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 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.]

G.O.A.L.S.

Columbus To-do List #1:

This past Sunday, October 28th, my peer mentor group and I ventured north on High Street to Whit’s Frozen Custard.  I had not previously heard of Whit’s, but I found it online and thought that it was a great choice before it really gets cold outside.  We departed from Drackett Tower and began walking north on High Street on a beautiful, sunny Sunday afternoon.  Whit’s Frozen Custard is about 1.7 miles away from Drackett, and we soon boarded a bus to speed up the process.  Whit’s was an amazing, local custard shop!  It had great vibes and reminded me of the local ice cream place in my hometown.  I had the flavor of the day which was German Chocolate Cake.  It was delicious, and all was splendid until we turned to leave the shop.  The minute we started filing out of Whit’s Frozen Custard was the minute Mother Nature decided to dump buckets of rain.  We ran to the nearest bus station and were lucky to have avoided most of the rain and the thunderstorm.

I very much enjoyed getting another opportunity to get to know the people in my peer mentor group.  It was great to do something outside of the classroom, in a more natural, social setting.  Additionally, our adventure helped me to solidify my bus-using skills.  This trip certainly reinforced the idea that Ohio weather changes by the minute, and I am going to check the weather much more diligently in the future.  I would highly recommend Whit’s Frozen Custard to a friend, and I would most likely tag along when they head to Whit’s!

Columbus To-do List #2:

On Monday, November 11, Brad and I headed out to Cazuelas Grill, a Mexican restaurant on North High Street!  We decided on this location because we had both received recommendations from other OSU students.  Additionally, a friend from back home had mentioned that the food was very similar to my favorite, local restaurant in my hometown.  I was very excited because there was a slight flurry of snow in the air.  It was very fine and a little wet, but it was still snow!  The wind was quite brisk, but I was excited nonetheless, for winter truly beginning.  The walk only took about ten minutes and we plopped into a warm booth.  The complementary chips and salsa were a pleasant surprise and the black bean chimichanga was delicious!  The walk and meal combination was an excellent chance to get to know Brad better.  We are in the same peer mentor group for HES but hadn’t really interacted outside of the group until this outing.  I certainly enjoyed our conversation and I’m looking forward to continuing getting to better know the entire HES community!  Although I still prefer my favorite hometown restaurant, I would certainly recommend this location to a friend and I will definitely return for more great meals!  Cazuelas has an excellent location, not too far off campus, and great food, making it an excellent location to grab a non-dining hall meal with friends!

 

 

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

Artifact #1

This piece of sheet music has an incredible amount of meaning tied to it.  I began playing piano when I was in first grade and I continued to take lessons from the same teacher until I was a freshman in high school.  Unfortunately, extenuating circumstances prevented me from continuing these lessons.  I had grown extremely close with my piano teacher, Mrs. Meyer, who was one of the sweetest women I have ever met and I will never forget her positivity and encouragement.  It is one of my goals to maintain her joy and can-do attitude within my spirit every day.

“Real Love” by John Lennon represents the first time I was brave enough to play piano and sing in front of a crowd.  Although the performance was a bit shaky, it was extremely liberating.  I related very deeply with the lyrics of the song, especially as I was reflecting on my life at the end of high school, and I loved the piano melody.  Piano allows me to focus on one, singular thing.  The stress of life melts away and I learn indescribable things about myself from the music.  The power of music is incredible, and so are all the wonderful people who I have met along the way.  I will never forget all the inspiration I have received from creating music, and I will continue living life to the fullest, embracing the absolute joy and spirit of music.

 

Artifact #2

My artifact from the Autumn semester is my laptop.  In a very surface-level way, my laptop is almost always with me, and I am almost always working on it in one way or another.  The practicality and the ability to work anywhere on campus brings me a freedom I very much enjoy.  In reality, it is less about the functionality of the computer and more about the stickers on top of it that demonstrate who I am and who I am striving to be as a person.  Two of the stickers are from Jacob’s Porch, Ohio State’s Lutheran Campus Ministry.  My faith is ingrained very deeply into my heart, and I strive to reflect love and kindness to all people of the world.  One of the Jacob’s Porch sticker reads, “Never Stop Seeking”.  Although I am not entirely sure of the meaning, I take it as never ceasing to pursue faith and the wholehearted love I have to offer to the world.  Lastly, I have a sticker from the White Mountains that says, “Get Lost”.  This statement reminds me of my curious and adventurous spirit for life.  I want to maintain these qualities and never stop looking for the adventure in life!

 

About Me

As you’ve probably noticed, my name is Drew Cressman and this is my ePortfolio for the Humanitarian Engineering Scholars program.  I am currently in the undeclared engineering program, although I am leaning largely in two directions.  My current main choice of major is Mechanical Engineering, although I am still very much considering Industrial and Systems Engineering as well.  I grew up in Northeast Ohio and my town is considered the snow capitol of Ohio.  Even after many long and chilly winters, I still love the snow and I love the outdoors!  This past summer I took a backpacking trip in New Hampshire, more specifically, the White Mountains with my uncle and my dad.  You can see some of the pictures I took when I got to the summits of a couple of the presidential mountains.  I had an amazing time and found a wonderful peace in the mountains.  I am super excited to dig into humanitarian engineering and explore new ways of helping underserved populations!

View of Lake of Clouds

View of Great Gulf Wilderness

The summit of Mount Adams

Also the summit of Mount Adams

 

About My Strengths

I recently took the Clifton Strengths Finder assessment as part of the HES seminar course and I found the results to be extremely accurate.  Here are my top five strengths according to the test and my thoughts on them:

Ideation:  I completely connect to the strength through my desire to create and invent, and I felt a little strange by how well the description seemed to fit me.  Additionally, I am quite fascinated by how different people think and interact, and I think I do a good job of approaching problems from a plethora of angles.

Learner:  I relate very closely to the curiosity that is tied into the “learner” strength.  I am also fascinated by continuously improving my techniques of learning and developing my approaches to problem solving, rather than remaining static in my methods.

Achiever:  I feel slightly conflicted about “Achiever” being my third highest strength because there are certain genres of work, including but not limited to writing/lab reports, that I have a very difficult time starting until I feel the pressure of a deadline.  Regardless, I have a very high threshold for the amount of work and effort I can, and willingly, put forth.

Intellection:  I associate very deeply with the discussion aspect of this strength as I love to participate in difficult conversations, especially with people older than I for their abundance of wisdom.  Additionally, I am very determined to push for social change that will benefit our world as a whole.

Input:  I don’t entirely relate with this strength as I don’t have an overwhelming passion to describe processes and procedures.  That being said, I have a huge curiosity to know more and understand how the world around me functions.