Sophomore Year Timeline

Autumn 2017

  • Began role as Social Media & Marketing Correspondent for MUNDO
    • Managed social media: Facebook and Twitter
    • Posted statuses/photos at least once a week to social media and to the MUNDO GroupMe messaging app to connect with OSU students and staff
    • Designed promotional flyers for our Monday meetings, events, and trips
    • Designed graphics to showcase our executive board members during our Monthly ODNUM Spotlights
    • Created PowerPoint for Fall Pinning Ceremony, the culminating meeting for fall semester, and presented it to the group
    • Collaborated with our president Danny to select food menu for ceremony
    • Designed certificates of achievement to present to the 11 new active members of MUNDO for Autumn 2017
  • Active participant in planning Spring Break 2018 Experience for MUNDO
    • Attended biweekly planning meetings as part of the Action Team
    • Designed flyer graphic for the week-long trip
    • Researched museums and other locations in the South (New Orleans, Memphis, Birmingham) in order to plan a trip that will be educational and meet all of our goals
    • Initiated design of itinerary packet for trip participants
  • Participated in MUNDO’s Detroit (Classic Edition) Experience,  a day-long trip to Detroit
    • Only executive board member to attend
    • Spoke with Wayne State University students about what Detroit is like and how their life experiences have shaped them
    • Visited Greektown and took a subway train to gain perspective on the city
    • Explored for a few hours the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History with a guided tour and visits to the following exhibits:
      And Still We Rise: The African American Journey
      Say It Loud: Art, History, Rebellion
      Inspiring Minds: African Americans in Science & Technology
      The Music and the Times: Photographs by Leni Sinclair
      Spirits and Symbols: The Art of Haiti
  • Active member of MUNDO
    • Earned 42 points by attending 14 meetings/events with MUNDO; tied for second place for executive member having the most points
  • Through Buckeye Pen Pals, was matched with a mentor (and OSU alumna) who has a Ph.D. in epidemiology and works with a clinical trial right now studying tobacco-related health disparities, specifically with the American Indian population
    • Email correspondence several times a month to exchange knowledge and perspectives; I specifically hope to gain career guidance from her and more
    • The Buckeye Pen Pals program connects students with alumni mentors around the country. Based on a short registration survey and students’ career interests and major, program administrators match students and mentors. Participants stay in contact by email, but decide on their own how frequently they correspond and on what topics.
  • Began role as Event Planning Co-Chair for Global Health Initiative
    • Planned second annual Pre-Professional 101 event, which brought close to 20 upperclassmen/graduate students and at least 20 underclassmen/undergraduates together to discuss academics and graduate/professional school
    • Reached out to numerous upperclassmen and graduate students to ask if they could volunteer to represent their tracks at the event
    • Learned more about event planning, marketing, and budgeting
    • Designed flyer and was able to advertise on the Ohio Union TV screens as well as in residence halls across campus
    • Planned and executed two Study Tables, one for midterms and one for finals week, for the general body members

      We just provide an assortment of cookies, no milk!

    • Along with a Co-President and Event Planning Co-Chair, accepted the John Lewis Award at OSU’s Civic Engagement Banquet
    • Participated in an event called Advocacy Training with a partner organization Population Connection so that I could learn about advocacy and lobbying, especially for the #Fight4HER act
  • Resumed role as Young Scholars Program – Young Scholar Ambassador
    • Called 12th grade YSP student to congratulate her on being accepted to OSU and discussing with her goals and hopes for college
    • Provided example for new Ambassadors to emulate when they call high school students themselves
  • Recognized as National Residence Hall Honorary All-Star
    • Was nominated by anonymous person to be an All-Star for the Buckeye Chapter of National Residence Hall Honorary
    • Was recognized for the positive impact I have made on my Buckeye community and for my exceptional student leadership with a lunch and movie
       
  • Participated in MUNDO’s one week long New York Experience 2017 (Deluxe Edition)
    • Engaged in service with minority youth at a program
    • Learned about immigration histories by visiting Ellis Island, Tenement Museum, Chinatown, and more
    • Immersed myself into what it is like to be a New Yorker for a week as I navigated my way using the transit system
    • Viewed two Broadway shows to further explore cultural issues (Latin History for Morons covered Latin history and Once on this Island examined struggles of different social classes.)
    • Expanded my worldviews on various cultures through these different experiences and visiting ethnic enclaves
    • There is a separate post about this experience!
  • At beginning of semester (first week of school), was emailed saying that I was hired for a work-study position within an hour after the interview
    I deferred this position until Spring so that I could finish Autumn semester strong
  • Dean’s List and 4.0 GPA again!
    • I am especially proud of myself since I was very anxious about my courses for the semester. I earned a perfect score on a 30-page paper for my Research Methods in Sociology class
  • Opted out of Mirrors Sophomore Class Honorary and James Cancer Hospital volunteering position in order to focus on my true passions and my personal healthLess is more!
    This semester taught me so much and contrasted greatly from freshman year, but I am glad that I was able to achieve despite numerous struggles.

Spring 2018 

  • Began volunteering with Equitas Health as part of their Ohio HIV/STI Hotline – I am an Operator and answer online inquiries about sexual health, create informative social media posts, and prepare health packs with condoms, lube, and business cards. I volunteer on Mondays from 9:30 to 5! I will have monthly posts about my experience on my blog.
  • Participated in MUNDO’s “Civil Rights, Citizenship, & Southern Legacies” spring break experience
    • Part of ACTION Team that plans every aspect of the trip
    • I specifically had role of booking group tours with museums in Birmingham, AL
    • A separate blog post will be made for details of this experience!
  • Accepted to participate in “Public Health Perspectives: Finland & Estonia” study abroad program for May-June 2018
  • Facilitated the first meeting of the school year for MUNDO “Where Do We Go From Here?” along with another ODNUM member

    OSU has great Brutus Buckeye emojis for use!

