Throughout high school while going through the IB Diploma Programme, we were taught several things that would prepare us for college and what ever else is ahead. With this came skills that affected how I could adapt to different situations and the ability to interchange ideas. Now my first year in the STEM Exploration and Engagement Scholars group has improved upon these skills, helped adapt to the college life, and has progressed my maturity.
Coming from a small high school, I didn’t know many people when I was going into Ohio State. The STEM EE Scholars group has helped me develop a group of friends that I can rely on and come to whenever I have problems and if I need help. When autumn semester first began, I was really home sick and honestly contemplating on transferring to a school in Cincinnati so I could be closer to home and be with friends from home. After a couple weeks I found my group of friends that I feel I can be close with for years because of the scholars program.
Besides helping me find a group of friends, the STEM EE Scholars group has helped me improve upon group and leadership skills. Through working together with other STEM students and through the service projects like experimental design and CPA, STEM has allowed me to gain skills that allow me to work in groups and take leadership roles. Before coming into Ohio State, I wasn’t too keen on taking leadership positions or working in groups without my friends, which is still mostly true, but now after my involvement in this program I am content with working with others I don’t really know in order to make a better end product and learn new skills with others.
Coming into the university and the STEM EE scholars program, I feel that I wasn’t the most mature person. Now after a year in the university and through engagements with other students and professionals, I feel that I have matured enough to where I feel comfortable with having engagement with professionals and go into interviews or other meetings without feeling incredibly nervous. I also feel that I take some situations more seriously than I previously would have when I was in high school and when I was first entering college. However, in some places I haven’t completely matured, but those are areas I will be able to touch up on in the coming year.
The STEM EE Scholars program has been an eye opening experience that has allowed me to gain many skills and build upon others. This has also allowed me to mature at a professional level. Along with these new skills and maturity progression, I have also built several connections with many people who now make up my ring of good friends. Most of my friends now I have met through this scholars program, and that’s the main reason why I can’t be thankful enough for the opportunity of being able to meet these people, learn from them, and build relationships with them. In general, this last year has been a fruitful experience because of how I’ve matured, the skills I’ve gained, and the friends I have made.