Scholars G.O.A.L.S. Spring Project

Entering college, I knew that I was choosing this life path for myself in order to reach my goal of getting a great job that I am passionate about and enjoy doing. Knowing this, I saw co-op and internships as a crucial aspect of my college career. By taking an internship, one is able to experience different aspects of various jobs that one may be interested in. By taking a co-op, one is able to get their foot in the door with a company and work for them, while getting paid, and experiencing what the job and the company is like. And if all goes right, I could receive a job offer from them at the end of college. The ability to experience what a career option is like rather than strictly taking classes on said career path is very important to me. The ability to see what a job is actually like and if I would enjoy it or not is crucial to the goal I have set for myself. Knowing how important this is for myself, I will plan on getting a co-op, and possibly an internship as well, at some point in my college career to achieve this goal. Ideally, I plan on finding a co-op opportunity for myself and plan to start rotations in the spring of my second year. These goals and plans are why I decided to focus this project on getting my foot in the door with companies and initiate the process of finding these co-op and internship opportunities for myself.

Throughout my first year of college, I was always thinking about how I would go about achieving this goal I had set for myself, but the planning began for myself this spring. Returning to school for second semester, I had learned about a conference that was hosted by the Theme Park Engineering Group, which is the main club that I have been in all year. I did not know much about this conference, but learned that it would help me become more familiar with the themed entertainment industry and would help me begin to network with professionals in the industry, which would possibly open the doors to opportunities in this field that I always hoped that I would have. Knowing this, I planned on and attended this weekend-long conference during the weekend of January 17-19. After this conference, I had learned about a spring career fair for engineering students specifically, and it was being held the Wednesday of the first week in February, so I planned on attending and attended this event as well. After these two events, I created an appointment with Engineering Career Services to talk about my goal of getting a co-op, and they helped point me to the various resources available to help with this goal.

As of now, I look back on the results of my project and believe that I have created a great foundation for becoming successful in obtaining a co-op or internship in the near future. Attending the SITE conference back in January helped me become much more familiar with the themed entertainment industry and allowed me to network with professionals in the industry. However, I also learned how difficult it is to obtain a position in this industry, considering how small the industry is in comparison to the demand for positions in this industry. The main takeaway from this conference is to keep pursuing these opportunities when they arise, but that I should not get discouraged if I am not selected for such opportunities. I learned that gaining experience as a Civil Engineer in general working for a different company that I enjoy will most likely be what happens, but always looking for these opportunities to work for, say, Disney Imagineering, could become a big possibility as long as I stay persistent in pursuing this goal. In addition to attending the SITE conference, I also obtained some major takeaways from attending the Engineering Career Expo. By getting to know about some of these local, as well as faraway companies that hire Civil Engineers, I was able to introduce myself to them and get to know about the company and opportunities they have. Being a freshman and participating in activities such as these is very beneficial considering not too many other freshman attend events like these. These events also help me gain experience in networking and communicating effectively with other professionals. By attending this career fair, I was able come away with newfound knowledge and experiences that will help me achieve my goal of getting a co-op or internship next spring.

In the coming months, I will continue to network with professionals via email and the sources that I was provided by Engineering Career Services by attending the appointment I had with them. I will be able to easily reach out to these professionals by referring to the business cards I received from them at the networking event at the SITE conference and the career fair. Beginning next semester, I will plan on attending the Engineering Career Expo being held in the fall. Instead of going to the fair in order to gain experience and knowledge, I will be going with the intent of obtaining a co-op or internship, as long as I have not already received an opportunity by one of the companies I had been talking to over the summer.

Aaron’s Journal 3

As an engineer, I believe that having an internship or co-op at some point in my college career is essential. I believe it helps expand my knowledge on the field I plan on going into as well as helps me gain necessary experience that employers can look at when hiring. Also I could end up getting hired by the co-op I work for if I enjoy it enough. This is why I want to focus on planning out my path for getting an internship or co-op for my spring project.

This project will align itself with the scholars GOALS in many different ways. I will experience the different ideals and values of different companies I apply to and work for, I will experience the rigor and challenges that come with finding and internship/co-op and all the work that comes with it, and I can develop leadership skills based on the position that I receive with the company.

