It’s currently March and I’m finishing up my second-year in the Dunn Sport and Wellness Scholars program. Our second-year graduation is on April 7th this year, which is crazy considering that I feel like I just got to Ohio State. Before I talk about my year in scholars, here are a couple of life updates:

1. I became a fully certified, official University Ambassador! I absolutely love getting to lead campus tours and connect with prospective parents and students. The job has definitely pushed me outside of my comfort zone and I’m thankful for all of the outgoing and awesome coworkers that I’ve met.
2. I just submitted my STEP proposal and will be using my money to travel abroad this May with DSWS to London, England. We’re studying the foundation of sport and I can’t wait to further connect with my best friends and advisors while learning more about the world.
3. I’ve been serving in a volunteer role in the Emergency Department at the James Comprehensive Cancer Center. I’ve LOVED my experience here and can’t wait to continue it in future semesters.
4. I just got offered the position of being one of the DSWS Student Coordinators for the next two years! I can’t wait to impact two incoming first-year classes and be a part of my absolute favorite program at Ohio State.
5. This March, I got admitted into the exercise science major at OSU. I can’t wait to further my education in subjects that I’m passionate about and ones that will be very applicable as a sports medicine doctor in the future. The faculty in the department are incredible, and I’m excited to see where it’ll take me.
6. This summer, I’m going to start a new research position in the exercise science lab at OSU under Dr. Brian Focht. Right now, I’m still learning about what the trials are researching and shadowing baseline assessments, and I’m excited to continue working with the lab and getting more practical, hands-on experience.

Those are some general life updates and things that happened this semester. I’m so excited to see where I go in the future with all of these new involvements, commitments, and experiences. With that being said, the Dunn Scholars program has opened so many of these doors for me, both professionally and personally. Professionally, DSWS was the reason that I started my current job at the Dept. of Rec. Sports. I am an Administrative Assistant in the Office of the Director and being able to interact with professional staff members and help assist guest has improved my communication and improvisational skills. My new job will be with DSWS in the Department of Recreational Sports. I can’t wait to further my relationship-based leadership skills through interacting with first and second years as the Student Coordinator. I also will get to learn more about working in a professional environment, and also how to connect to students and provide programming and events to them that will be beneficial in the future. DSWS has also given me access to many working professionals in the sport and wellness field, and also offered professional development events where I learned how to improve my resume, cover letter, social media presence, and interview skills.

Throughout the past two years, DSWS has taught me so many different life lessons. Some of those have been that relationships matter the most, attitude can change anything, and that I can do absolutely anything that I set my mind to. The people that I’ve met in scholars have made the largest impact on my experience at Ohio State. They are my best friends, supporters, confidants, resources, and have made OSU feel like home to me. The are the reason that I absolutely love where I go to school and all of the things that I get to be involved in here. It’s cool that we are all able to bond over valuing wellness and health, and support each other in all of our goals. DSWS has also taught me that I can control outcomes of situations with my attitude. Learning to be more positive, understanding, and empathetic has allowed me to make mistakes, learn and move on from those, and be successful in the future. One of the biggest things that being in DSWS has instilled in me is that I can do absolutely anything. It’s helped me to realize the value of out-of-the-classroom experiences, and taught me to get involved in and do things that I’m passionate about. I’ve found student organizations, jobs, and a major that I’m passionate about all thanks to scholars. And it’s really awesome to be able to succeed in the classroom but then also have all of these incredible experiences outside of it too.

