Mentor/Mentee First-Semester Interview

McKenzy Richie– Early Childhood Education Major

Kenzy’s most challenging class so far is her math class. This course is intended to prepare future teachers to teach math to elementary students, so it goes in depth a lot which could be a struggle to manage. I also find it hard to teach children something that we find so innate. When we know something for so long, it becomes second nature and can become hard to explain on a lower level. Kenzy is in two service groups and recently got a job as an Office Assistant. I am also an OA and understand how to manage time between the job and other things. Some things Kenzy is looking forward to in ACES is being able to volunteer at different places and meeting new friends. I also love being able to go to places all around Columbus and help in different ways each time. It makes each experience new and exciting while being educational at the same time. Personally, I met some of my best friends through ACES, so I can see where Kenzy is coming from when she said she can see herself becoming good friends with her peers in ACES. When I asked Kenzy about her dream job, she replied with two answers. The first was becoming a teacher that traveled to third-world countries and teaching children that are less fortunate. Her second answer was working for an animal conservation. My answer was being a comedian, something that I like to think I already am. We both want to help people and make others feel good, because in return it will make us feel good in the end. One thing Kenzy has learned so far at Ohio State was how to manage her time. When we both first got here, we were blindsided by how little we new about managing our time. Eventually, I learned how to put some things before others and I got the hang of it, and I can already see Kenzy doing the same thing.

Irene Guggenheim-Triana  – Music Education Major

Irene’s hardest class so far is astronomy. In this course, there are weekly quizzes and her book was on backorder, so she had to go to the library constantly to catch up on material. I have taken multiple classes where we have a quiz every week, so I told Irene to take it one quiz at a time. Irene is very involved already here at Ohio State. Besides ACES, Irene is in Morrill Scholars, LLDI, and the Ensemble Band for the School of Music. Irene is already very busy so I made sure to tell her to find time for herself and enjoy little moments to make the long ones seem not as stressful. Irene is looking forward to the service events ACES offers. Going out and learning about the diverse community while giving back is something that we are both interested in. Irene’s dream job is becoming a band director for international students. Being able to bring together a big group of people with diverse backgrounds to complete a goal is a big interest for Irene. Irene and I both said one of the most important things we’ve learned at Ohio State so far is to “fake it ’til ya make it”. That saying just means that we understand that we won’t know everything there is to know about something, but we’re going to try our hardest to try and make it work out in our favor. This is an easy way to try to just go with the flow of things and destress a little from our busy lives.