The Mentorship Experience

Throughout the 2018-2019 school year at Ohio State I mentored two girls– Jessica Grimmer and Ally Minnick.

Jessica Grimmer is a freshman from Parma Ohio. She is an Early Childhood Education major with a minor is dance. Jessica loves to dance and joined my dance club: Studio Dance. Throughout this year I have been able to support Jessica in many ways. She has come to me for advice about classes, and I have been able to help her, as we are on the same career path. Jessica and I have a lot in common– we are studying the same thing, have the same interests, and the same hobbies. The one thing that Jessica and I differ on is how extroverted we are. Jessica is a very quiet and sweet girl– I have never seen her be mean. While I on the other hand  am incredibly extroverted and loud. It has been very interesting getting to know someone as similar as me, with the opposite personality.

Throughout the past two semesters Jessica has grown a lot. She has been able to work on her ability to include fun into her life, and not just do homework. She has also learned a lot about the major and working with children, and I am excited to see how she grows with her job this summer. I have been able to help Jessica throughout the past year by being her support in the pre-major classes and Studio Dance. Because Jessica is quiet I have been able to help her open up and find friends that also love dance. Because we see each other so much, Jessica and I were able to become good friends throughout the year.

Ally Minnick is a freshman from Dayton, Ohio. She came to Ohio State studying Biomedical engineering, but has recently switch to Public Health. Ally Minnick loves volunteering, and has really loved being a part of ACES because of the service opportunities. I have loved getting to know Ally throughout this entire year. While we don’t have a lot of the same career goals and passions, like Jessica and I do, I have been able to see how Ally is experiencing Ohio State and how her experience may be different but also similar to mine. I loved being able to share some interests with Ally– like art– but also I have loved being able to learn new things from her.

Ally has been able to grow tremendously throughout the past two semesters at Ohio State. One thing that I admire about Ally is her boldness to be able to switch majors because she knew that she wasn’t in the right one. This can be a scary thing, and I am proud of her for standing up for her future and what she wants in life. Throughout this mentorship program I hope that I was able to give advice to Ally, and guide her along the journey. I hope that I was able to help Ally ‘explore Columbus’, experience all that the city has to offer throughout this year, and hopefully encourage her to find cool things to do off campus– which I know that she already loves doing.

Because of the mentorship program I have been able to learn a lot not just about my mentees but also the importance of different personalities. Going into the speed-dating event I was hopeful of getting a mentee who studied the same major, and also likes to dance– and I did. But I also got a mentee who didn’t fit these ‘qualifications’. While I was able to see Jessica more throughout the semester (because we are in some of the same classes, and dance together), I was so happy to be able to have a bond with Ally. She taught me a lot about the different experiences you can have at Ohio State, and I am so glad that I have been able to become her friend. Through this experience I was able to recognize the importance of being friends with people who are different than you– I learned so much from Ally, and I hope she learned from me too.

The mentorship program is very beneficial for not only the freshmen who are being mentored but also the people who are doing the mentoring. I did not expect to come out of the program with two great friends, but that is what happened. I also think that sometimes I was learning from them more than they were learning from me. It was also cool to mentor someone who didn’t really need my help, and someone who wanted my advice all the time. Overall, I highly recommend the mentorship program because of the relationships built and the lessons learned.

Explore Columbus Spring 2019

For our explore Columbus this semester Jessica, Ally, and I headed to the Short North for some ice cream and window shopping. I met both of the girls at Smith Steeb on a Sunday afternoon and we headed to the bus stop. While waiting for the bus we talked about school and all the things going on in our life. Ally had just recently switched to public health as her major. She seemed to be liking the classes a lot more, and we talked about some of the classes that she was taking. Jessica talked to me about her math class, the same class and I took a year ago, and the project that she’s working on currently. Because Jessica and I are both Early Childhood Education majors we take a lot of the same classes – which makes it easy for her to know which classes to take when. Where we were standing at the bus stop one of my best friends from high school drove by with her family. We were able to say hi briefly, but they drove away quickly. We then she got on the bus and headed down to the Short North.