  • Executed first AlumNight event for Global Health Initiative, which brought together GHI alumni and current GHI members together for a night of networking
  • Featured on www.osu.edu front page when Communications department took photos of me and my friends during the summer
  • Solely organized and executed GHI’s resume review event, which I renamed Professional Finesse.
    Event included LinkedIn tips and overview, Honors & Scholars e-portfolio use and general u.osu.edu use, resume basics, social media etiquette, and more.

    I prepared a 60+ slide presentation with all the information I could discuss with potential students. Unfortunately, not a single person attended, but this informed me that the time of the event conflicted with others’ schedules.

  • Executed Research Mix & Mingle event for Global Health Initiative on March 20th, 2018 and connect undergraduate students with faculty members who are doing research. Over 30 students attended and spoke with the representatives we had.
  • Participated in 2 hours of video recording at Curl Market and North Rec Center for OSU’s future freshmen Orientation videos (the videos should be shown for the next three to four years)
  • Awarded Office of Diversity & Inclusion’s Education Abroad scholarship for $925, which will almost fully reimburse me for my study abroad flight
  • Participated in first Global Women’s Empowerment Conference, presented by AWOW (Advocates for Women of the World), Buck-I-Serv, and the Multicultural Center. Attended break-out sessions on sexual harassment awareness, economic empowerment, and women’s health.
  • Attended in-person university training to prepare for being Co-President of Global Health Initiative of 2018-2019 school year
  • Participated in the Multicultural Center’s Women Student Initiative’s inaugural Buckeye Women Service and Philanthropy Day 2018! I volunteered at Kaleidoscope Youth Center, which is off-campus
  • Attended the annual Distinguished Leadership Brunch on March 31st honoring student organizations on campus that support the residential community in Residence Life. Refreshments and an awards ceremony were part of the brunch to highlight the Involved Living Organizations at OSU!
  • Accepted into University of Iowa’s SROP for Summer 2018; during the eight-week program, I will work on a professor’s research project(s) while preparing for the GRE and graduate school, participating in workshops and other professional development activities, and networking with peers from across the country
  • Executed and volunteered at Khmer Student Association’s Khmer New Year 2018.
    Throughout the semester, I joined this group’s meetings to learn more about Khmer culture and Cambodian history. I learned about experiences of Southeast Asians.
    I was on the Marketing Team and my graphic designs were used for program flyers and promotional material. For Khmer New Year 2018, I designed a banner for sponsors, the event program, the Facebook event photos, and more. Over 100 people attended the event.

    At the beginning of the event, I helped with the PowerPoint presentation and click on the slides.

    Performers and volunteers pose for a photo!

    A goofy photo moment

  • April 13th, about 80 tenth graders from the nine urban cities of Ohio visited OSU for a few hours to see what college is like. For this 10th grade visit day, I had two shadow me; one was from Toledo and one from Dayton. They were both interested in engineering. From 10 am to 1 pm, they were with me; I introduced them to North High Street and the Union. They sat in on one of my classes, and afterwards I showed them the Oval. It felt short to me but I enjoyed meeting new people, especially so because both were in the Young Scholars Program, like me! This counted as part of my volunteer position as a Young Scholars Ambassador.
    Places to take potential future Buckeyes include: campus libraries (Thompson is a must), the RPAC, the Union, a dining facility, Wexner Center for the Arts, and a ride on the CABS bus.
  • Visited a community recreation center with Sophia, GHI Co-President, to do a public health-related session with Healthy Asian Youth (H.A.Y. kids). These children are Southeast Asian-American and they have different health outcomes compared to other Asian subgroups, in addition to different life experiences, which dispel the model minority myth that inflicts Asians. We introduced ourselves and I provided an intro to public health. We then proceeded with our activity. We divided the youth, who ranged in age from preschool to teenage, into two groups. They each received a poster paper and made Venn diagrams about what was ‘good health’ and ‘bad health’ to them. We instructed them to provide as many examples or ideas as they can think of. Some of what they wrote and what we ourselves thought of included: proper sleep (not too much but not too little), reducing soda intake, getting flu shots, not jaywalking, eating vegetables, no smoking, using seatbelts, and more. Future lesson plans should have more focus, such as a lesson on solely mental health and all that it encompasses. One group wrote down “suicide,” and I want to highlight that topic as a part of depression because of how prevalent and salient mental health is during youth. Next school year, we will be sure to also discuss the role of technology and health. Global Health Initiative is partnering with H.A.Y. and will continue to interact with the youth so that they can lead healthy lives and understand more about themselves!
  • Present my second-year service project at Health Science Scholars Second-Year Symposium on April 19th
  • Presented my art piece and spoken word/poem at mental health gala called Breaking Our Silence by Pan-Asian Mental Wellness Association (PMWA) on April 20
  • Made the Dean’s List
  • Earned a cumulative 3.964 GPA; term GPA is 3.8
  • I sadly will never have a 4.0 again, and this came as a shock to me but it was almost inevitable. I learned from this and do not see it as a failure but something that shapes who I am, and my grades are not entirely reflective of my character or personality. I am still a very well-rounded scholar who is involved in multiple commitments and activities. Based on who I am holistically, I am a strong candidate for future graduate school programs. I am also still loved and appreciated by my friends and family, as well as others in my community.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *