Letters

My artifact, well artifacts, for second semester are a culmination of letters. Letters from family, friends, and everyone else who cares about me. These letters mean a great deal to me and we’re extremely important to me throughout second semester because of how they helped me change.

The letters I received from everyone really made me want to make people proud. My family, my friends, but most importantly, my girlfriend. She’s always believed in me from the beginning and getting all of these letters from her saying she was proud and to make sure I keep my grades up helped me keep a one track mind and stay focused on the tasks I had at hand. The more letters I got, the more my performance  increased in class.

The letters also helped me realize that I had a support system even and people who cared even when I felt the most alone. I felt like I had people in my life that actually always had my back and were there when needed which was a huge deal when I was struggling to get through my architecture work and still find motivation to go about my day.

Feeling as though I have a support system and getting that extra motivation to do well in school has positively contributed a great amount to how well I’ve performed this semester and without then, I don’t know how it would have turned out.

Aga Kahn

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My artifact is not something tangible, but a photo of an experience. The photo is of a trip that my IA Scholars program took to Toronto. More specifically, the Aga Khan Museum, taken from the roof top of the islamic center and mosque next door.

We were given a tour of the museum where we could see the amazing art exhibitions as well as the unique architectural components. One that stood out to me was the pattern on the floor of the courtyard. The whole floor of the courtyard was covered in the six pointed stars, symbolic of Islam, and they even covered the windows. Another component that stuck out to me were the reflection pools outside of the complex. They gave the illusion of being deep but in reality were just a layer of water of a black slab of what I assume os marble or granite. One thing that really intrigued me, was honestly not even a fixed part of the building at all, it was the architectural plans for the caste on the mountain. The detail and accuracy of the model was incredible. It all was perfectly to scale and I was amazed at how well this can be done, so well done that it can even be considered art, and it was even cooler to realize that I could have my work somewhere like that if I pursue that field wholeheartedly.

In the Islamic center I really appreciated the attention to fine detail. One being the intricate and unique designs on the walls. From the engravings, to passages from the Quran, they all seemed unique and added a nice artistic element to the building. I also really appreciated the precise location of everything in the actual mosque portion. The windows were positioned and designed to let in sun as the day went on, constantly increasing in clarity so that it would be most illuminated once the sun was at its highest point.

I chose this to be my artifact because this trip to Toronto solidified my choice of a major. After seeing the amazing/ beautiful architectural designs of the museum, mosque, and other buildings in Toronto, I realized that I really do want to be an architect so that I can leave my mark on the world. I hope to be able to use what I learned form this experience in my field of study so that I too can create something unique that will leave my mark on this world.

FullSizeRenderMy name it’s Tyler Cleaver and I’m 18 years old from Gaithersburg, Maryland. I used to be a 4 year varsity athlete and was a part of the National Honors Society and other organizations at my school. Now I am a first year student involved in the IA scholars program here at OSU. I’m undecided and involved in University Exploration but I am leaning towards trying to get a degree in design, architecture, or psychology. I’m interested in these majors because I love to draw and do math as well as I am very interested in how the human brain works and why we act in certain ways that we do. I’m a hard worker and because if this I think that this goal will become a reality. I hope to soon find some internship opportunities in these fields to better get an idea of what I am going to be doing with my life and because I am interested in all the fields and want to find out which one suits me the best.

Year in Review

This year has been full of changes for me. I came into The Ohio State University thinking that nothing would change for me. I had been independent and taking care of myself for months leading up to moving in and I figured that it would have just been the same as it had been, but I was wrong. This year caused me to grow in a lot in ways that I didn’t know I needed to. I needed to be more responsible, more money conscious, and most importantly, learn to manage my time more wisely as a student.

In the beginning of the year I thought that I could just coast through and study the minimal amount in all my classes, and just retain the information, as I did in high school. It worked well at the beginning of the year in Spanish specifically, but in math, it did not. I believed that I did not have to study or work hard because of how naturally math came to me, but this soon led to a downward spiral. I struggled and continued to struggle because I thought that I could do this on my own if I had some time and did the same thing but this led to a C.

This was an eye-opener for me. I had never gotten a C in math before and this shook me. I knew then that I needed to make a change in my habits. If i was going to move forward and be successful I knew I needed to study more, study better, and focus on school first, socializing second.

I carried this motivation and mindset into second semester and my whole semester went so much better and smoother. I started to get all my assignments done before socializing and getting together with friends and I realized that I became a lot less stressed and that the quality of my work improved tremendously. This was invaluable when it came to architecture, where every little detail is important, so I am glad that I grew in this way.

 

G.O.A.L.S.

[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.

Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc .
Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]

Career

[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career.  Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated.   For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

Artifacts

[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 is a reflective description of the artifact that attempts to communicate its significance.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

About Me

[Your “About Me” is an introduction and should provide insight into who you are as a person and a learner.  This should include a picture of you that is appropriate in a professional/academic context. This information should be continually updated.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio.  Delete these instructions and add your own post.]