Our first stop was Jeni’s. As we were walking across the street to go into Jenny’s, we saw the same friend that we had saw at the bus stop. My friend’s grandfather actually paid for ice cream – which we were very grateful for. We talk to my friend and her family while in line. My friend, Lauren, is public health major like Ally. Ally and Lauren were able to exchange numbers, which is very helpful for Allie because she just switched to public health. We all got our ice cream and sat down, and talked about school and our plans for the summer. The flavors that we had were lemon blueberry parfait, cream puff, and Texas chocolate sheet cake. While we were in Jeni’s it rained, but is soon as we are ready to leave the rain had stopped.
We started walking around the Short North after eating our ice cream, and we’re looking for shops to stop in. Because it was a Sunday afternoon most the shops were closed so we ended up walking to Goodale Park. While in the park we walked along a lot of the pathways. It was very pretty in the park because the trees have just bloomed– and there were a lot of people taking pictures. We also decided to take some pictures in front of the flowers (picture below). While walking we walked along the pond on the one side of Goodale Park we were able to see many of the fish swimming. After playing with the fish for quite a while we headed back to the Short North.
We went into a few shops including some dog shops, Ohio apparel shops, glassware shops, and a bookstore.
When we went into the dog shop we saw many cute things. We laughed about how our dogs would look so silly in a lot of the pet clothes that they had, and we also admired some of the other things with in the shop. After spending sometime in the dog shop, we headed to the glass shop.  They had a lot of really cute jewelry, but we felt as though we were going to break something as we were walking around the shop. The favorite store that we went to was the book shop. In the shop we not only looked at the books, but we also looked at the games, puzzles, fun pins, and other funny things. I ended up getting a puzzle at this shop of an image from the Jazz age, as it is something that my boyfriend and his family will like.
After walking around the Short North for about an hour and checking out a bunch of different shops we decided it was time to head home. At this point it was getting quite chilly in the wind was blowing very hard, we walked over to the bus stop and waited for the bus. We have been very lucky because the radar had said that it was going to rain all day, but it only rained out we are in Jeni’s. When the bus finally came we headed back to campus.
Overall I recommend the Short North, Jeni’s, and Goodale Park. We had a very fun time checking out all the different shops, and walking through the freshly bloomed park. I was also able to educate the girls about the 200+ species of trees in Goodale!

Interviewing my Mentee Spring 2019

Jessica Grimmer, and Early Childhood Education major, and I grabbed lunch after a Saturday morning dance class. Below are the questions that I asked her and her responses to these questions.

How are you enjoying your major?

When I asked Jessica about her major she said that things are going well. Since last semester she has declared her dance minor, which means that we are studying the exact same thing now. She told me that she is taking FEEP, earth science, math 1126, HDFS 2410 online, Art education, and tap. I have taken most of these classes, so we discussed how she was feeling about the classes, her teacher, and what classes she likes the best so far. Jessica did say that she doesn’t enjoy her earth science class too much because it is lecture style, which makes it harder for her to focus and learn. We talked about lecture styles classes, and agreed that we enjoy our smaller discussion based classes more.

Do you think you will keep the same involvement next year as you have this year?

Jessica and I are both part of the same clubs. We talked about the clubs that she enjoys being part of: Studio Dance, OSEA, and Pen Pals. We are both a part of Studio Dance and OSEA, however I have not been a part of Pen Pals. I asked her what she does for that club and she explained that during the biweekly meetings that receive a topic to write to their pen pals about. Currently her pen pal is a 5th grader, and she will be receiving another pen pal soon. She likes this club and hopes to continue with it next semester. Next year Jessica said that she hopes to become a part of College mentors for kids. We also talked about her possibly joining STEP next year, but she isn’t sure what she would do with the money.

Have you enjoyed the ACES living-learning community in Smith-Steeb?

Jessica told me that her favorite part of the ACES is making friends and living with people that she sees outside of Smith Steeb. She has enjoyed the program overall, and plans to continue with ACES. She has made a lot of great friends through the program, and is glad that she joined.

Have your career plans changed since last semester?

Because we already talked about her major, we talked about the possibility of her receiving the endorsement to teach 4th and 5th grade. This is something that I plan on doing, but Jessica informed me that she might be able to receive a license for K-5th with no additional classes because OSU is thinking about changing the program. However, she is not sure when they are going to make this change. She says the whether or not they make this change, she will try to get her license to teach all the way through 5th grade. Other than this, all of her career plans have stay the same.

What goals have you set for yourself this semester?

