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Columbus To-Do Part 2

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I completed the second part of the Columbus To-Do assignment with Austin.  We went to Impero Coffee, Roosevelt Tea Room, Fox in the Snow Cafe, and Mission Coffee Co.  Going to these places reminded me how beautiful downtown Columbus is.  I haven’t really looked at the city from so many angles ever, which supplied a completely new experience of the city.  This makes me want to drive around Columbus more in my free time and investigate all the different places from which I can see a new thing, whether that be a house, a bridge, a statue, or a fountain.  And maybe I could do this again with my high school friends that went out of state for college, so they can see the city in the new way that I have.  My favorite spot was definitely the Roosevelt Tea Room because of the open layout, welcoming staff, and the sheer number of windows.

The Fox in the Snow Cafe was interesting.  I learned some interesting things about it.  For instance, I heard Twenty One Pilots goes there when they return home, which is Central Ohio for them.  My experience here was okay.  The food looked and tasted great.  I had the brownie and it was very chewy, just the way I like it.  Unfortunately, I didn’t make the best coffee choice and almost gagged when it went down my throat: one, because it was scalding hot, two, because it reminded me of black licorice for some reason, my most despised taste.  Another problem I had with this place was the crowd, like the suffocating presence of an abundance of humans in a tiny area that conjures unimaginable anxiety about running into them and causing them any displeasure. Yeah, that.  However, a redeeming quality for FITSC was the fact that they had FREE parking, unlike any of the other places we visited.

 

Impero Coffee and Mission Coffee resembled each other in almost every sense; thus I will treat them as one uncomfortable experience.  The discomfort came from the low square-footage and relatively dense occupancy.  This kind of sounds repetitive from FITSC, and that’s because it is; All three of these places left me with a claustrophobic feeling.  But, these two places compounded my anxiety because they were situated on High Street and had large storefront windows through with crowds of people peered in to check out the coffee lovers and judge them for paying the high prices the stores charged.  Maybe they were not thinking that, but their faces read like that, so I do not really care what they were exactly thinking because I know it was not anything positive.  Counterposed to my coffee experience at FITSC, the coffee at these places were very pleasing(and vegan!).

 

Being my prized choice for urban coffee in Columbus for the past few years, I expected the Roosevelt Tea Room to satisfy my privacy and taste buds, and, in effect, relieve my anxiety.  And, as I hoped, the business that is nestled between to large open lots that allow tons of sunlight to enter the premises and that has plenty of large room sparsely populated by both people and tables supplied me with a plethora of catharsis. It was simply amazing, as per usual.  Honestly, I feel passionate about have places like this in the city to let people in a similar situation to me actually relax!

 

Overall, this assignment was really great, mostly because it let me explore my city more, not so much because of the outstanding coffee it may not have gotten me to try.

 

Career Exploration

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At this moment, I am pretty lost as far as career planning goes.  I have an interest in teaching, although I have heard from many teachers that it is a terrible experience, marketing, and finance.  In class, I found out that I would classify myself as an “S.A.C”.  Entering this code into O*NET resulted in a recommendation of childcare/teaching and a development specialist.  This aligns rather well with my interests, especially the teaching.  The aforementioned grievances I have heard about teaching are that: too many parents are crazy; too many children are a bit psychopathic; standardized testing has made it very hard to be a creative teaching methods; and, finally, curriculum planning has, in effect, been pigeonholed in such a way that teaching in maybe more logical ways is unallowed.   These characteristics of teaching were the ones I was really looking forward too, so hearing this information was a little bit devastating.  However, the other outcome of a development specialist reminded me of my interest in finance.  I studied this quite a bit in high school and connected with the topic, since I enjoy numbers accounting.  So, ignoring the teaching result, development specialist matches rather well to my current plans to continue in Fisher.  Unfortunately, I have not heard many great things about this job, because the progression in the field is unstable as it is based on the death of others and how much these dead people were willing to will to your cause when they were alive.  Moreover, I feel that these results do not truly match my entry.  I feel a return of human resource specialist or advertising specialist would better match my “S.A.C”.  These careers deal a lot more with empathy and creativity.  