Looking at my first-year DSWS self compared to now is absolutely crazy. I’ve been able to mature, grow, and succeed in such a positive, flexible, supportive environment and feel like I’ve really blossomed into the Josie that I’ve always wanted to come. I’m so thankful for scholars and proud of myself for getting involved, doing things that I’m passionate about, and being open to new experiences. I’m most thankful for the people that this program has given me, and all of the shared memories that we’ll have for a life time. Here are a couple of the fun things that I got to do as a second-year scholar:

1. Go to Hocking Hills for a weekend for the Second-Year Retreat
2. Get five kids (first-years) to help mentor
3. Serve as the Social Media Coordinator on our Leadership Council
4. Organize, execute, and win the Family Reunion event with my fellow parents and kids in the Scarlet Fam
5. Share fun scholars socials with my friends
6. Sit together at all of the home football games
7. Go to countless hockey games
8. Have the BEST roommates
9. Meet incredible professionals in the sport and wellness field

Scholars rocks. I can’t wait to see where I take my role as Student Coordinator in the future. Go Bucks!

Hi H&S!

Welcome back to my E-Portfolio. So far, my third semester at Ohio State has been a whirlwind filled with tons of new opportunities, people, places, events, and most notable, academic challenges. After my first year, I’ve gotten the hang of studying and prioritizing academics, and although it’s been a struggle, this semester was definitely very successful in the classroom. I finally feel like I can balance succeeding in my tough courses, as well as pursuing all of the co-curricular opportunities that I am interested in.

Before I answer some questions about my favorite part of OSU – SCHOLARS – here are some general life updates:

1. I am officially changing my major from biology to exercise science next Spring. I have found that this major has upper division classes that align more with my interests and what I want to do in the future, and I am so excited to take these next steps.
2. I have become a University Ambassador – a.k.a an official tour guide – for Ohio State! It has been almost a year in the making, and I love getting to talk to prospective students and their families everyday. I’ve met so many people through being an ambassador, and am so proud to get to represent my home!! Go Bucks.
3. I’m still volunteering at The James. This semester, I worked on the 10th floor, which is the Neurological Critical Care floor, and it was so eye opening to get to see another aspect of the medical field. I’m excited to announce that I will be volunteering with the Emergency Department next semester, which will require a whole new set of skills and I can’t wait to take on the opportunity and learn a lot.
4. I’m still serving on the Dunn Sport and Wellness Scholars Leadership Council, but this time not as a freshman representative. Instead, I assumed the role of Social Media Coordinator, and absolutely love getting to show the world why scholars rocks over the internet.
5. Last but not least, my study abroad trip to Finland and Estonia last May was LIFE CHANGING. I got to meet so many incredible people, learn so much about different cultures, and truly experienced the most amazing two weeks of my life to date. It was so incredible that I have decided to study abroad again, this time to London, England, to study the Foundations of Sport with my scholars program. I know that going overseas with some of my best friends and advisors will be so much fun – more to come.

With that being said, I can’t wait for more experiences next semester.

Now, I wanted to focus on a specific aspect of DSWS and how it has changed me thus far in my collegiate career. The prompt that I’ve chose to analyze is who I was when I entered the Dunn Scholars program and who I am now by examining my level of maturity, my willingness to evolve my ideas, and if I was able to look outside my initial expectations of scholars and Ohio State.

Coming into scholars, I definitely had the same personality traits of being bubbly, positive, outgoing, and a go-getter that I still carry with me now. However, I feel like these traits have really been highlighted and brought to life through Scholars. Going to Ohio State, there are so many ways to get involved and bring your ideas to the table with how you want to leave an impact at this school during your undergraduate years. I do think, however, that this is sometimes hard to get started and see your projects through because it’s hard to find a place to start to bring your projects, ideas, and passions to life. So, although I definitely had these skills in place, I didn’t know how, when, and what I could use them for to create an impact at such a large institution like Ohio State. Scholars has given me that place.

Being on our Leadership Council, I’ve finally found my niche. A place where I can think of an idea, bring it to a group of people, and find a way to being it to fruition, make it successful, and see it’s impact on others. I can hone in on my skills of being outgoing and a go-getter, to create things that touch the lives of my fellow Scholars and DSWS as a whole. In that way, I can definitely see how my skills that were already so prominent, have matured and adapted to help me do what I want to before I graduate from Scholars.

