On April 5th, I attended Go Buckeye Day. I got to be on an informal panel for potential incoming International Affairs scholars. It was rewarding to help answer their questions and see fresh faces who, come fall, may become very familiar. Yet, I couldn’t help thinking back on where I was one year ago and how I changed since.

One year ago I was prepping for my AP exam and feeling like my senior year would never end. I hadn’t visited Ohio State since my freshman year for science fair and was anxious for my parents, who are both alumni themselves, to give me a tour. I was hard at work finishing my Harry Potter themed tile for the art classroom (a tradition for graduating art students) and finishing my many other art projects. I knew I’d miss painting every day and put my hardest work into my final pieces.

I had economics class senior year, which was entirely current events with a sprinkle of information about supply and demand second quarter, that was taught by a energetic, far-right Republican who effectively turned my entire graduating class into mini versions of himself using what I would call “fake news” of his own making. We studied various subjects that spanned from gun control to taxes to a two month long investigation of the dossier and Hillary Clinton’s emails. I got my voice in that class. I was entirely alone in my opinions and every single essay was a series of arguments against his own. It was maddening and yet, in the end, that same teacher gave me the award for economics student of the year at our awards ceremony. This may seem irrelevant, but not learning economics is why I chose my major. All of my independent research I did in his class led me to my passion for learning everything I could about the topic.

Since arriving at Ohio State, a lot has changed. I’m much more independent and confident. I had to learn a lot of lessons and face certain difficulties, but this was all lessened by being apart of the IA scholars. Even in orientation I met members of IA who I kept in contact with the rest of the summer. These were the people I had my first dinner with after my parents left me in Smith-Steeb back in August. The events IA put on led me to know not only 1st years but 2nd years too. Within the first few weeks, IA had introduced me to enough people that I no longer felt alone when walking around on campus; there was always a friendly face nearby.

IA has helped me ease into being a successful college student. I’ve seen the drive the scholars have for being apart of everything and taking advantage of all the opportunities they have, and it inspires me to do my best and to not waste the rest of my time here. I really appreciate being able to be apart of a smaller community with people I now know, while still very much being apart of the mass of scarlet-wearing Ohio State students.

I went to the service event for making cards for CRIS and watching international movies. I am a huge supporter of the CRIS program and was excited to help make the students Valentine’s Day cards from the university. From talking to some of the mentees in the program you really get a sense for how much they appreciate the cards and other opportunities to connect with the university. Despite being so geographically close to the schools CRIS works with, the students aren’t familiar with the university very much, but are very intrigued by it. It was an honor to make them things that would bring them some joy this holiday.

We made the students homemade cards with greetings in several of the most frequently spoken languages in the schools and illustrated the cards with colored markers. I tried my best to make mine look nice. Unfortunately, marker can be rather unforgiving, but at least it came from the heart.

This program is very close to me as I do have a mentee named Hafsa who is from Somalia. I visit her once a week on Mondays and we’ve grown quite close. Se was very shy at first but now when we are together we talk a lot. She is much more open about her life now and shares things with me. It’s been amazing to see this progress and to help her throughout her senior year of high school.

Working with CRIS has been an incredible experience and I’m excited to continue doing events with them and helping them with their initiative. These cards may seem like a small gesture, but when they receive one it can mean a lot to them. Knowing that there are people out there who care can mean a lot to them. I’m a huge supporter of random acts of kindness and knowing that something that small can brighten someone’s day brings me joy.

As a student apart of the International Affairs Scholars I think that it’s very important to be involved in these types of activities and projects. The topic of international Affairs has a lot to do with CRIS’s mission. It’s important for students in the International Affairs scholars program to realize that you don’t have to travel halfway across the world to make a difference. You can start right here in Columbus.

I myself have hosted an event for BASS making Halloween cards for CRIS last October and it went really well. Students in Smith-Steeb spent a lot of time decorating the cards and putting care into them which was heartwarming to see.  After I delivered the cards to CRIS, I knew I’d be happy to create another program to make more and it was amazing to be apart of this one. I’ve been told from talking to Jeremy Hollon from CRIS and other mentors that little actions like these really make a big impact with the mentees in the program as well as students in the schools. I’ve heard stories where they are given cards if they seem like they are having a bad day or for any number of reasons and it always brings a smile to their face. Contributing to that is extremely rewarding.

