Year 3/4 Vision Statement

As for my remaining time on campus, I would like to make the most of this phase of my life. As well as pursuing my goals, both personal and professional, I would like to enjoy the rest of my time at Ohio State and living in Columbus.

I would like to continue to pursue my dream of obtaining my DVM degree by gaining more experience in the field of veterinary medicine and focusing on getting good grades. I would also like to continue to develop lasting relationships with my professors and my peers. Next year, I would like to get involved in research, get involved in more service opportunities, and develop my leadership abilities more.

Personally, I want to continue to learn new things about what it means to be a Buckeye. I want to continue to make memories with the friends that have become my family here in Columbus, as well as allowing for opportunity to meet new people along the way. I want to continue to explore Columbus and have experiences that I can look back on. I am hopeful about my next two years of my undergraduate studies and I am excited to see what is in store for me.

Year 2 End of Year Reflection

This year has been a very interesting one. I have been pushed to my limits physically, mentally, and emotionally, and I made it through. I spent a lot of my time and energy focusing on organic chemistry this year, and it paid off. I am very happy with my academics this year. I took several classes this semester that absolutely broadened my perspective on the world including African civilizations, intro to animal sciences, intro sociology, and many more.

As well as my academics, I had a lot of fun experiences this year that I will remember for the rest of my life. I think my favorite part about sophomore year was going to the football games with friends. The football games are always a good way to take a break from school and just have a good time with friends and family.

I have had many experiences that will benefit me in my future career including volunteer experiences, working, and developing my leadership skills. I continued to volunteer at Colony Cats this year, which continues to bring positivity in my life. I also joined the Boo Radley Society this year which gave me the opportunity to meet new people and bring happiness into the lives of others. I worked as an office assistant for the Barrett/Nosker Complex this year, which helped me develop more communication skills and allowed me to develop my ability to wake up early in the morning. I also participated in STEP and BioSci mentors, which aided in advancing my leadership skills.

All in all, this year was difficult, but looking back on it, it was very transformational for me in all aspects of life. It taught me that resilience is possible and that I can truly accomplish anything with patience and a good amount of focus.

BuckeyeThon 2019

This February, I participated in BuckeyeThon for the second time. This was a very fun experience, as well as a great way to get OSU students together for an awesome cause! BuckeyeThon was extremely exciting in the sense that, first, they kick it off by bringing all of the kids out. It’s so cool to see the kids who’s lives we are directly affecting by participating in BuckeyeThon. There is something for everybody to do at the event, especially if you bring a few friends. BuckeyThon is a very effective way of raising money for a great cause. I went to BuckeyeThon with my two roommates and some of our other friends. We danced at the silent disco, danced at the DJ, and watched our friend cut her hair for cancer patients. I love this event and will definitely be participating next year.

Forest View Farms Volunteering

Last summer I volunteered at a horse-riding ranch near my home in Oak Forest, Illinois. I came to the farm knowing absolutely nothing about horse or how to manage them. By the end of the summer, I was a pro at brushing, bathing, saddling, and getting the horse ready for a ride. I learned how to lead the horse out to pasture without getting kicked or stepped on, which is an accomplish for me. Being at the farm also gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of cool people. I met several other pre-veterinary students from different schools and learned about their experiences, which were unique from mine. Having zero experience with horses prior to this one, this volunteer opportunity was very exciting for me and I really enjoyed spending my summer at the farm.

Veterinary Assistant at BevLab Animal Hospital

Last summer, and continuing this summer, I worked as a veterinary assistant at a local animal hospital in Blue Island, Illinois. This is really pleasing work because I enjoy what I do, and I feel like the work I am doing matters. I see something new every day at the hospital and I truly enjoy having a job that keeps me on my toes. My responsibilities include assisting the doctors with appointments, reception, cleaning the hospital (when necessary), etc. Last summer, I got the opportunity to sit in on a pyometra surgery on a poodle with an infected uterus. This experience was transformational for me because it was exposure to a procedure, and a part of the veterinary career, that was completely new to me. I love that I am constantly learning new things when I go to work.

GOALS Year 2

Global Awareness:

I have made progress in developing my global awareness. In my first semester of sophomore year, I took an African Civilizations class. I learned about the history of continent from 1870 to present day. My class was extremely consisted of a very diverse group of people and I got to know many of them. My professor, Dr. Chisebe, taught us about the struggles, victories, and misconceptions of many spaces on the continent of Africa. I really enjoyed this course because it was very eye-opening and broadened my perspective on the topic.

As well my African Civilizations class, I will be participating in an education abroad program this May. I will be travelling to South Africa with Dr. Kelly George and 8 other students to study exotic animal behavior and welfare. We are going to be visiting several private reserves, farms, zoological parks, and national parks to learn about wildlife management practices and how they apply to animal conservation, behavior, and welfare. These two experiences will develop my global awareness and immensely because they both exposed/will expose me to the importance of appreciating diversity.

Original Inquiry:

Original inquiry is a section that I have not had much exposure to yet. I plan to get involved in research next year.

