This semester I was elected to the STEM EE Scholars leadership council.  While I have been in leadership roles before, I have never been in a position that I had to create events for such a large number of people.  Being in the position taught me how to take charge, properly use time management, and work with a council of others to put together large-scale events.  At the beginning of the semester, everybody was new to the position, so the first event put on was slightly disorganized and not ready by the time people were showing up.  However, by the end of the semester we were planning events weeks in advance so we could have everything ready by the time the event would happen.  I was required to take harder classes this semester than in the fall, so sometimes it was challenging to get to events and help plan them.  However, as a group we decided the times that would work best for everybody and met every other week so the council members would still have time to get their coursework completed.  We also had to work well as a council rather than making decisions by ourselves.  This was helpful due to having to plan and supervise many events.  The council planned events together and one or two people would take charge to supervise and get any materials needed to run the event.  This also helped with time management, because if one person had a busy schedule that week they were not required to attend or supervise the event, and they could take responsibility of another event.  Finally being in the council taught me how to improvise.  I was the Game and Sports Coordinator, so I tried to put together a volleyball team for the scholars league.  However, not many people were interested in volleyball and the other scholars programs did not put together teams either.  This gave me the idea to host a march madness bracket challenge with the members of our scholars program instead.  We had about twenty people join and many people enjoyed following the games in hopes to win a gift card by the end of the tournament.

On October 30 I went to a monthly meeting for the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers.  I am unsure of whether I want to pursue mechanical or industrial engineering, so I got to learn more about ISE at the meeting.  Steve DeNunzio talked about the Master of Business Logistics Engineering.  I have been interested in getting a minor in business to go along with my engineering degree, but this program may also be a good option.  A professor also came in to tell us about the future of industrial engineers.  Many jobs are going to be replaced by machines in the future, but engineering has a good growth rate and has low risk to be replaced by machines.  The growth rate of industrial engineers is higher than other engineering disciplines, so if I decided to go into ISE rather than engineering, finding a job should not be difficult, as long as I continue to do well in college.

On August 22, 2018 the Columbus Zoo came to my dorm to show us some of their animals and provide information on them.  The event was very informative and very fun.  We were able to see some of the animals up close that I never thought I would see without glass or a cage between us, specifically the clouded leopard.  I learned about the recent discovery of a sloth that swam and that armadillos are named based on how many bands they have.  The Asian Palm Civet eats a coffee bean and the bean is not digested and found in their feces.  They are being captured so merchants can collect the coffee beans from their waste.  The problem is that the Civet is not a domestic animal.  While my major is not related to zoology, the presentation opened me up to issues around the world.

On August 23, 2018 I watched The Best Damn Band in the Land for the first time.  I was able to witness the band play for the first time and I learned some of the essential Block O chants.  Even though I was only watching from the stands, it was the first Ohio State event that will stay in my memories forever.

[Artifacts are the items you consider to be representative of your academic interests and achievements. For each entry, include both an artifact and a detailed annotation.  An annotation includes both a description of the artifact and a reflection on why it is important to you, what you learned, and what it means for your next steps.  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.]