On Monday, January 28th I went to the “So you think you can do research….” panel. It was incredibly informative and really made me think about whether or not I’d like to do research in my undergraduate career. I’m going to be honest, I’ve never thought much about research. I’m an Economics major and I want to go into business so research wasn’t exactly in the forefront of my mind. I attended the event thinking that I’d leave with a similar mindset, yet that isn’t what happened. A quick flash forward to the next morning and I’m looking through Ohio State’s Economics page, sifting through professors and research opportunities. This change in mindset was thanks to the panel and I’m very happy I attended.

There were a great deal of things I learned in the panel. I learned simple facts about research, like that PI means primary investigator. I also learned that Ohio State has more research opportunities than I could have imagined. Also, it got me thinking towards graduate school and how it would help prepare me. I’m greatly interested in game theory and strategy within economics and businesses, which is something I’d really love to research. Now I feel like I could actually find a professor and pursue that. Seeing members of my peers enjoy research and share their passion for their work really made a lasting impact on me and I hope one day I am able to be in their shoes and share my passion with others.

This event was professionally very advantageous for me. Whether I go straight into the workforce or go to grad school, having done research will really help me stand apart from the crowd in either a job interview or on applications. This will give me invaluable experience in my field and will help guide me to finding what area of Economics I’m most passionate about. I’m very excited about all of the opportunities I have and I can’t wait to take advantage of them.

For International Affairs students this pane as extremely helpful because it shows what we can all do within our fields. There are so many different majors within our scholars group and it’s really powerful to see that diversity in action. Some of us will research dance and theater while others will study mathematics and neuroscience. This to me is a very beautiful thought. We’re all in one group and yet we’re all so passionate about this wide array of topics and will branch off into very different paths after our undergraduate years. This is just one way that illustrates that.

In conclusion, attending the panel changed my attitude towards research. It helped solidify my views as to what research actually looks like and it showed me that it is in fact accessible to me. I’m very excited to see where this new opportunity could take me and now I know that I have my scholar’s group and their advice behind me to help me along the way.

On November 7th, 2018 I attended the Graduate and Professional School Fair. It was an eye opening experience. I hadn’t really given graduate school any thought previous to the fair, but now I know that even now I need to be thinking about my applications. I didn’t really realize the the new metaphorical ACT was the GRE for graduate level business programs. I felt excited seeing all these new opportunities and possibilities set in rows for me to wonder through. I love Economics and want to do graduate level work in it and for the first time I’m starting to wonder where I want to go, and what will it take to get there.
I talked to a representative of the Fischer College of Business about what they look for in admissions and she was very good at explaining what graduate programs look for. She said internships and work experience were highly encouraged. Also, studying abroad and volunteering look really nice. Of course test scores and GPA are taken into strong consideration. She phrased it really nicely when she said “Basically, we want to see that you didn’t waste your years as an undergrad. We want to see that you took advantage of your opportunities and got the most out of your time”. This made a lot of sense to me. Graduate schools want to see what you’ve done to see what you could do. She also mentioned joining student organizations as a great way to get involved and have something to show how committed you are on an application.
The experience definitely pushed me forward professionally. I now have a great idea of what to be doing with my extracurriculars to get into a good graduate school. This event was important for all students, including International Affairs scholars. They really stressed how important it was to start thinking about your academic future sooner rather than later.
Getting to work the fair through the College of Arts and Sciences Student Council was also really interesting. I mainly helped check people in and answer questions, but I still learned a great deal from helping the event take place. For example, it always astounds me how many students attend our university. Seeing everyone in a huge crowd outside the doors waiting to get into the fair was rather eye-opening. We all have these dreams and paths we want to embark on and having resources to help us get there is amazing.
Overall, my experience at the graduate and professional school fair was really helpful to giving me an idea of what to strive to be as an undergrad. I may still have a few more years until I’m sending in those graduate school applications, but this has definitely given me an idea of what I need to be doing now, which is really helpful to myself and first years in general. I met so many other first years looking into what it takes for medical school and even law school, which was so exciting. We’re all embarking on these differently unique paths and I’m excited to see where everyone goes.

