Exploring Columbus

Year in Review

Over the past year I have learned so much about myself as both a person and a student. First semester I struggled a lot with the workload, I had never studied in high school so it was hard to get used to. Now I am much better at managing my time and learning what study methods work for what classes for me. Going into college I wanted to be a mechanical engineer but I had trouble deciding how I was going to approach this with a humanitarian focus. In my first semester I was able to explore new majors and decided to switch to ecological engineering. This year has helped me realize that there are more engineering majors than I had realized and helped me decide which direction I want my future to go in. I met amazing life long friends this year that have always supported me even when things weren’t going right. I am very grateful for this year and all I have learned. I am especially grateful that I chose Humanitarian Engineering Scholars which helped me meet people, make professional connections, join clubs, and decide my major.

Going into sophomore year I hope to be more involved in the clubs I am a part of. First semester I was trying to get used to college so academics were my main focus. By the time I got more involved second semester we were sent home due to COVID-19. I want to join new student organizations next year to meet more people and learn as much as I can throughout my college experience. I am taking more major focused classes next year so I hope I will be able to confirm that that Ecological Engineering is the major I want to pursue. I also want to learn more about the jobs I could have after graduation and the different areas of ecological engineering I could focus on. Next year I also hope to find some more volunteer opportunities related to my major and interests. This would help me see how I can use humanitarian engineering in my future career.

G.O.A.L.S.

G.O.A.L.S. is a big driving force behind everything we do in honors and scholars. I have tried my best to reflect each of these over the course of the year through both in class and out of class experiences.

Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and ech individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc.

This year I was able to take an intro to humanitarian engineering course. We talked a lot about service in other countries and the cultures in those countries. It was very interesting to see how different cultures approach engineering. I have also gone to many presentations on studying abroad and service learning trips out of the country. I have joined a club, students for sustainable resilient communities, that I hope to be able to travel with as well. This year has shown me how important it is to have a global understanding of engineering. I want to study abroad both personally and in my career and hope to broaden my understanding of different ideas and cultures as I travel.

Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.

This year I wanted to join a few clubs that fit my interests and allowed me to explore engineering outside of the classroom. The first one I joined was design for 90. I was able to work with a woman with paraplegia to create a device that helped her pick things up off the floor, something that was now hard for her to do on her own. My team and I went through the design process much like we talked about in class but this time it was actually going to someone in need. I was also in a class that worked side by side with a community garden. The garden was located in what is commonly referred to as a food desert. My team was given the task of improving the composting system in the garden as well as creating an herb garden. With no prior knowledge of herb gardens or composting we had to come up with both research and design and implementation plans to create an effective project. Both of these have shown me the value of original inquiry, especially when interacting with the community. Often times there is no rubric or minimal guidance and you can go through many iterations before you are done with a project. I did so in both of these projects throughout the year.

Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.

I chose ecological engineering because it both interested and challenged me. The classes are difficult but they teach me more about my self as both a learning and a person. I appreciate the opportunity as well to participate in things outside of the classroom through both my major and my minor. There are many service classes that allow me to learn engineering in a real world setting. These classes are challenging in their own way, being an outsider in a community it can be hard to work effectively. Throughout my first service learning class we learned about and practiced, building trust within the community. I was also able to learn many of these skills through Humanitarian Engineering Scholars itself. We were able to talk about engineering in a humanitarian context and how to do so effectively. This was also beneficial to my understanding humanitarian engineering and how it could be applied in my future career.

Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.

I was able to be in a leadership many times in high school as well as college. Throughout my classes, especially fundamentals of engineering, I was able to help lead a team through certain projects and activities. This was a good way for me to learn how to talk to people and what the best tactics are for both leading and approaching members of your team. Alongside my classwork I was involved in extra curricular activities that required me to lead. Though I was hesitant at first it has become easier for me to assume a leadership role and I am now much more comfortable in leading all different kinds of teams. This has taught me mostly soft skills, like communication, that our coursework often skips over. These skills are some of the most important in future careers and life in general and will help me work towards my goals in the future.

Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.

Through Humanitarian Engineering Scholars I have been able to volunteer in many different ways. We have a certain amount of service activities we do every semester that I feel have helped me grow as a person. Most impactful to me was a service trip I took to Lafayette Louisiana. We were building houses with habitat for humanity for a week with an amazing team of workers who help build houses for those in need year round. We were able to learn about the business model and what makes a company like this work. One of the things I found most interesting was that people who wanted to buy a Habitat for Humanity house had to spend a certain number of hours on a construction site before they could have the house. We had a couple future homeowners come work on the houses with us throughout the week. They were amazing people who went out of their way to welcome us to Louisiana. It was amazing to get to see where this work was going when it was done, to get to see who was getting the houses. I think that was one of the most impactful service experiences I have had so far.

Career

[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career.  Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

Artifacts

H&S pin
This artifact is the pin we received upon the official commencement of the honors and scholars programs. The pin is important to me because it is a reminder of the goals I have for my future career. As a member of the Humanitarian Engineering Program (HES) I am learning about the different humanitarian applications that engineering can have. Listening to different speakers in my HES class I realized that the things I was hoping to get out of a career were possible. My biggest concern with engineering is that it could easily become a job where I felt like I wasn’t helping people. HES shows that there are many ways to use an engineering degree for a humanitarian cause. This reminds me what I am striving for in my future and that everyone takes a different path to get there.

About Me

Hello! My name is Isabel Delamater. I am a ecological engineering major and I am a part of humanitarian engineering scholars (HES). I am interested in applying HES to my major and my future career. It has always been my goal to focus my career on helping people and HES provides the perfect opportunity to do so. I would like to include service trips into my time at Ohio State as well and would love to travel outside of the country to experience different cultures. I enjoy math and engineering during school. Outside of class I am involved in design for 90 as well as SSRC, a club that works with a village in Africa to create a sustainable water supply.

My top five strengths from the via strengths finder assessment were love of learning, honesty, leadership, kindness, judgement. I really enjoy learning about just about anything and always want to know how things work. I am always curious about everything I learn and enjoy pursing new knowledge. Also I value honesty in everything I do both from myself and from others. Ecological engineering with a humanitarian focus is what I want to do in my future so leadership, kindness, and judgment (looking at a problem from all angles) will all help me in my future career.

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