Knowing that these are my priorities makes my choice to stay in business a bit easier.  Obviously, I am still open to other careers, such as an environmental scientist of some sort that works alongside businesses.  In the vein of academics, I plan to major in business, but minor-wise I am still looking.  By this way, I am thinking about psychology, now more so that I categorize myself as social, french, which also has pangs of the social aspect, and environmental science, which has always been a passion of mine.  The problem I have with choosing a minor is the difficulty of the school work.  Some of these options would be easier than others, and I feel that environmental science would be the most difficult, but, again, I really do a have passion for it.  Counterposed to that idea, I am also looking to double specialize in business, which counts as a double major.  I am looking into this because I have heard it is highly sought after, and the knowledge would really help me be able to more holistically analyze business practices.  

Overall, this assignment really allowed me to get an inward look at myself that helped me look outwardly into the professional world with a fresh perspective, which was the clearer sense of what I enjoyed and valued.  Even though, the O*NET results were kind of a bust, the refocusing of my future on my “S.A.C” characteristics reopened my mind to careers I had previously disregarded because of low salaries, work that seemed too hard, or whatever other disqualifying criteria resonated in my mind.  I am really looking forward to furthering my business education, even though it really has not even started, nor will it start for a little bit, which is disheartening, and exploring human resources.  This branch of business was one of those that I had disregarded for some reason. Actually, looking back, I realize it was definitely a salary-based dismissal, which has become less and less important to me as time progresses. You know the saying, “more money, more problems”.  Which I can affirm, is definitely a widespread truth, and I do not want to deal with that at all!  Human resources would give me and outlet for my overwhelming emotions and empathy, which might be the cause of my overactive emotions.  Helping people and groups through problems really seems like a great profession to me!  Furthermore, this assignment also solidified any interest I previously had in marketing.  The creativity and practicality melange of this career really correlates with the “A” and “C” in my code.  This situation is unique and I am not sure I would easily be able to find it in other fields, so I am happy that I am able to find the ways I actually connect to it, rather than it just being a feeling I had in my stomach!  I can wholeheartedly say that this assignment was extremely helpful and insightful.

Columbus To-Do Part 1

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This semester, I am exploring the “coffee and tea” list.  I am looking forward to finding delicious, interesting, and unique coffee/ tea shops.  I anticipate finding these types of stores and showing my friends and family.  In that vein, I am also obviously expecting to enjoy spending time at these shops in the future.  I am most excited to show my old friends that decided to go away for college because they will get to experience new areas of Columbus they had not whilst living here as they grew up.

To start my list, I, along with Austin and Juliet, went to Kafe Kerouac.  Walking in, the shop was a bit intimidating: cluttered with people, records, seating, books, and noise.  This initially turned me away and kinda of made me want to leave.  Additionally, the outward appearance of the building turned me away as well, as it’s patio housed some young adults smoking and the surrounding area was a bit run-down.  However, after hearing a couple interactions between patrons and the bartender-of-sorts, a barista behind a bar, I began to feel a little bit more comfortable.  Once I kind of settled in, I found that my favorite aspect of the shop was the clutter.  In the future, I would like to bring my friends here because we love FRIENDS and the clutter kind of reminds me a crowded New York City cafe, only with fewer angry people.  Moreover, I think that the more open room with the bookstore in it was very welcoming and could be a great place to relax with friends in the winter.

Sapling Meeting

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Last week, on Wednesday, I meet with my mentor Marie McConnell, an Environmental Science major in her Sophmore year.  The questions I chose to ask were:

Where are your favorite places to study on campus?

Maire has a few places she likes to go to study, all of which are libraries.  Her favorite place is the Science and Engineering library.  Then, she also likes the towers of the Thompson Library, and the Agricultural Library.  The Agricultural Library is across the river on west campus.

Knowing this, I plan to go to the SEL and try to work there in between my classes.

How have you gotten involved at OSU? (also a little bit about volunteering)

ENR was on of the first organizations that gave her social growth opportunities and volunteering jobs at OSU.  She is also very involved in other clubs.  She discussed how it was not exactly always how she expected.  She volunteering jobs with these group has been more political than hands-on change.  She has come to terms with the fact that the political side of volunteering is just as important as the physical aspect.  This is because reporting and informing the public raises awareness, which has the potential to get even more people doing the physical work and making a much larger change. “Strength in numbers!”