On Thursday October 25th, I went to the Pack Shack volunteer event at the French Field house from five to eight. I worked with my fellow Arts and Science Student Council members packing meals into cardboard boxes. We were the end of a huge enthusiastic assembly line that started with putting cheese in a bag along with vegetables and vitamins through a funnel and ended when the rice filled up the rest of the bag and everything was sealed and boxed. It was a surreal experience to see students and families dancing to music and working at an insane pace for such an amazing cause. For half the time I carried the newly sealed meals to cardboard boxes where they were packaged and ready to go. The other half of the time I became a ninja with the box tape. I was taping boxes left and right while singing. In other words, it was the best volunteer experience I’ve ever had.
Everyone in the room wore the same ‘Be Kind’ T-shirt, red hairnet, and name tag which created this overwhelming feeling of unity. Not only students and faculty participated, the community came in as well. The turnout was unbelievable and the amount of preparation and coordination that event must have took was astounding. Brutus was there and played with the kids who were helping carry the packets. It was an insanely positive atmosphere that had everyone smiling. We all knew we were doing something really good and the pace really reflected that. We made and packaged over 200,000 meals in less than three hours, which is surreal.
This experience wasn’t one that I would say furthered me academically or professionally in any significant way, but on a personal level it shifted my perspective. Every once in awhile you come across a moment that gives you hope in the world again. Something that demonstrates how inherently kind and helpful humanity can be. Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in politics and dividing arguments, where all you get out of the bickering is this feeling that we as the human race are never going to get along or see eye to eye. Being apart of something like volunteering really lifts your spirit. In the end most people, everything else aside, want to help others and give back.
Another way I benefited on a personal level was I received some much needed stress relief. As an overly stressed student constantly berating myself over grades and being dissatisfied with midterms, it was so relieving to just do something for the good of others and put that stress and negativity on the back burner. Very quickly I actually relaxed and loosened up, which is something I’ve been in dire need of these past few weeks. I knew I was doing something good and that made me overjoyed.
Overall, the experience was extremely beneficial and I’m so glad I went. I made new friends and got to have a great night doing something good for others.

On September 4th 2018, I attended the Education Abroad Expo at the Ohio Union which was deemed an academic event. Before going into the expo, I had a few preconceived notions about what studying abroad would be like, and at first I was afraid my fears were true. I’d always wanted to study abroad and have an amazing experience immersed in a different culture, but I was afraid it was unobtainable to me. I thought the process would be a mess and unorganized. I was afraid of all the uncertainties that came with trying to figure out the big questions like where, how, or even how much. I was overwhelmed by the whirlwind of people and questions and pamphlets from the dozens of booths. By the end I felt quite lost on where to start but as I was checking out of the event one of the volunteers from the First Year Success Series started a conversation with me. She found out I was an economics major and told me about a study abroad program that focuses on the economic state of Mexico. She also informed me about the study abroad advisors over in the Enarson Classroom Building. I learned that they are there to help figure out which path is best for you depending on your interests and what will work best with your schedule. It really amazed and relieved me that there was a whole system in place to help students navigate the confusion of studying abroad.
If I could personally design my own plan for studying abroad I would do a semester in London. I have visited and fallen in love with the city and its culture. I plan to go to graduate school there and would like to get a feel for the city before diving in after my undergraduate years. Also, London is the financial capital of the world in most respects and I’m an economics major so it would be a good fit. Another study abroad experience I would like to do is a summer in Singapore or Hong Kong to learn about their economic history. I would also love to visit one of these cities to learn more about the culture. I’ve never been to Asia, but I would love to experience some of what it has to offer.
I think visiting these cities would assist me academically and personally. Studying abroad would help me academically by giving me more of a real world context for what I learn about economics in the classroom. Studying abroad would help me personally by giving me an idea of my future. I want to live in London after graduate school, so getting to do a semester there would give me a much better idea of what that would really be like. I think I would be comfortable being abroad in London for three months and then I feel I would really get homesick. If I were in Asia it would take less time before I would be really homesick because of the culture differences being more extreme.
In conclusion, studying abroad is something I really want to participate in while I’m an undergraduate. The idea is incredibly exciting to me and after attending the Study Abroad Expo I feel much more confident about being able to make it a reality.