me through life. Our Drill Team performs different events including: Saber Arches, Color Guards, and other Drill Events. This is a picture of me presenting the colors in a color guard at the annual 1 Day for the KIA event. I have also done color guards for the Ohio State basketball games and volleyball games. And I just completed  a color guard for the NCAA Gymnastics National Championships. Being on the Centurion Drill Team has taught me countless leadership skills that I have grown from and how to take responsibility and be accountable for all of your actions.

Resume

Wyatt Biscan

24 Roberts Landing Dr.

Poquoson, VA 23662

wyattbiscan@yahoo.com

(757)-969-3875

 

RESUME PROFILE

AFROTC Cadet working to earn an Enrollment Allocation and eventually earn a Commission into the United States Air Force. Also working to gain a degree in Aerospace Engineering.

 

EDUCATION

The Ohio State University, Autumn 2015-Present, pursuing degree in Aerospace Engineering.

 

New Horizons Governor’s School for Science and Technology, September 2013 – 2015

Poquoson High School, September 2011 – 2015, earned Advanced Studies Diploma

Graduation date: June 2015

G.P.A. 3.85     Top 20% of class

 

EXPERIENCE

 

NASA Langley Aerospace Research Student Scholars Program (LARSS)

  • Paid internship at NASA Langley over the summer of 2014 of 400+ hours. Worked with a mentor in the Vehicle Analysis Branch on designing a sample return vehicle and mission. Tested out multiple Jet Propulsion Laboratory cases for sample return design. Also, enhanced a program, which models vehicle entry into planetary atmospheres.

 

Virginia Air and Space Center Volunteer Work

  • 2013 – 2015
  • Helped run the planetarella exhibit, also known as northern lights.
  • Worked with kids aged 7 and below at festivals which Virginia Air and Space attended.
  • Volunteered over the Star Wars weekend making crafts with kids aged 7 and below.

 

Special Friends, Poquoson Elementary School

  • September 2013 – June 2014
  • Volunteer 3 times a week at Poquoson Elementary School
  • Provide tutoring to 5th grade students in Math and Science.
  • Help teachers with various day-to-day tasks.
  • Provide assistance with the 3rd grade gym classes.

 

Volunteer for Our Lady of Mt. Caramel Church

  • September 2011 – 2015. Volunteered with the PORT project at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church- duties include:       collecting food from the community for the area’s homeless, setting up the homeless shelter and handing out food to the homeless in the shelter

 

 

The ‘C’ Programming Language

  •      Variables, Data Types; arithmetic expressions, program looping, arrays, call functions, if and else                                                   statements, and switch statements

 

Advanced Java/MATLAB Programming

  • Variables, functions, classes

 

 

 

 

HONORS, AWARDS, MEMBERSHIPS, CLUBS, AND SPORTS

 

  • Detachment 645 Centurion Drill Team Member AU 2015-Present
  • STEM Exploration and Engagement Scholar AU 2015-Present
  • Member of National Honor Society
  • DECA 2011-2015
  • Spanish Club/Spanish Honor Society 2012-2015
  • Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society) 2012-2015
  • 2013 Offensive Player Of The Year for Poquoson High School JV Basketball
  • District Champion in Job Interview for DECA in 2011
  • Poquoson High School Varsity Lacrosse- Freshman-Sophomore- Team Captain 2013
  • Poquoson High School Varsity Lacrosse- 2014- Most Valuable Player
  • Poquoson High School JV Basketball- 2011/2012, 2012/2013- Team Captain 2013
  • Poquoson High School Varsity Basketball- 2013/2014- Team Captain
  • Poquoson High School Varsity Basketball- 2013/2014- Leadership Award
  • Poquoson High School Varsity Basketball- 2013/2014- Coach’s Award
  • Varsity Cross Country- 2011, 2012, 2013
  • Select Lacrosse Travel Team, Peninsula Patriots -2011, 2012, 2013

 

 

 

 

 

Some transferable skills that I have learned in scholars have been to branch out and learn as much about different opportunities as I can. This includes actively seeking out clubs, meeting groups and people of similar mindset and interest, that may have good insights I can learn from. Making an effort to learn more about different careers is crucial at this stage in life, as the best way to become successful is to do what you love, and you will never know what you truly enjoy unless you are actively seeking different hobbies and pursuing different interests. I have also learned many ways of leading and dealing with adversity through Air Force ROTC. It has taught me different ways of interacting with peers that will be indescribably useful at later times in life. I have become not only a better leader because of it, but also a better follower.

Welcome to my Honors & Scholars e-Portfolio

My name is Wyatt Biscan, and I am a first year student at The Ohio State University, I am a STEM EE Scholar and an AFROTC cadet. I am interested in STEM for many reasons, and am looking forward to pursuing a STEM degree. I am from a small town in Poquoson, VA. I have lived on the water all my life and am very interested in everything about marine life. However, my number one passion would be with Planes and Space. I hope to one day become a USAF Test Pilot and then an Astronaut.

Year in Review

[ “Year in Review”  is where you should reflect on the past year and show how you have evolved as a person and as a student.  You may want to focus on your growth in a particular area (as a leader, scholar, researcher, etc.) or you may want to talk about your overall experience over the past year.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

G.O.A.L.S.

