Year in Review

After my first year at Ohio State, I have definitely seen personal growth into what I am now. I feel as if I am more mature and am not easily scared by challenging situations. As an incoming freshman, the words “general chemistry” really made my knees quake. Now, as I wrap up my second semester at Ohio State, I can proudly say that I will end the year with an A in general chemistry. I have learned to take everything on a day-t0-day basis and to be as productive and efficient as possible. I was worried that HSS and college together would be too much. However, they quite honestly work perfectly together. I have met so many helpful people through HSS that have helped me get through college and I don’t know what I’d do without them. My goals for next year include keeping up a good GPA and to try not to get intimidated by those big name classes like “organic chemistry” and “biology”. I am so excited for next year and can’t wait to see where it takes me!!

G.O.A.L.S.

Global Awareness:
Original Inquiry:
Academic Enrichment: For my upperclassman interview, I interviewed a junior in the Bachelor of Science Pharmaceutical Sciences program here at Ohio State. Her name is Caroline Fleck. Caroline talked with me about how she decided to major in pharmacy and what made her want to be a clinical pharmacist rather than a pharmaceutical scientist. Caroline’s uncle was a pharmacist and has been a huge part of her life. She has heard all of the amazing stories he has to share and was inspired by his motivation and determination to play a direct role in health outcomes for patients in the hospital. Since she was little, Caroline has always dreamt of working in a hospital. Being a clinical pharmacist would fulfill her lifelong dream and more. Next year, Caroline will start to apply to pharmacy schools through the PharmCAS, the pharmacy school application service. She is really excited to find out where she will end up for the next four years after she graduates. After asking her what she has done to prepare for her move to pharmacy school, she told me that she has worked as a pharmacy technician for multiple years. Being a pharmacy technician helped Caroline learn names and stems of the drugs and their overall therapeutic effect, which she said would be very helpful in pharmacy school. Overall, I have learned a lot from Caroline and am excited to eventually be in her shoes someday!

As a second year, I decided to meet with my pharmacy mentor, Milap. I talked to Milap a lot about the differences between a PharmD and a PhD, as I am very conflicted between the two degrees. After a full year of Organic Chemistry, I realized that I might enjoy research and the drug discovery aspect of pharmacy more than I had originally thought. Milap mentioned that a lot of schools are starting to integrate PharmD/PhD programs for students that like both the clinical aspects and the research aspects of pharmacy. I will continue looking into programs like these until I know for sure which pathway I would like to take. Overall, the main message Milap relayed to me was that I have so much time to figure out what I would like to accomplish in the pharmacy world and it will be obvious to me when I find something that I enjoy doing.

Leadership Development:
Service Engagement: This year, I spent 3 days at Cedar Point helping handicapped kids/ adults navigate around the park. Around Cedar Point’s “halloweekend” event, they were running very low on staff. After hearing this, me and a couple of girls decided to make a trip over to Sandusky, Ohio to help out! Cedar Point was so grateful to have us and we were happy to help. One of our main jobs was to take kids or adults in wheelchairs and roll them around the park to see all of the halloween attractions. It felt so good to help out and we also got to enjoy the park with them! Another service event I did this year was make cards for Make-A-Wish children through the sorority I am in. I have made many cards over the past semester and have totaled over 10 hours from making these cards, but one specific card really stuck out to me. We made cards for a 16 year-old named Andrew who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer two months ago. He was not doing so well and so on his birthday we all made cards for him. After the cards were given to him, he sent all of the people that helped out a thank you note that explained how unbelievably grateful he was for the heart-warming cards. This was definitely something I’ll never forget.

These two experiences were very memorable to me because I got to directly see how my service impacted people. With the three days at Cedar Point, I was able to see the smiles on everyone’s faces while we explored the park together. With the cards, I received many thank you notes from all of the Make-a-wish kids and got to see how I impacted all of them. From these two experiences, I gained an immense appreciation for community service. While helping others out, you receive an incomparable type of happiness that can never be recreated. I love that feeling of helping others and I can’t wait to do more for others next year.

Career

The James Cancer Hospital- A place I'd like to work someday!

The James Cancer Hospital- A place I’d like to work someday!

The Club Dance Team-A club that I joined this semester!

The Club Dance Team-A club that I joined this semester!

Me, Oomou, and Riley- my HSS peer mentor- at the North Market

Me, Oomou, and Riley- my HSS peer mentor- at the North Market

After my first semester of Heath Sciences Scholars’ Seminar, I have decided to keep my major of Pharmaceutical Sciences. However, I have planned to minor in substance abuse and addiction! I am aware of all of my resources on campus and online. The most useful resource to me, currently, is the Thompson Library writing center. I use the writing center every time I have a long paper due the next week. The tutors are great and I have never received less than an A on a paper! In terms of staying healthy, I am on the Club Dance Team this year. The club practices 3 times a week for 2 hours, so I get a lot of exercise. This exercise is proportionally balanced with the time I spend studying at Thompson Library. I will use the wisdom of my faculty members and TA’s by keeping in touch with them and by not being afraid to reach out if I need help. They are great resources on Ohio State’s campus and I can’t wait to learn more from them in years to come. I would like to keep growing at Ohio State socially and intellectually. I am still figuring out ways to best use my time and to study effectively. Hopefully, by the end of my senior year I will be a straight A student and ready for pharmacy school. In terms of the socialization aspect of myself, I hope to gain more friends in classes and not try to just do everything- class-related- by myself. Having “study-buddies” seems like the best way to survive college!

 

Artifacts

This year, I was a volunteer at the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) in the GenerationRx Lab through The Ohio State University’s College of Pharmacy. At COSI, I was honored to be apart of a team of other pharmaceutical sciences majors that worked together to teach children about medication safety and the dangers of opioid addiction. Every Friday, I would do cart activities that relayed important information to children regarding medication safety through fun, interactive games. For example, one of the cart activities involved children deciding which plastic bags contained candy or medicine. It was very interesting and shocking to see how many children placed the medicine bags in the candy category and seeing the parents’ reaction to how little their kids knew about the difference. On the weekends, I helped with interactive case study shows involving our human simulator, Bob. The simulator, Bob, would be programmed to show symptoms of a heart attack or an allergy attack and I would have to walk teens and children through the treatment and the precautions to take when this happens in hospital scenarios. Overall, I have gained a lot from my experience and am planning to continue volunteering for the rest of my undergraduate career!

About Me

Hi! My name is Ava Dalton and I am from Ann Arbor, Michigan- ironically! I am majoring in Pharmaceutical Sciences and hope to work in the pharmaceutical industry or go to pharmacy school someday! In high school, I was the Co-President of the Environmental Club and helped to implement my school’s first recycling program. I hope to find a club and or people at Ohio State that are also concerned with the environment as much as I am. I was also a competitive dancer in high school. I have been dancing for over 8 years and have competed in styles such as ballet, hip hop, jazz, tap, and contemporary. Recently, I tried out for the Ohio State Club Dance Team and was selected as 1 of the 25 members! We will be competing in Florida later this year against schools like Penn State and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Also, over the summer I was a research intern at the University of Michigan. I worked with graduate-level pharmacy students on an FDA funded project centered around the gastrointestinal system. It was very interesting and I am currently looking for undergraduate research positions. Overall, I am super excited about starting my first semester at Ohio State and am looking forward to meeting new people! Go Bucks!!12924618_1151260218220573_4844656059079790458_n