Greetings! I have been living at OSU for 15 weeks now, and this semester has certainly been a ride.

Initially, I struggled with efficiency. In high school I had clubs, school, and other extracurriculars that sort of created a schedule for me. I attended school for 7 hours, had an hour for yearbook, and another two hours for jazz band. In college this semester, most of my days ended around 12:30pm, so I had a lot of time on my hands. I lacked structure the first month or so of school. I would do homework before it was due and eat regularly but never at a consistent time. I was spending more time on Chem 1210 assignments than Psych 1100 or Bio 1113. I was socializing a great deal but not really studying the way I needed to. I also started working at one of the dining halls the second week of school so I had to figure out how to balance all of my new commitments. Sometimes I would feel so overwhelmed by the tasks I had to complete I wouldn’t know where to start.  Although I used a planner, I realized that I was failing to complete all of the goals I was setting for myself. To add some structure to my life, I began to use iCalendar along with my planner to better allocate my time. I scheduled time for meals, for completing certain assignments, completing REP, work, and even sleep. Although I did not always stick with my schedule, I was able to relieve a lot of the stress that was building when I was living without much structure.

Regarding friends, I have become close friends with my roommates and two friends I met from Morrill Scholars. I’ve maintained friendships with my old group from high school through social media, meet up on occasion with the high school friends who also chose to attend OSU, and go out on the weekends. Although I don’t have a giant friend group and I generally eat meals alone due to differing schedules, I still have a strong social life. I’ve also grown closer with my parents, siblings, and my long-distance boyfriend despite living so far away. For health, I eat three meals a day since I have the unlimited dining plan. I eat somewhat well in that I eat fruits and vegetables every day, but not as healthily as I would like. I wish the dining halls, specifically KCom had more variety for healthier choices. Lastly, concerning academics, I have stayed on top of my assignments and have been doing well. I just have to finish strong with finals the next two weeks.

Regarding Humanities Scholars, I am so happy that I chose this scholars group. I traveled to Chicago during fall break and saw Les Miserables, live comedy, the Navy Pier, and explored the city on my own. If I had not gone on that trip, I would not have the cozy winter coat that has been saving me the past few chilly weeks. I’ve enjoyed the people I’ve met living in Baker East, meeting Art Scholars who live just across the connector, and discussing the importance of the humanities in our seminar class. I’m really thankful for my opportunity to experience college at OSU and this scholars group has made OSU feel more like home. In the future, I would like to become a mentor for the next group of freshmen.

Before I came to campus, my main concerns were time management, finding friends, eating healthily, and succeeding in academics. I would say that I accomplished most of these goals thus far. My goals for the future include becoming a Student Lead at KCom by the end of next semester, being admitted to the school of music as a piano performance major, and continuing to succeed academically, socially, intellectually, and spiritually.