My new home for the next 4 years: Columbus, or the 614.
Many people do not know about the Office of Diversity & Inclusion (ODI)’s Young Scholars Program. It is an honor to be a Scholar in this selective program, which I was inducted into during the sixth grade.
Here is a little history of the Young Scholars Program (YSP) for those interested in knowing more about it:
I actually had no idea what college was until one wintry day in the sixth grade, a very smiley YSP recruiter named Mr. Lofton came into my middle school English class to present to us about how YSP was a very unique, amazing opportunity. He told us our undergraduate education could potentially be paid in full! My teacher selected about 10 of us sixth-graders to fill out applications to the program, which was about a dozen pages long. It included essays and personal information about ourselves.
I was the only one in the class to receive a call back for an interview, which I did poorly on because I was shy and didn’t/couldn’t speak much. The YSP coordinator for Cleveland did not think that I was worthy of being in the program because of my inability to interact with others, but my English teacher vouched for me passionately and I was accepted into the program. I later proved that I deserved to be there.
Six years later, I am thriving in this program and am attending The Ohio State University fall of 2016!
The summer of 2016, my YSP cohort participated in a Summer Bridge Experience to help with our transition to college.
MOVE-IN DAY/ Welcome and Orientation
On July 31, I moved into temporary housing at Lawrence Tower for a three-week Summer Bridge Experience that is mandatory for Young Scholars who are incoming freshmen. We were there for two weeks and then August 14, we were able to move into our permanent dorms.
Before Sunday, the day I would leave Cleveland for a few months, I packed my bags and boxes with tremendous help from my amazing mother. My family and I drove down to Columbus, the roughly 2-hour-ride noisy with pop music playing.
The same day, we were given a warm welcome by YSP staff and Peer Leaders, who helped escort us to our classes the first week of bridge because we were utterly lost. All meals were paid for during this experience! I learned how to use BUCKID and swipes.
Week 1 schedule: math, research writing, and more classes/workshops.
What were we Young Scholars doing during this Summer Bridge Experience?
My schedule for Bridge was busy, but still left room for meals and recreational activities. The classes I took were for personal enrichment and not for credit or for a grade at all. Some were related to career planning and personal development! We were required to take them to better prepare us for our ‘real’ courses at Ohio State. We also walked around campus a lot! (Lawrence Tower was on the edge of campus, near the Schottenstein Center! We were soaked with sweat by the end of the day (sorry for the gross image))
I was in a Research Methods writing class, which I liked a lot! We wrote research papers under the guidance of a great professor named Bob Eckhart (we call him
Uncle Bob) and presented our own individual posters at the culmination of this bridge. I researched Police Brutality on People with Mental Illnesses.
I was also in a Calculus preparation class, but I took college-level calculus previously, and did not plan on taking anymore math in college. However, it was good refresher material and required me to use my brain again.
We could choose an elective course (Psychology, Statistics, Economics, and Physics), and I chose psychology! Our teacher was a Ph.D. candidate who made the class fun.
What I really enjoyed about the entire summer bridge experience was getting the chance to familiarize myself with OSU’s campus before the rest of the students arrived. My transition was so much more smoother than I thought it would be.
Young Scholars Program cohort!
After Bridge, the cohort’s members also were enrolled in a Study Skills course for autumn semester to ensure that we could succeed in our classes, properly take notes, and analyze information. Throughout our first year, we also get success coaching (from a program coordinator) and peer-mentoring (a one-hour meeting with an upperclassman student every week to discuss life!).
I think that all incoming freshmen, especially those from low-income, first-generation, minority backgrounds, can benefit greatly from summer programs! OSU offers several to build relationships with your peers early and lessen the anxiety that you may be feeling!
https://fye.osu.edu/programs/special_eligibility.html
https://fye.osu.edu/programs/index.html
Also for early move-in, students can check out programs like OWL and R-Lead!