Over winter break, I can begin searching for possible companies that are hiring interns or employers for co-op experience in regards to the major that interests me. I can do this by looking on LinkedIn or Handshake. The first step for this project will be to begin this process. The second step will be attending a conference that I have signed up for through my Theme Park Engineering Club. This will help me build a network with professionals in the theme park industry, an industry I am very interested in, and possibly gain an internship/co-op opportunity through this conference. I plan to complete these first two steps by the end of January.

These are just my initial plans and thoughts as I begin the project. I will begin to dive into the plans of the project at the start of winter break, and most certainly no later than the beginning of the spring semester.

Columbus To-Do List Part 2

For the remainder of my experiences, I continued to use the themed-based list and had a great time with it. After going to the AJR concert at Express LIVE, I also went to the Columbus Zoo, Goodale Park, Schiller Park, and the Scioto Mile.

I visited the Columbus Zoo over a weekend that my parents came to visit me. I really enjoyed it because of how large of a zoo it is and how many animals there are to see. We spent many hours there and got to see many different things that you do not normally get to see. I would definitely recommend the Columbus Zoo to a friend, especially anyone who loves animals.

I visited Goodale Park with members of the scholars program and we volunteered with Friends of Goodale Park. The park was very easy to get to as it was just next to the Short North. I had a fun time helping clean up and around the park, helping to keep it in the best shape possible. While I was there, I learned how much time it takes to maintain a park of that size. I would recommend this park to anyone with a knack for the outdoors or anyone who enjoys playing tennis, as they also had a tennis court for use.

I also visited another park called Schiller Park located by the German Village. I went with a couple of scholars friends to explore the park and surrounding areas. The park was unique because of the hanging sculptures that they had around the park as well as all the different kinds of trees that they have. I would recommend this park to anyone, especially anyone who loves picturesque locations and a good park for dogs.

And finally, I visited Scioto Mile one weekend when I decided to go for a bike ride on the Olentangy Trail southbound. It was a very new and well kept park that reminded me of the parks along the banks of the Ohio River in Cincinnati. While I was there, I learned how important green spaces are as a part of a community, even in a rural place like this. I would recommend this park to a friend, or anyone who likes to bike.

The highlights from my trip have to include getting to know the people who run the Friends at Goodale Park community service event, as they were very friendly and nice to be around, as well as spending time with family at the Columbus Zoo and spending time with friends at Schiller Park, which had to have been the prettiest time to visit the park in the fall. My overall favorite experience has to be the Columbus Zoo, just because animals fascinate me and the amount of different animals that the zoo has is incredible. By visiting all these different Columbus locations, I have learned that there is much to do in Columbus, as I have just scraped the surface of all there is to do and see. This project has caused me to want to visit all the different parks in the city to compare how they are similar while also observing how each one is unique. I also want to explore more entertainment places like the Zoo and Express LIVE in the future. For anyone completing the same list as I, make sure to pick and choose places that truly interest you, as you will learn and experience something new while also having fun doing it.

 

Goodale Park pictures courtesy of Goodale Park’s Facebook page

Columbus To-Do List Pt.1

The first place that I experienced on the list was going to a concert at Express LIVE! which is one of The LC’s music venues. Me and my friend Collin went to see AJR perform. It was the first concert I had ever been to, and it was a great time! One thing that surprised me was how early some people get to these type of concerts to get a good spot near the stage to watch. We got there a half an hour before the venue started allowing people in, and there was already a big line. It turned out by the time they started to let people in that we were towards the front of the line, so we were able to find a good spot to watch the concert. The atmosphere was so cool and I would definitely go back to see another concert there again.

In addition to going to the concert, I also plan on going to four other places as well. I plan on going down to Goodale Park near the Short North and possibly get in some additional volunteering, I plan on biking the Olentangy Trail toward downtown to visit Scioto Mile, and I plan on going to Junior’s Tacos food truck. With these choices, I am most looking forward to being able to use my bike to cruise around the city and explore, as I have not made the time for it up to this point. I am also looking forward to eating at the food truck since genuine authentic Mexican food is one of my favorite things. With this assignment, I am looking to be able to get around the city easier and know where things are much better than before, as well as know what places I would like to go back to again.

