On Friday, April 6^th, 2018, my ACES mentee and I went and explored Columbus. Braylee and I are both from outside the state so it is always a really fun time to explore our school’s city. Both Braylee and I have very busy schedules and are not able to get off campus. Last semester we explored the North Market in the short north and absolutely loved it so we decided to explore some more of Columbus’s food.

After we both finished our classes, I picked Braylee up at Smith Steeb. Our first destination was the Northstar café located in the Easton shopping mall. What seemed like an hour trying to find a parking spot, we finally resorted to the third-floor parking garage. Of the multiple times Braylee and shopped in the Easton mall, neither of us had ever eaten at Northstar. On our walk to the restaurant we passed Jeni’s ice cream shop and could smell the sweet creamy desserts but it was way too cold to indulge. Because we decided to eat at noon and there seemed to be some sort of event going on in the mall, there was an hour wait.

After putting our name in, we decided to do a little shopping. First, we went to the indoor mall and explored some clothing shops like North Face, Francesca’s and Pac Sun. Braylee bought some cute earrings and a matching necklace at Francesca’s. After running out of stores that seemed interesting, we ventured to the outside mall. We were super confused what event was going on in the mall because there were multiple people dressed up in costume. On the outside of the mall, we found many more stores that were interesting to go to. Our first store on the outside was Lush Cosmetics. I believe we spent an unhealthy amount of time in that store because we both left feeling light-headed and dizzy from the overwhelming smells. I found some really awesome lotion and makeup at Lush. Next, we went to the Ohio State store in the mall and picked around until we decided we should head back to North Star.

Right when we walked into Northstar our name was being called and we were brought to our table. Our waiter was a really funny old man that kept on making fun of me indecisiveness on what to order. After looking for a few minutes Braylee decided to get Buddha Bowl and I ordered the Northstar Burger. We talked about how our week was going and how school was getting to be really stressful. Braylee and I are pre-OT majors and are both in the pre-OT club here at Ohio State. We were really able to bond over the stress to prepare for grad school while trying to stay ahead in our undergrad classes. She told me how she wasn’t sure if she wanted to take physiology here or at another school where a lab was offered and how she is in a medical terminology class that I will be taking in the fall.

Our food finally arrived and in a few seconds our plates were wiped clean. Both of our meals were absolutely delicious. Mine was a vegetarian burger and hers was a yummy bowl of chicken, rice, vegetables and a peanut sauce. Both of us would totally go back and recommended Northstar to everyone. 10/10

Braylee and I paid for our meals and continued to shop around a bit. At around 4 we decided we should get to our second destination before it closed. We hoped in my car and drove over to Italian village to a café called Fox in the Snow. Right when you walked into the café you were attacked be the smell of freshly roasted coffee and pastries. Braylee is not a coffee drinker so she ordered an ice tea and some banana bread and I ordered a coffee and a cookie. Sitting at a table in the corner we continued our discussion on grad school and our activities currently going on at Ohio State. Braylee said she was a little nervous about packing up her things to move back to Pennsylvania for the summer so I explained how its so much easier than the moving in process. You just throw everything into bins and have mom sort it out when you get home lol.

I had a really great time exploring Columbus with Braylee. This past year has been so much fun getting to know her and advise her through her first year of college. I think this experience really helped us get closer and learn about each other outside of the classroom.

The North Market with Braylee

On November 10^th my alarm went off at 7 am. Momentarily I had forgotten what day it was because it was not normal for my alarm to go off that early on a Friday. As I rubbed the stars from my eyes and peeled myself from my warm bed, I grabbed my toothbrush and started to get ready. My roommate Cat Bouldry and friend Bailey Thomas also dragged themselves out of bed and quickly we got ready for a day spent with our fellow ACES.

It was 8:30 am as three cold and sleepy girls stumbled down High Street stepping over cold Blaze pizza and McDonald French fries leftover from the Thursday night bar hoppers. In what seemed like a hike that would never end, we finally made it to the bus stop. Braylee had texted me that her, Courtney and Laura were running late so the three of us stepped into the Union to warm up.

I was very excited to explore Columbus with Braylee, especially North Market because I had gone there last year and thought it was awesome. I was looking forward to showing something new in Columbus as well as some of the Short North. Braylee and I share the love of food and North Market is basically a food lover’s dream.

Soon we saw Braylee, Courtney, and Laura turn the corner coming towards the bus stop. Bailey, who was a first-time public bus rider, was a bit nervous that we were going to miss the bus. As a bus was speeding down High Street and our mentees still some distance away Bailey began to wave her hands and screamed “GUYS RUUUUUNNNN THIS IS OUR BUSSSS!!!!!!!!” to which the mentees started to freak out and began sprinting towards us like they were still in high school track competing at regionals. Cat and I both busted into laughter as the bus flew past all of us because it was not the right bus. As the mentees finally got to us and everyone (Mainly Bailey) understood that our bus was the next one we stood there laughing for a few more minutes. Bailey’s mistake even got the random guy also waiting for the bus to burst into laughter.

The bus arrived and we hopped on. Braylee explained that she was most excited to get some fresh breakfast because living on a campus, breakfast isn’t always an option. We talked for a while about school and our families. Braylee told me that her semester was going very well and that she was thinking about changing her major to something else. She was also debating if she wanted to go pre-physical therapy or pre-occupational therapy like me. I gave her some advice and next thing we knew, we arrived to THE North Market.

All six of us walked up to food paradise with our stomachs grumbling. We could smell the fresh bread and hear the clinks and clanks of food being prepared. As we stepped in our senses were overwhelmed. To our left, we had traditional Greek food, to our right we had fresh cuts of meat and ahead of us, we had just about every food group/culture. To prevent stress and being overwhelmed, the six of us huddled together and made a game plan. Our plan consisted of slowly walking through the market one time to get an idea as to what our taste buds wanted and then following up with a second time around to pick up what we decided on.

As Braylee and I lead the group, we passed the chicken station, fish station and southern station to finally get to the donut station. Bailey and Courtney bought donuts while Braylee and I tested the free samples. After making our first round of the Market, we both decided to go back to the juice/smoothie station for a healthy breakfast. I picked up a pre-made juice and Baylee, Cat and Laura all got berry smoothies. We made our way to the sitting area when Cat decided it was a good idea to try some salsa. With a big sign in front of her face, she still made the horrible decision to try the far right one of the nine sitting on the table labeled “extra extra hot”. As her face turned a red I have never seen before, I watched as she darted back the juice station for water. When the water was not relieving her of the burning fire expanding down her throat and chest she quickly got some free samples from the Jeni’s station.

Once the fire was extinguished, we went and sat to have our breakfast and chat about school. About thirty minutes later it was time to go so we made our way back to the bus stop and got back to campus.

I had a really good time with my mentee and the other ACES members. We got to explore a part of Columbus that not many people get to see. I would recommend this explore Columbus even because it’s more of an active event and not an awkward/boring meeting at Starbucks. I hope Braylee takes her mentee to North Market next year.

For my first artifact, I chose my AP Biology book from my junior year in high school. This artifact is important to me because it was from a class that really showed me how I learn. AP Biology was a really difficult class and at the beginning I felt very overwhelmed. Throughout the year I learned that I am a student that will make a goal and do everything in my power to meet it. I also learned that a weakness I have is finding balance in my life between school and my social life when I am working towards a goal like an A in my class. I really learned a lot about myself that year and that if I want to succeed I will but in the process remember to keep a good balance.

My second artifact is a picture from one of the best moment in my high school career. The picture is from the day my softball won our first district title since 2001 and later that day I had my high school graduation. This picture with my teammates means so much more than a winning title, they are some great girls that taught me how to work with many different personalities ages. I was captain of the team and as a senior I knew a lot more about the game than many of them. While working with freshman, sophomores, juniors, and fellow seniors, I learned how to change my techniques of teaching so that everyone would understand. This team also taught me how to work with many personalities. It was really important to remember what each person needed so that they could play to the best of their abilities. For example, my really good friend who was a freshman would get really nervous before big games like on our district game day and I would make sure she got extra reps to ensure she would feel confident. I feel that after playing with this team I learned how to work with communities and how to teach to many different mindsets.