Club Water Polo

Coming to Ohio State, I knew there was an overwhelming amount of clubs and organizations to get involved in! The Involvement Fair on the Oval left me even more excited to try new activities and meet new people during my first semester of college. The club that I have been most involved with here on campus is the women’s club water polo team. I was a competitive swimmer for twelve years, and played water polo for four years during high school. Because of this, I thought joining the club team here at Ohio State would be a great experience, and I was definitely right! So far this semester, water polo has been a great activity for me to be involved in throughout the challenging transitions and hardships of the first semester of college. It has been a great way to have a fun, healthy break from studying and stress. Water polo has provided me with awesome, encouraging friends who I can look up to and come to for help or guidance with anything. It requires me to be responsible and manage my time wisely. I am thankful to have found such an amazing club to help me through my first semester at Ohio State, and I am excited to see what else it has to bring for the rest of my time at Ohio State!

For the week of October 31st, 2016, I was named player of the week! Here is why my teammates and coach believe I earned it:

“Our player of the week for this week is freshman Lauren! She has proven herself quickly by making practice a priority and having great attendance, always asking questions to better herself despite her previous experience of the sport in high school, and always challenging herself in the pool by doing things outside of her comfort zone! Congrats, Lauren! We are excited to see you continue to grow in this sport!”

Being a part of this team inspires me to work diligently to achieve my goals! In addition to improving my skills as an athlete, club water polo has taught me that success only comes with hard work, which can be translated to any aspect of my life, including my academic career.

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Voice of Witness

For my senior year of high school, I decided to be a part of a brand new class called Voice of Witness. The class was inspired by the passing of a beloved teacher, whose kind, empathetic heart forever left a mark on every person she met. However, the word “class” is not the word I would use to describe this life-changing experience. Not only was I, along with fifty-nine other peers, a student, but an interviewer, editor, and author. We spent the school year interviewing our fellow peers, staff members, and other members of our diverse high school community and collecting their life stories. Our main goal was to spread empathy throughout our school and beyond, by spreading an appreciation for the multitude of backgrounds, hardships, and lives that belong to the people we are surrounded by every day. As interviewers, we recorded and transcribed all of our interviews. We then took our transcriptions and turned them into a coherent, well-organized story, portraying the struggles, achievements, advice, and life of our interviewees. After countless rounds of editing and perfecting, the collection of all of the stories was bound together in one single book entitled 111th and Roberts: Where Our Stories Intersect. Going into this class, I did not know what to expect. I knew we would be writing and publishing a book, which immediately drew my attention. Throughout the year, I became more and more satisfied and honored to be a part of such an amazing experience. Holding the book in my hand on that long-awaited day in May symbolized all the hard work and achievements we gained throughout the year. I took a huge step out of my comfort zone, interviewing people on the phone and in person who I had never met before, asking them for the story of their life. I learned how to be an effective interviewer and know what questions are appropriate and when to ask them. I further developed my skill of time management through the hours of transcribing and editing. Above all, as quoted from page seventeen of 111th and Roberts: Where Our Stories Intersect, “In the beginning, we all thought the book was the goal. The book alone would change things, but we realized the book is only a beginning, not an end result.” Although the book may be a tangible representation of everything we worked for that year, the true achievement was something intangible. We had the conversations that changed the lives of those involved. We sparked an interest throughout our community to take the time to talk to and empathize with the people around us. We inspired people to keep everything in perspective. This book will always be “an open invitation to continue to share those stories and the stories we all have.” Personally, this book holds a special place in my heart. It taught me way more than I expected it to, and most importantly, continues to inspire me to focus on what is truly important in this life.

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For more information and a deeper look into our journey from the first day of class to an official, published book, visit:

http://www.staggvow.com/

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/news/ct-sta-teaching-empathy-stagg-st-1206-20151209-story.html