Journal 2- Meeting with Mentor

Today I met with my mentor Tyler to catch up on anything that I wanted to discuss after finishing my first few weeks of College. We met at Knowlton Hall at the big stairs and talked for about 30 minutes about many different concerns or questions that I had.

One of the topics that we discussed was time management, along with the best way to organize schoolwork with other activities that I am in. Tyler informed me that the best way to get homework done is to find a study space in a place that I am not familiar with in order to avoid distractions, and that this is the best way to get work done the fastest. He also brought up the idea of doing homework in small chunks throughout the day as opposed to doing my homework all at once at the end of the day.

We also talked about internships and co-ops, and I asked if he had any experience with them. He said he had not, but knew about it enough to where I could ask him some other questions about it. I asked him what her believed was the best way to be able to get co-ops or internships for when I am looking for them in the future. He suggested getting in contact with my engineering professors, which surprised me because I had never even thought to do that with it being what you think would be an obvious answer. Also, he suggested going to the Career Fairs, but talked about how the engineering expo that was held this past week is not the best because not too many people get internships or co-ops from them because they have to wait in long lines just to be able to talk to the companies since there are so many people at the events. This is probably what surprised me the most, since I was considering attending the Expo.

Overall, the talk that I had with Tyler was very insightful and helped me gain a greater knowledge on what my goals should be down the road in my college career, as well as goals I should begin to create for myself today. This talked helped me gain a better connection with Tyler and will definitely feel more comfortable in the future when reaching out to him about any questions or concerns that I may have.

 

Welcome Week

Welcome week was everything that I’d hoped it would be. Buck-I-Frenzy, Convocation, and the Involvement Fair are just a few of true many things that I attended and took part of in this busy week.

My classes so far have been sort of what I expected, but there are a lot of things that I did not expect or anticipate coming into the semester. I did not realize that all the courses I’m taking are only one semester, as opposed to a full year in high school, which in turn means that all the course information will be covered much quicker. This also means that there will be more homework each day for each class in order to cover that material quicker, which is another thing that I did not expect would happen in college. I knew that there was going to be more homework in college, but did not anticipate it to this extent.

Now that I am 2 weeks into my time here at OSU, I am slowly beginning to adjust to living here, although time management is a work in progress. Trying to fit in classes, studying, eating, sleeping, exercising, and relaxing into one day is not an easy task.

Going into my first week of college, I was probably most nervous about meeting new people and making new friends, as I am naturally a quiet and introverted person. However, it has not been as hard as I thought it may be, as I have made a couple good friends already. Most all of my friends that I have made are a part of my scholars program (Architecture, Landscape, and City Scholars) and since we have classes together and will be doing a variety of activities together in the future, I believe these friendships will grow even greater.

Freshman Year in Review

Beginning the year, it was almost a surreal change to my life and it was very hard for me to adjust. But as I started to get to know people and made friends, I was able to adjust to college life, and now miss it heavily, wishing we were able to finish the year on campus.

As a scholar, I was able to learn to appreciate the community even more through various activities and the project we worked on, in addition to the various community service events I attended as well. Also, the Columbus tour we went on at the beginning of the year and the FOTO project we worked on really helped me become familiar with the area.

Professionally, I was able to get started in searching for a co-op opportunity by participating in the Engineering Career Expo in the Spring, and by attending SITE. SITE is a conference held by the club I participated in all year (Theme Park Engineering Group) and I was able to network with professionals in the industry I am most interested in.

Personally, I was able to see a major growth in my maturity and tolerance to change, since I have experienced a lot of that within the past year. Being on my own really allowed me to create my own schedule for myself, and that freedom is something that is enjoyable for myself. Also, freshman year really helped me open up to new friendships and helped me to become more social. Being stuck at home now during this quarantine is really making me realize how social I had become, and I want to continue to work on that and create even more friendships next year.

Overall, my freshman year at Ohio State was a great experience and one I will never forget, especially considering the way that it ended. I wish I had more time to spend with my fellow scholars roommates while we were living in the same dorm together and I wish we had been able to say our farewells before everything changed.

G.O.A.L.S.

[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.

  • Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc.
  • Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
  • Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
  • Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
  • Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]