This semester Jessica said that she is going to try to balance school work and a social life. Last semester she struggled on spending time with people outside of school and clubs. She would like to work on stressing less about her homework and studying. She tends to only focus on school work until it is all done– and it is hard to get it all done. Aside from school causing her stress, she would still like to continue to get good grades. She is also teaching a combo class for studio dance and hopes to increase her experience working with student throughout studio dance and her other clubs/classes.

 

Other topics that Jessica and I discussed were plans for the summer and spring break. While she doesn’t have anything big planned for spring break, she hopes to meet with some people who work for the camp that she will be leading over the summer. Over the summer she will be the head counselor for a summer camp, and will need to plan activities for the children to do everyday. She is very excited but nervous about this.

Explore Columbus Fall 2018

For our explore Columbus, Jessica Grimmer and I went to a dance performance. We both are dancers, and we are part of the same dance club. This performance was the 50th anniversary dance performance for the Dance Department at Ohio State. I picked her up at Smith Steeb and we walked over to Sullivant on Friday November 9th. The performance was in the Barnett Theater, which was set up differently than usually– the audience is on all sides of the stage area.  Before the show some of the dancers were dancing and stretching on the stages. One of the dancers came up to us and talked about the show and what we should expect. She asked us about our dance experience and experience at Ohio State. The show had 4 different piece having to do with flow, weight, time, and space. They had many cool projections on the floor, as well as any props throughout the show. I had personally gone to many shows from the dance department, and this one was good, but not my favorite. I did however know a few people in the show, as well as one of the choreographers, which was cool. Jessica thought it was good as well. It was a different experience for us, because we are used to a different style of contemporary than what Ohio State offers, because we studied at competition-based studios for years. The show was very nice because it only lasted about an hour, so it was just the right amount of time for the performance. I would recommend the dance department because I think that they put on a lot of very good shows. We were able to lean about the dance community and style of the department here on campus. There are many different styles of dance that universities may focus on, and Ohio State focuses on contemporary, which was very much shown through the performance. The picture is of me and Jessica walking to the dance performance.

 

My other explore Columbus was with Ally Minnick, and we went to the Columbus Museum of Art. I met her at her dorm and we took an uber down town. I had picked up some free tickets at the union  for the museum, but we did not end up using them because we went on a Sunday, which are already free. When we got to the museum we checked our coats in the coat check room, and then headed upstairs. The first exhibit that we attended was the modern art exhibit. We saw a lot of cool pieces. One of our favorites was one where if you take a picture of the painting with the flash on, it changes the way that it looks completely. One piece that we hated was a sculpture of the back of a mans head and back. The reason that we did not like it was because it was so really and creepy looking. After that exhibit we went to the area of more historical paintings, which both of us do not enjoy that much. There was some cool glass art in thie area though, which we both thought was really cool. We had noticed some weird Lego figurines in high places all around the museum, and decided to ask someone. One of the workers informed us that there is a Lego exhibit for kids, and this was part of an activity for kids. We decided to go check out the Lego exhibit, which ended up being pretty disappointing. But we were able to look at the fabric exhibit, which was one of my favorite exhibits there. Ally and were able to weave, create bugs out of different materials, and touch the displays in this area, which was so much fun. We both enjoyed the fabric exhibit a lot, and I wish that we would have know about it before going to the museum. Other things that we saw were films, large sculptures, and movement paintings. After about 3 hours in the museum, it was closing time, so we ubered home. We both had a good time at the museum. It was my first time at the museum, and I would definitely recommend it. They had a lot of great exhibits, and much of the modern art was actually interesting and cool. I was cool to see how the Columbus Art museum was different than the Cleveland Art Museum, and I think that I enjoyed the Columbus one better. The picture below is of me and Ally outside of the museum.

My Mentee (interview)

One of my mentees is Jessica Grimmer. It has been so cool being Jessica’s mentor because she is in my club, Studio Dance, we are both Early Childhood Education majors, and we are taking a lot of the same classes– we are in the same dance history class. Already this semester we have seen each other a lot and already have a lot to talk about.

Here is the list of Questions I asked her:

How did you choose the major you have chosen?

What has been your most challenging class so far?

What types of volunteering did you do in high school?

Why did you choose ACES?

What are you most excited for with ACES?

Other than your current major, what is your dream job?

What has surprised you about being on campus so far?