The culmination of this maturity of skills and creative freedoms that I’m so thankful to experience on LC have led to the creation of the Family Reunion. This will be an event that happens on the Sunday night before second-semester move in, where scholars come to the ARC and we have a ‘mini welcome week” event. Welcome week is a tradition for DSWS where our new first-year scholars move in three days early before the start of the autumn semester and get grouped into families led by second-year parents, and we participate in team challenges to bond as a scholars group. The Family Reunion will imitate an aspect of this week, where we go to the ARC and play different sports and do physical challenges as families. These will include basketball, volleyball, family feud, can-jam, corn hole, soccer, and various relay races.

ARC night is always so much fun because we really get to bond as first and second years, and as family members. I’m excited to have implemented this before second-semester because I really think that it will help to jumpstart the New Year, and encourage more family involvement during second-semester. I believe that it will help us all remember how much fun welcome week was, and stir the passion and love that we all feel for scholars again. We are calling it the Family Reunions because it is just that – a reunion of all of the scholars families, and I am so excited to have all of my first-year kids and second-year parents back together, even if it is for only three hours.

I brought this idea for the Family Reunions to LC and my coordinators close to the beginning of the autumn semester, and in about a month, the event is going to happen. I’m so proud that I was able to help create this, and hopefully it’s a huge success among the program, and reminds us, again, why we all love scholars and the family program. This has allowed me to hone my skills of being creative, positive, outgoing, and a go-getter, and this process has definitely allowed those skills to mature and get stronger through its planning and implementation.

I never thought that I could find a way to leave a lasting impact on this program, but I really think that this event could be it. In my initial expectation of scholars and being on LC, I never thought that I would be able to design a program and bring it to my coordinators, and then work with them to see it through to the end, but I did. I’m so thankful that scholars allows so much more creative freedom, values out-of-the-box ideas, and that I have such incredible coordinators and student staff that can help me make an impact on something at OSU by using my skill set. I’ve definitely developed into someone who can find ways to make my ideas happen, and I’m thankful for scholars for fostering that trait in me, and allowing me to learn a lot about myself through designing our Family Reunion event. All though the Family Reunion will only happen for three hours on a Sunday night, I hope that it continues to last and be an event in the future. I’m proud to have created something that I think will be fun for so many DSWSers, and re-light the passion and love that we all have for the program going into the New Year. S/O to DSWS for believing in me and my ideas, and allowing me to leave a small, but meaningful impact on a program that I care so much about. I’ve realized that there is no limit to what I can do with the incredible support of LC. Thanks to these past three semesters, I know that I will graduate the Dunn Scholars program in May a student that knows how to start from the bottom and build something incredible. I have such a stronger belief in myself and my ideas, and know how to evolve those ideas into something special. I’m so excited to take those traits with me going forward.

I’ll keep you updated on who wins the Family Reunion next semester (Go Scarlet Team!!!).

This year was absolutely incredible. From growing academically and personally, I undoubtedly know that Ohio State was the best decision I have made thus far. Joining the Dunn Sport and Wellness scholars has given me a family, a home-base, a network of like-minded leaders and individuals, and an un-paralleled staff that I am excited to continue growing with and working with throughout my next three years at Ohio State.

From attending football games, venturing into the Short North and Downtown with friends, and fully immersing myself into everything that OSU has to offer, this has hands-down been the most fun year I’ve ever experienced. While the academic side of OSU is challenging, it really pushed me to grow and evove my study habits, note taking skills, and ways to approach school, which I am excited and ready to carry into
my sophomore year. My major and minor and the classes that they require inspire me everyday to pursue my career in sports medicine, and I feel thankful to have so many new friends that are supportive and push me to reach my goals.

Hopefully, my second year will be full of just as many wonderful people and experiences. However, I am confident in my choice to attend the best school in the nation, and take advantage of everything that being a Dunn scholar has to offer. Go Bucks!