First week reflection paper

My first week at the Ohio State University has had a mix of the expected and unexpected. My sister is a senior at Ohio State and I’ve visited her many times and talked with her about the college experience so I thought I knew what I was getting into. In some ways, I was right. In others, not so much. My whole life I was eager to leave my small town to achieve my dreams the land of opportunity and independence that is Ohio State. The opportunities have been certainly been there. So far I’ve found clubs and groups to foster my hobbies and passions. My favorite so far is Table Tennis Club. Playing with players at and above my skill level (for the first time ever) multiple times through the week has been a wonderful experience that has brought the best out of me and I’ve enjoyed every second of it. I’ve also received great coaching and I’ve improved already. I also tried out for the Indoor Soccer team and earned a spot on the squad which is very exciting. I’m also hoping to get involved with one or two music based club to help me with my music passion. So obviously opportunities and connections are in abundance for me already. The problem is I don’t really have a vision or idea of what I want to do with my life. I picked film studies as a major but I don’t have any idea what that will look like long term or if it’s even what I’m really passionate about. So in some ways I feel like the opportunities available to me aren’t being taken advantage of to their full capacity because of my lack of an identity or a plan. I’ve also made and established close connections with a handful of close friends, something I didn’t think I’d struggle with. I am, however, struggling with the loss of everyone I loved from my hometown. I didn’t see this being as big of an issue as it has turned out to be, but I’m managing it. Mainly with help from my busy schedule and new friends, especially my roommate David, who I’m lucky to have a good connection with. My classes have been fairly easy so far, but sometimes not as engaging as I hoped. Overall I’m happy with my experience so far and I’m looking forward to experiencing my exciting new opportunities and dealing with my not so exciting new challenges.

About Me

[Your “About Me” is a brief biographical statement that might include your intended major, your academic interests, your goals, as well as the things that make you unique.  Definitely include a picture! Also, remember that you can always update this post at any point. 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.]

Year in Review

My first semester of life at OSU has definitely been one of the most unique experiences of my life. I feel like it flew by, but at the same time I feel like I’ve been living like this for as long as I can remember. It’s been weird to reflect on a complete identity shift, and seeing or talking to my friends still in high school leaves me with the rather eerie feeling of not being one of them anymore. The biggest change has been the overall state of isolation. I don’t necessarily feel lonely or disconnected, I have plenty of friends that I see a lot, I play sports, go to clubs, and I’m actually generally very busy. But the difference is that now I’m doing all of these things by myself. I no longer explain everywhere I go and everything I do to my parents and let them know before I walk out the door. I don’t see the same people every single day at school like I did in high school. If I wanted to I could spend days in my room and not go anywhere or see anyone. And the weirdest part about that is that if I did decide to do such a thing, I feel like the world would just go on without me. For as long as I can remember before college I always had to be present in whatever I was supposed to do. If I missed a day of school classmates and teachers would notice the vacancy of my seat. And that didn’t happen very often considering I had parents who made sure I got to school every day. Now as I’ve transitioned to college life there’s probably some freshman sitting in that seat at my high school and its existence is no longer contingent to my presence. In college I don’t have this metaphorical spot I’m supposed to be in and there’s no one checking in on me making sure I’m doing whatever it is I’m supposed to be doing. That’s what I mean by isolation.

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 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.

  • 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 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.]

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 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.]