When talking about being a Early Childhood Education major, Jessica said that this is something that she always wanted to do. She did have a brief point in High School where she shadowed a doctor and thought that she might want to do that, but once she started looking for colleges she realized her true passion was teaching. Jessica said that if she wasn’t going to be a teacher, her dream job would be a dance teacher– I replied with a comment about how similar they are, but I still counted it as a proper answer to the question. I did like her answer, because I would love to be a dance teacher too.  Jessica and I are taking 3 of the same classes this semester, and she says that the Children’s literature class is the hardest class she is taking this semester. I was surprised by this answer because she is taking Math 1125– which is usually everyone’s least favorite subject. I am also taking Children’s Literature, but I have a different teacher. We were comparing the format of our classes, and her class sounded easier than mine, so I think that made her feel a little bit better. Because we are in the same dance class we talked about possibly doing on of our projects together for the class.

Jessica is scared and nervous to apply for the major and about her future class schedules. I talked to her about the types of experiences and classes she will be taking within the next year. I explained ways that she can make herself have a high chance of making it in to the program. I also told her to definitely meet with her advisor to talk about her schedule. This last summer she worked for a summer camp, and I said that would look amazing for her application. She is thinking about doing it again this summer, which would also be great. She also told me about how she used to volunteer as a cheer leading coach and dance teacher during high school. Because she went to a catholic school, she was required to do service projects every year. She was extremely disappointed because she never had the opportunity to work with kids through these service projects, so she had to find those opportunities outside of the school. She is excited for the service activities that ACES will provide her– and she is super excited to make long lasting friends through the program. Despite the fact of not originally choosing ACES (she applied for Honors but didn’t get in), she is happy that this is the way things have turned out.

Jessica and I talked a lot about dinning places on campus– she has been shocked by the amount of options there are. She had never been to 12th Ave Bread Company– which is where I took her for this interview. She asked me about all the dinning places on campus, and I told her about the places on north. I claimed that south has better food, but she should definitely check out the RPAC and Curl Market. We also talked about dining places in the Short North that she should check out. Since she is from Parma Heights, she hasn’t been to Columbus a lot. For our explore Columbus, we decided that we have to check out some places in the Short North.

G.O.A.L.S. (Leadership)

Partaking in clubs and activities is one of my favorite ways to pass the time and meet friends. I believe that when I join a club I need to leave the club better than when i joined. I often do this by becoming a leader in the club, creating new ideas for the club, and helping out other members. I am continuous trying to be involved with more and more things that give me a wider scope of the world and what it has to offer.

G.O.A.L.S. (Global Awareness)

The past year I took a class called New Dimensions, and throughout the class I learned how to analyze controversial problems going on throughout the world. Not only did I learn more about other countries, but I learned more about my country. New Dimensions has made me more interested in discovering the world and global issues so that maybe one day we can solve some of them. The class also made me so much more interest in learning, and I am more than ready to learn about myself, other, the world, and of course, the content of my classes.

In the future I hope to continue to learn about the world and expand my world view. I am always trying to keep an open mind and see new perspectives and cultures in an equal and fair way. I hope to take trips to other countries for periods of time so I am able to expand my awareness.

Artifact: Film Project

For my ACES scholars class we did a project called the film project. We split into groups and choose a documentary to watch and report on it. Our group choose The Hunting Ground, which is a film on the rape culture on campuses. Our project impacted me deeply, because I never realized how great the problem is. Colleges and Universities are covering up rape reports so they don’t look “bad”, and more students will enroll at the school. The film project helped me grow and recognized corruption within our university, because Ohio State is one of the schools being investigated for covering up cases of sexual violence.

The Hunting Ground-18xjuao

Artifact: The Director’s Award For Chorus

There is no doubt that I love choir. I talk about it, and sing about it, all the time. So it was no surprise when I won this award at the end of my senior year. The amount of work and dedication that I put into choir definitely qualified me for this award. This award represents how much I love choir, and how much I have achieved as a singer throughout my 6 years. While choir helped me gain a lot of experience and knowledge through working with others and learning about music and other cultures, there is no way for me to express how much choir changed my life. It is nice to have a physical representation of how much high school choir meant to me.

Highlights of Senior Year

New Dimensions included a lot of great memories, from debates to the New York trip, we were always having a good time.

Receiving one of the leads in my school musical, Les Miserables

Prom with my best friend and my favorite dress

Singing with some great friends at graduation, and of course, graduating