My second semester at Ohio State has been filled with ups and downs. The biggest down was the death of my uncle in the middle of the semester. It threw me into a pit of depression for about a week. It was difficult focusing on classes and midterms, but I had to pull through for my grades. However, probably a huge upside to my uncle’s death was finding what career I want to pursue. Since my uncle died from pancreatic cancer, I want to pursue a career in cancer research to help change the world for the better. I changed my major to Molecular Genetics and have been doing lots of research about future careers in cancer research. My classes this semester have been harder, but I’ve still pulled through and managed to get pretty nice grades. As my first year of college comes to a close, I like to recap and look at all of the friends I made, all of the clubs I joined, and how I’ve changed as a person. I’m stronger in my faith and in my career choices, and I learned to appreciate the small things in life because you never know when they will disappear.
Author: brinkman.203
My GOALS
To me, Global Awareness in the H&S GOALS is defined as contributing to the world’s problems in a way that could help solve them. This semester, I’ve laid out my plan for my Undergraduate career, which involved selecting my career choice and diving into some research to get my feet wet. Original Inquiry is how I plan to develop myself as a scientist during my Undergraduate career. Getting my hand on some research would benefit me very well, but I also plan to get involved in some scientific communities on campus to deepen my knowledge on certain issues in the sciences. Academic Enrichment is how I plan to excel in my academics and prove the world that I’m capable of becoming a scientist. The rigorous coursework I have to take for my Molecular Genetics major will show my aptitude as a scientist. Leadership Development is about training my skills to be an effective leader who gets the job done and earns respect amongst colleagues. I will be an R-LEAD Peer Mentor in the Autumn 2016 semester and will be leading a group of individuals on their leadership development courses, which will show how much my current leadership skills need developing and how far they have come since high school. Service Engagement is all about serving the community and helping others to develop the community in a way that shows spirit and teamwork. Serving others has been a big part of my first year at Ohio State. I’ve volunteered at my church during their blood drives, planted trees on the Olentangy River Watershed, and I’ve volunteered in my hometown as well. I plan on developing all of my GOALS as I get closer to graduate school by engaging other professors for research and serving my community to make it a better place.
New Career Update
I’ve done a lot of self reflecting this spring semester. Whatever new career I found (through internet searches and other people) never seemed to fit, and a new one would only sound exciting for the first couple of days. I was lost and had no idea about what my future would appear to be. Then, my uncle/Godfather died from stage 4 pancreatic cancer in the middle of the semester, and my whole world was thrown into a vortex of depression. It took me a while to recover from that shock, but I eventually got back on my feet. I began thinking about my true purpose in the world even harder now. Since I was a kid, I’ve always fantasized about saving the world and making it a better place. Now that I’m a student looking for a career, I could become anything I wanted, even a hero that saves the world. My uncle’s death has inspired me to pursue a career in cancer research as an Immunologist. Ever since I began looking at this career, I haven’t stopped feeling the excitement. I feel content with this choice, like I finally found my path in life. Studying immunology isn’t going to be easy, but I have tons of family who support my decision every step of the way.
Career Dilemma
When I was in 7th grade, I was dreaming about veterinarians and becoming one someday. I always strived to learn how to help animals in every way I possibly could. My relatives always asked about my high ambitions and how I was planning to fulfill this dream, and I would always inform them on my progress. Becoming a veterinarian was stuck in my head so much that every other career possibility flew over my head, and I never bothered to gather information about other careers. My first week in college changed my world, as I learned to open my eyes to all of the possibilities for my future.
But now, I don’t know if I can close my eyes and pick one career. I want to learn a little bit of everything and become an adult who can solve any problem. I realize that there will always be problems that I can never solve, but I want to be able to provide some input or have an understanding of whatever problems confronts me. Because of this thirst for knowledge, I can’t pick a single career to put the majority of my focus towards. Trying to browse the career possibilities for me is like a little kid at a candy store; the kid wants a little bit of every candy on the shelf.
Lately, my focus has been on a career in cancer research, primarily in molecular and cellular biology. I lost my dog to cancer, my uncle/godfather was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer, and my father had melanomas removed twice off his back. I’m trying to use this event as a driving force to settle on a career once and for all. Cancer has to be stopped, and I want to be a part of it.
My Resume
This my resume that I have prepared for my future endeavors.
Semester #1 Reflection
At the beginning of the semester, my biggest problem was finding myself in a new community of unfamiliar faces and outgoing individuals who far exceed my performances; I know think that I’ve taken my first steps and found my path. The Scholar’s seminar has given me a lot of insight into different career prospects and other opportunities at Ohio State that I’ve used to search for my calling in life. I’ve now begun researching for research on campus to get my feet wet and delve into the world of scientific discovery, all to find out if research is right for me. Before Ohio State, my faith life was very weak and misguided. Now, my new friends have helped me in my path of faith and have guided me onto a path towards enlightenment. Experiencing college level classes was not new to me because I enrolled in college courses in high school; however, the college environment was not something I quickly absorbed. In the end, I managed my time to the best of my ability and planned all of my events accordingly. Even though it’s been only one semester, I feel like it’s been a great start to the next 4 yeas of my life. I realize now that it will only get tougher as college progresses, and these skills I have picked up in this first semester will be great tools to success in my new major, Zoology.
My First Lab Report
This report was my first lab report submitted as a student at Ohio State. Coming out of high school, I was always great at science and did well in labs. Coming to Ohio State, I was constantly afraid of failure and the difficulty of college labs, and I was very hesitant to submit this report. I was afraid to look at my grade once I received it back from my TA, so afraid, that I never looked at it for 3 days. Once I finally mustered the courage to look at it, I wasn’t disappointed. I received an A and missed very few points overall. I started browsing through it and noted my errors and other details on which I could improve. After this whole dramatic performance of fear and suspense (sarcasm), I realized that my skills from high school were capable of succeeding in college and paved a path to start a new set of skills. The biggest lesson from this situation: it’s ok to feel fear, but don’t let it stress you out and control you. College is a big transition in life, and stress will only undermine your performances. Fear shouldn’t be ignored, only taken into account and assessed calmly.
About Me
Hello and welcome to my ePortfolio. The tabs above will take you to my Artifacts section, my GOALS posts, and tell you a little about me, Adam Brinkman.
I am a first-year student at The Ohio State University majoring in Animal Sciences. I am in the Biological Sciences Scholars Program and a member of the Club Swim Team at OSU. My passion is helping animals grow and flourish in their environments. I want to learn about the many ways I can help animals and how I can succeed in life.
Welcome to my Honors & Scholars e-Portfolio
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