This year I had the amazing opportunity to serve as a mentor for one of the First-Years in ACES. After the speed dating session, I was paired with Dante Le, who is one of the brightest and warmest individuals I have ever met! He is currently majoring in Psychology which is such a great fit for him. He has such a beautiful heart and is passionate about mental health and self-empowerment/advocacy. A couple of weeks ago, I sat down with him over FaceTime and conducted his First-Year Interview. Listed below are the questions and responses from the interview.
1.) How did you decide on the major you have chosen?
“I took an AP Psych course in high school and quickly fell in love with the topics that were discussed in that class. Mental health has always been very important to me and to have it be taught about in school was amazing. Ever since I took that class, I have found a new passion for trying to be there for people in whatever capacity they might need. I am very excited to dive deeper into my major!”
2.) What kind of involvements are you interested in on-campus?/What have involvements have you already joined?
“Aside from finding a family in ACES, I have joined the APIDA Cohort and applied for their mentorship program there too! I have a “big” in APIDA that helps guide me when I need her too. It’s really great to have all of these resources to help me if I need it. Although it’s been a little difficult to find other involvements to join on campus due to COVID, I have been looking into the Vietnamese Student Association and your org, Pen Pals in North Korea. I have been looking for more philanthropy based orgs and that one really piqued my interest.”
3.) Why did you choose ACES?
“For me, ACES really seemed like it was a place where I could grow. As soon as I got onto campus I wanted to take the initiative to immerse myself in opportunities where I felt like I could grow the most. ACES really appealed to me because of the advocacy aspect. After being in it for a couple of months and meeting my floormates, I have never been happier with my decision.”
4.) What is your dream job and why?
“I really want to be a clinical psychologist. I mentioned it in one of my previous answers but mental health is something I really hold close to my heart. Growing up, it was something that was never really provided to me so I want to ensure that it’s ingrained in other peoples lives. I cannot stress how important having a strong foundation of mental health is. Also, I would like to think that I’m very welcoming and relative so I can help people open up!”
5.) What is one of the most important things you have learned so far at Ohio State?
“Something that I really learned is that this is a new chapter of your life and you’re going to grow in so many different ways. But, the only way to get the most growth out of this experience is go out of your comfort zone – try something you would have never done at home, pick up a new hobby, talk about random topics with your floormates late at night. My friend once said to me, “You know, when your parents pick you up at the end of the semester, they aren’t picking up their son or daughter. They are picking up someone completely different.” And I want my change to be a good one. I want to feel like I grew a lot so I can look back at my college experience and say, “Man, that was so good.””
———————————————————————————
This interview that I had with Dante was truly eye-opening. He’s only a first year, but he’s so well-spoken, introspective, and positive about his COVID plagued first semester. These responses were just a small cut of the great conversation that we had and I am very thankful to say that I have such an amazing mentee! The pic below is from our scavenger hunt – SO CUTE!