It doesn’t seem possible that my first year at Ohio State and in HSS is coming to an end. Since starting school in August, I have seen a lot of growth as an individual. Prior to coming to Ohio State, I had a core group of friends that did everything together. While I still have these close friends that I see every break and occasionally go visit, I have also had the chance to meet many new amazing friends. Many of these friends were made in the beginning of first semester during HSS Day and during short conversations in Park-Stradley. My friendships with these people continued to grow as we found out that we were in many of the same classes. Another part of this year that helped me develop and meet more people was joining Alpha Gamma Delta. In just a few short months, this sorority has given me connections with upperclassmen that can recommend which classes to take together, allowed me to be a part of raising over $3,000 for Diabetes Education and Awareness, and has given me a place where I know I can grow as a leader.
In addition to making new friends, I have been able to continue volunteering, something that I have always joined doing. Whether it was making blankets and pillows for Nationwide Children’s Hospital or pretending to be a victim of a bombing to help train medical students at Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine, every opportunity taught me how important it is to continue to serve others. I plan to continue to do serve as much as possible and look for new organizations and groups of people that I can help.
Lastly, my goals for next year in HSS are to continue to stay involved and hopefully be a peer mentor for the incoming first-years. I know how important it is to make connections with people from the beginning, therefore, I hope that as a peer mentor I will be able to make my first-years comfortable with Ohio State in order to make meeting friends within HSS a little easier. I also hope during my second year in HSS that I will be able to find more organizations to serve especially where I can get more personally interactions with the individuals I am serving.