[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.

Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc .
Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]

Career

[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career.  Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated.   For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

Artifacts

[Artifacts are the items you consider to be representative of your academic interests and achievements. For each entry, include both an artifact and a detailed annotation.  An annotation is a reflective description of the artifact that attempts to communicate its significance.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

About Me

IMG_0545

 

Hello, my name is Wyatt Biscan and I am a first year student at The Ohio State University. I am a STEM EE Scholar, an Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corp. Cadet, and an Aerospace Engineering major. There are many things in my life that have led me to pursue a STEM degree, and the STEM EE program in general. The STEM field is very interesting to me for many reasons, and there are many experiencing that I will never forget, and that will help me in the route that I choose to take.

One life experience that has led me to take on the STEM EE Scholars would be growing up in a town that is so close and engaged into the STEM community. I grew up in Poquoson, Virginia, which is two minutes away from Langley Air Force Base and NASA Langley Research Center. Most of the people who lived in my small town did one of two things: worked on the water, or worked as a government worker at nearby NASA Langley or the Air Force Base. This meant that I met many people in STEM careers, which I took a liking to from an early age. It was because of my proximity to NASA that I was able to land a paid internship at NASA in the summer of 2014. This helped me get a better feel for the field as a whole.

Another experience would be the high schools that I attended. I attended two different high schools simultaneously: Poquoson High School, and The Governor’s School for Science and Technology. The Governor’s School, or Gov School for short, is where I took my Math and Science classes, while at Poquoson I took history, english, and electives. Going to Gov School gave me a solid background in STEM classes and further deepened my love for the field. I went to this school for two years, my Junior and Senior years, and had to apply to it during my Sophomore year. During my senior year I got a mentorship through my school at NASA Langley where I continued research from the summer of 2014.

The final experience that has led me to pursue STEM Education would be my dock. I live on the water in Poquoson Virginia, and at night me and my friends would sit on my dock and hang out. But I could never take my eyes off of the night sky, the stars that shone right above my head and I couldn’t help but think: what is out there? It is so mesmerizing to me, but the most important thing to me is that while others feel small looking into the night sky, I feel big. I feel like I am able to go and accomplish great things, and would one day love to leave this earth on a rocket ship, as an Astronaut.

My 5 strengths were: Strategic, Futuristic, Competition, Achiever, and Input. Completing the Strengths Finder assignment really opened my eyes to different ways of looking at strengths that I have. Although I was first skeptical at how well the program really determined my strengths, as a few I didn’t totally agree with(and thought I was missing several), I came to appreciate the assignment and thought it was very useful. I enjoyed the fact that we could look at strengths that maybe were more obvious, and also pinpoint strengths that many of us never knew we even had.

I see these strengths playing a role in my life in many ways: they will help me both achieve my own goals, but also help others to achieve theirs, they will give me places to turn to when I believe all is lost, they will aid me in my times of greatest need. Being strategic will help me to organize and plan ahead of time to avoid mistakes, it will help me to think through decisions I may make to make sure I am making the correct ones. Futuristic will help me to always keep my eyes set on the future and keep me thinking about setting goals, big and small. It will allow me to look at tasks and see the bigger picture of how it will affect my future. Being a competitor will make me mentally and physically strong. I will never look at a task and say: “I don’t know if I can do this”. If someone wants to compete with me, they better be ready for a battle, because I am competetive and will not quit. As Will Smith once said: “If someone gets on a treadmill with me, 1 of 2 things will happen: you will get off first, or I’m going to die on that treadmill.” I don’t quit and I have being a competitor to thank for that. Reaching for the best, or achieving, will help me to always strive for greatness. I see this strength as forcing me to look at every task, great or small, as a chance at perfection. I will always strive for greatness. Input will allow me to help bring a group of people together by interweaving their different ideas to create a strong group and team.

All of these strengths will help me in my academics in different ways. Being futuristic will allow me to focus on the courses I know that I need to advance into my major, into graduating, into pilot training and into my career. Strategy will help me to plan on what I need to study for, and what portions of time I need to devote to what tasks. Competition will help me to bounce back from failures, which are bound to happen being in Aerospace Engineering and ROTC at the same time. Achiever will allow me to strive for the best grades possible on each and every assignment. Input will help me in classes like ENG 1181 where we work in groups and need to work with each others ideas. I will be able to string our ideas together and help us accomplish great things.

Knowing my strengths supports and changes my thoughts about the future. My strengths support how I feel about hopefully going to pilot training and competing fiercly along the way, it supports the fact that I feel like I am good at bringing people from different walks of life together as one, which is greatly needed as an Officer in the U.S. Air Force. It changes my thoughts on the future because it shows that I am an achiever, and it gives me more confidence moving forward.

I will use my strengths in many ways. The most important way in which my strengths will help me achieve my future goals would be all of them working together as one. What I mean by this is having all my strengths; achiever, input, competitor, strategic, and futuristic, working off of each other to help me be the best I can be. It will turn me into someone who never quits, and gets sick at the thought of losing; someone who will look to the future as a place to be great, a place of achieving anything my mind can dream; someone who helps bring groups of people together, creating production, commraderie, and boosts morale; and someone who will strive for excellence every second of every day. This is my mission, these are my strengths.