Year in Review

1. Global Awareness:

So far since coming to college, I think that the greatest contributor to my global awareness has been my connection to Latin American culture through my family. My mom’s side of the family immigrated to the United States about 23 years ago. I was born in the United States, with English as my first language, but we do speak Spanish around my house, since it is the first language of both my brother and my mom. Over the past year, I’ve made an extra effort to learn more Spanish and stay in touch with my heritage. I’ve also attended a few events with different Latin American student organizations, which has really helped me embrace my culture and get a little taste of life outside the states.

2. Original Inquiry:

In the summer of both 2016 and 2017, I spent 8 weeks working with Dr. Chmutov in the math department researching a subset of algebraic topology called knot theory. I’ve loved math for as long as I can remember, and being given the chance to do original research in mathematics was like a dream come true. I’m now continuing research into the school year and I am very excited to keep pushing my critical thinking skills and ability to explore.

3. Academic Enrichment:

During my second year, I went back and forth a lot as to whether or not I should continue with my double major in math and computer and information sciences. I’ve always enjoyed both very much, but the workload was starting to be a lot for me. I also started losing interest in my computer science classes. They just started to seem really tedious to me. However, when I went into second semester of my second year, I started taking a new computer science class which I really enjoyed. After talking with a few professors and reading some material outside of class, I remembered why I started to love computer science in the first place, and I decided to continue with the double major. I know that it will be a lot of hard work, but it is for something I love, which will make it worth it.

4. Leadership Development:

My freshman year, I took what I thought to be a pretty difficult math class, Math 4181H. At the beginning of my second year, I became one of the “mentors” (basically a TA) for the same class, and it was a lot different than I expected. Being a mentor involved a little bit less math help than I originally anticipated, and a lot more of supporting the students through their time in the class. A lot of students ended up dropping, a lot of other students ended up with much worse grades than they were used to getting in math classes. I did have to learn a lot about communication, helping people through bad times, giving advice, and trying to see situations through others’ eyes. The position didn’t originally occur to me as an opportunity to develop my leadership skills, but looking back, I think that I had to learn to be a leader for my students.

5. Service Engagement:

This year – my third year – I am volunteering as a peer mentor for the incoming freshman arts and sciences survey classes. I’m really enjoying this, as I’ve always enjoyed being able to influence and help people younger than me. I’ve done other service projects in the past with my church, but I think that getting to be a role model for younger students is a different kind of service than serving food with my church. I’m really looking forward to building more personal relationships with students and helping them through their first year.

G.O.A.L.S.

Global Awareness: How do you plan to work toward the goal of Global Awareness?

As many have heard, one of the biggest sub-fields within computer science is currently big data. If you don’t know, big data analysis is the use of sophisticated computer algorithms to analyze huge amounts of data. Huge. I’m talking thousands of terabytes every day. As you might be able to guess, this type of information affects people all across the world, and can lead to research that can develop new technologies to help everyone. One of the reasons that I chose to double major in mathematics and computer and information systems was to give me the opportunity to become more global with opportunities such as big data analysis. Although big data may just seem like crunching numbers, those numbers can reach people on a global scale.

Original Inquiry: What do you plan to do to work toward the goal of Original Inquiry?

Doing research in pure mathematics has always been my dream. As of right now, the field in which I would like to do research is called Analytic Number Theory, dealing with questions considering properties of integers, and answering those questions using advanced analytic methods. Of course, I’m going to need a few more years of education before I can take on something like that. So for now, to reach my goal of original inquiry, my plan is simply to learn as much as I can. Work the hardest, learn the most, and become the most creative and skilled mathematician possible. I know that if I continue to work with the drive that I have right now, there is no way that I won’t be doing undergraduate research by my third or fourth year.

Academic Enrichment: How will you use your Academic Plan (and eventually, your Honors Contract) to create a program of study that serves your academic and professional interests and needs?

Academic enrichment is 99% of the reason that I decided to go to college. Yes, of course, getting a job is also important. However, my main focus here is to focus my efforts on my passions, and in doing so hopefully I can reach my academic potential. With that in mind, my academic plan and honors contract are guidelines for me on the way to reaching that potential. Utilizing this plan and other resources available to me has opened my eyes to the vast number of opportunities waiting for students like me, and has also helped me to focus in on which of these opportunities I most want to reach. Now it is up to discipline and drive to use that vision and continue to reach academic enrichment.

Leadership Development: Involvement outside of the classroom is an important consideration as you plan your degree program and prepare for your career. Please identify opportunities with which you are currently involved or ones you would like to explore.

By far, the most unique academic extra-curricular activity that I have had the opportunity to be involved in is called Reading Classics. Reading Classics is a math-related extra-curricular activity in which each student gives a lecture on a topic of their choosing to the rest of the club. Although it may not seem like much on the surface, Reading Classics has not only given me and many other students the opportunity to become exposed to math which we never would have seen otherwise, but, more importantly, it has given us the opportunity to develop initiative, communication, and confidence. All of these traits that have been developed because of Reading Classics have caused me to improve both as a student, and as a leader.

Service Engagement: Participation in service to the community helps students to build on their educational experiences and become valuable members of society. Please discuss service opportunities with which you are currently involved or identify opportunities you would like to explore.

I heard about a very interesting and unique opportunity for service the other day, which seems almost made for me. Although I can’t remember the name of the organization, volunteers for this organization lead running clubs around the Columbus area, specifically for homeless people. I think that this service opportunity would be perfect for me not only because I am a runner, but also because I am a people person. Being able to get to know someone, getting to help them, give them something to be proud of, just sounds like an amazing experience. This opportunity would allow me to develop my communication skills, organization skills by running the club (no pun intended), and athletic abilities, while simultaneously giving to people who have so little. I can’t think of a better opportunity for service.

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.]