Program for Advancing Scholarship and Service

The Program for Advancing Scholarship and Service (PASS) is a program that helps connect first year students, who have an interest in academic, cultural, career and community benefits of diversity, with various resources. My involvement with PASS has helped me adovacte diversity on campus and learning more about diversity. Through this program, I have learned various resources our univeristy provides such as the Dennis Learning Center, became a certified suicide prevention specialist, became involved in various community service activities, etc. Even though PASS has helped me expand my knowledge on various topics, I have also made many a great memories and long lasting friendships through the program.

Service Activities

During my first semester at The Ohio State Univeristy, I have been involved in many service activities through my scholars program, and PASS. Some of the service events that I have been involved this semester are the Good Neighbors Picnic, Community Commiment, and volunteering at Goodale Park. The most impactful service event that I participated was the Good Neighbor Picnic because I was able to connect with people from my community that I normal would not be able to talk. In this service event, I was a personal shopper to the individuals and families who came to the store at the event. These individuals and families were able to receive clothes, bedding, and hygiene products that they were in need for. Through this job, I was able to talk to many individuals and hear their stories. A remarkable story I had was with a young lady who was 7 months pregnant. She told me that before she was pregnant she struggled with her addicition with drugs, but after finding out she was pregnant, she gave up on drugs. She went out to find help to fight her addiction with drugs. While hearing her story, I was in awe because even though she underwent so much misfortune this young lady was able to keep a smile on her face. Also, this young lady was humble, and did not take certain products because she said “Someone else probably needs this more than I do.” In her eyes, I saw a lot of determination to improve her life and give her unborn child a better future. I left this service event more aware of people who are less fortunate then me. Not only did I have a small impact in these individuals lives, but these individuals left an impact on my life. I wish to continue to participate in service events such as the Good Neighbor Picnic.

Leadership

Before coming to college, I was very involved in my high school. The leadership positions I held were Key Club officer, NHS historian, section leader in jazz, marching, and concert band, and student council member. Through these leadership positions I gained experience in leading others, and becoming independent. My goal in college is to get a leadership position in one of the organizations that I am involved in. One of the leadership positions that I would like to hold is becoming a peer leader for PASS. Through new leadership positions in college, I hope to able to voice my opinion and others opinion to the group of people.

About Me

 

Kathy Cordova is a first year student from Columbus, OH. She will be majoring in biochemistry and would like to minor in economics. Also, Kathy is on the pre-med track. In the future, Kathy hopes to head into medical school, and become a neonatologist and cardiologist. Kathy is a part of her family’s first generation to be able to attend college, which is a motivation to succeed. While in high school, Kathy was heavily involved in various activities, including speech and debate, key club, student council, GahannaThon, marching band, concert band, jazz band, and national honor society. As well, Kathy held various leadership positions while in high school, including key club officer, national honor society historian, squad leader in marching band, and sectional leader and first chair during concert and jazz band. Kathy’s greatest accomplishments in high school were graduating as a valedictorian, and being admitted as a hall of fame finalist at her school. Even though Kathy has a long road ahead of her until medical school, she has already started researching at Nationwide Children’s Hospital at the age of 17 years old. At the age of 18, Kathy became a published author in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. At the Ohio State university, Kathy is a part of the Advocates for Communities and Education Scholars, Program for Advancing Scholarship and Service, a Morrill Scholar, and in the Tri-P Mentoring Program. During her time at Ohio State, Kathy wishes to get involved in BuckeyeThon, and have the opportunity to conduct research at the university. When Kathy has free time she likes to go shopping, go to cafes, and play her saxophone. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Kathy!

Preeclampsia Research

In the summer of 2016, I was able to get involved in preeclampsia research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. I have always been interested in entering the medical field and becoming a neonatologist, therefore I wanted to be exposed to the research aspect in medicine. At first, I struggled with the various laboratory techniques, learning how to program, and in general what my laboratory was researching. I felt overwhelmed with information that was very complex to me. Even though I could have easily given up on the research and enjoyed my summer, I decided not to. I was dedicated to learn the various techniques and have a better understanding of the illness that I was researching. I no longer felt intimated to voice my opinion at conference meetings with my principle investigator, doctors, and PhD graduates. After many days of hard work, I was finally able to perform the various techniques just like my lab manager did. Also, I had a deeper understanding about preeclampsia, and learned about previous research that my lab and other labs around the world conducted. Because of my dedication to my research, I was able to enjoy my time at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and learn valuable information and lessons. I’ve learned that one should not give up, but instead fuel themselves with motivation to succeed. Also, no matter how confused one is or the level of difficultity of the material, everything will make sense if an individual puts in hard work. I am still working with Nationwide Children’s Hospital to continue my research on the molecular pathogenesis of preeclampsia. 

 

Year in Review

[ “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.]

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.]