She is also the treasurer of her student organization as a sophomore, which is really awesome.  The goal of this organization is to create a “zero-waste” structure at OSU, and to take climate action while encouraging others to do the same.

With this information, I plan to try to join some student organizations, which she also taught me how to do.  If not OSU-based clubs, I really want to find some type of volunteer work in my community.

How can I make the most of ENR?

Marie, like Esther, said ENR is what you make of it.  She has take advantage of the program to meet great friends.  This does not directly apply to me, but she stressed the importance of branching out from your roommates because there are so many great people to converse and bond with, even right next door.  For me, this indicates the importance of me trying to stay down on campus as long as possible the days I am there,and coming down when I do not necessarily have, just to meet new people.  This includes coming down to Morrill more often to actually meet some of my peers.  Marie’s other main piece of wisdom in this meeting pertained to the diversity of people in ENR and the diversity of experiences she has received from the group.  She has done things she never thought she would do, and she is amazed at the constant opportunities she has to try new things and push herself.

With this in mind, I will try harder to push myself into new scenarios, socially, and sign up for as many ENR events that my schedule and body allow.

What is your dream job/ future career plan?

Marie wants to join either the Peacecorps or Americorps after college and do some great services.  Afterward, she idealizes a life where she can work for both a non-profit business and help them do environmental work or just run smoothly and as an Interpreter at a national park.

During this discussion I realized money should not hold such a large gravity on where I drive my life.Yes, it is important, but not as important as me feeling fulfilled, as if I am actually doing the world a favor with my work, on of Maire’s goals as well.

What adice would you give a freshman?

This answer was the most impactful; she reminded, and actually kind of informed me, that messing up is okay.  She  noted the fact that in high-school we where both driven learners who had few problems with course material, but in college it can be a little bit different and it take getting used to, and each semester you have to readjust.  By remembering this information in the future, I can really help myself destress, which has been my major problem thus far.  The stress has not necessarily come from class concepts, but rather the new operating systems, approaching due dates, and misinformation.  It is amazing to know that messing up is normal!

Year in Review

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[ “Year in Review”  is where you should reflect on the past year and show how you have evolved as a person and as a student.  You may want to focus on your growth in a particular area (as a leader, scholar, researcher, etc.) or you may want to talk about your overall experience over the past year.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

G.O.A.L.S.

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[ “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

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[“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

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[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

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My name is Matthew Coman, and I was born in Columbus, Ohio.  I attended high school at Worthington Kilbourne, where I joined and successfully completed the IB program.  The IB program taught me a lot about different cultures, as we read many pieces of literature from all around the world.  This knowledge is instrumental in my life today because it brought to my attention the importance of learning about and experiencing different cultures. In the same vein, I tremendously enjoy.  Recently, I have traveled places including Costa Rica, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Pittsburgh, and Chicago.  The experiences I gained and the people I met in these places dramatically changed the way I experience life.  For a start, in Costa Rica, I kayaked through the ocean to different islands, which demonstrated to me, for one of the first times, the true beauty of the natural world.  This experience catalyzed many adventures on that trip and many excursions onward.  In Jamaica, where I traveled to most recently, I had an amazing experience driving ATV’s through the Jamaican wilderness and cliff diving into some of the most beautiful water I have ever seen.  Seeing more and more wonders of nature, I have been continuously inspired to preserve the environment and live a more sustainable life.  When I went to set this wish into motion, I noticed major problems with my eating and purchasing habits and transitioned into a vegan lifestyle.  My desire to preserve the environment has been the impetus to my joining of the Fisher College of Business.  Here, I plan to take an environmental business track, so that I can work in influencing the largest contributors, big businesses, to take “green” steps, so that they can decrease their environmental footprint.  Also, I see myself joining business and sustainability clubs and doing internships so that I can gain real-life, hands-on experience.  These clubs will also teach me extraordinary lessons in professionalism, diligence, the workings of the real world, and organization.WIN_20160805_16_49_56_Profor portfolip