Academic Enrichment:

Academic enrichment has been a big part of this year, for me. First semester of this year, I took Organic Chemistry 1 and received a D in the class; so, I retook the course second semester and received a B, which is two letter grades higher than before. I focused a lot more on organic chemistry second semester and realized the academic rigor that the course required. I truly learned how to buckle down and focus on the important things this semester. I learned how to be resilient through my academics this year.

As well as my ordeal with organic chemistry, I took many classes this year that were very academically engaging and relative to my future career. My intro animal science lab was very exciting in the sense that students got hands-on first-hand experience with many product animals. We learned a lot about agriculture and the animal management and production industry, which was very interesting for me because I had never been exposed to it before this year.

Leadership Development:

Leadership is a skill that I am still developing, but I feel that this year has been a year that has given me some leadership experience. I was a mentor for Biological Sciences scholars this year and I really enjoyed being a leader within the scholars’ program. I enjoyed getting to meet the first-year students and getting the opportunity to share my experience with them. Being a mentor was something small that challenged me as a leader. As well as being a BioSci mentor, I also participated in STEP this year. I feel that being a part of the STEP fellowship program has also developed my leadership program because it challenged me to step out of my comfort zone. Part of participating in the program included getting to know your mentor and the people in your cohort and basically developing a way to make the second year of college a transformational one. This experience developed my leadership skills in the sense that I was pushed to experience new things.

As well as STEP, I was a part of a student organization this year that really made me want to step up and lead others. The Boo Radley Society is a student organization on campus that performs random acts of kindness for other students. I was a leader of my small group in the club, which required me to assist in setting up an event on campus that was considered a random act of kindness. My small group decided to make tissue paper flowers and pass them out to OSU students on the oval. Something as small as that, put so many smiles on people’s faces. I have learned that there are many different ways to be considered a leader, and everybody has their own leadership style.

Service Engagement:

I have learned a lot through service this year. I have been a volunteer at the Colony Cats shelter in Dublin, OH for two years now and that experience alone has taught me the importance of giving back to the community. Volunteers clean crates, feed, water, and socialize cats, as well as any of the other jobs that need to be done around the shelter. Going to the shelter for a few hours per week has been extremely rewarding. First semester of this year, I volunteered as a pet sitter in the ICU of the OSU Veterinary Medical Center. Pet sitters were required to sit with the patients in the ICU and make sure they were comfortable. Volunteering in the ICU once a week was also a very rewarding experience, as well as being extremely de-stressing.

Plans for Future Engagement:

Within the next year, I really want to work on the original inquiry and leadership development sections of GOALS. I want to get involved in some kind of research next year, as well as continuing to develop my leadership skills.

Vet Exploration Day

One experience that I had last month was the Veterinary Exploration Day. The day started with a speaker that talked about the admissions process of veterinary school. He talked about the importance of being diverse and resilient in order to be considered a “qualified applicant”. After the speaker, I got to be involved in two wet labs.

My first lab was based around large animal handling. The veterinary students brought us to the large animal hospital and gave us a small tour. The veterinary students showed us how to do a general physical exam on a horse. I learned how to check the horse’s vitals. I listened to the horse’s heart and gut sounds. I also got to take the horse’s temperature. After leaving the stables, we went to the food animal section of the large animal hospital. I got to see kidney stones that they extracted from a goat. One of the professors showed us their donor cow. The donor cow had a hole in its side so they could use the fluid in its stomach to help other cow’s with digestive issues. I got to put my hand in the cow’s stomach!

After the large animal labs, I went to the suture and hand tie wet lab. I learned how to do a few hand ties and how to suture. Suturing requires a lot of concentration and practice. I got to talk with a lot of the veterinary students and get a lot of first-hand advice and insight. We got to talk with a panel of veterinary students. They talked about their past experiences and experiences in vet school.

Overall, I enjoyed the amount of hands-on experiences I got at this single event. I enjoyed the social aspect of this event as well. I will definitely be attending next year.

Scholars Event: Columbus Zoo

I got the opportunity to go to the Columbus Zoo on September 24th. I met the other scholars students at the Union and got on a bus to the zoo that morning. I walked to the elephant exhibit and sat and watched for about an hour. After that, I walked to my tour. The zookeepers gave us a complete tour of the giraffe house. The giraffes at the Columbus Zoo are well taken care of! They get plenty of enrichment from the keepers and lots of mental stimulation. As well as getting a full tour of the giraffe house, I also got to feed one of the biggest male giraffes in the Columbus Zoo! It was really cool to be that close to such a beautiful animal. I learned about internship opportunities at the zoo during the summer. An internship at the Columbus Zoo is definitely something that I want to pursue during my time here.

Overall, I enjoyed going to the Columbus Zoo for the first time and getting such a hands-on experience. Being a scholar at OSU has provided me with a lot of opportunities already!

 

Welcome to my Honors & Scholars e-Portfolio

My name is Brenna Braasch and I’m from a small suburb of Chicago, Illinois. I am majoring in zoology on a pre-veterinary track. This e-Portfolio includes an arrangement of my experiences, career, personal, and professional goals, and reflections on my undergraduate involvement.