Month: April 2016

Year in Review Essay

First coming to Ohio State, I was somewhat nervous about what would happen, how I would change, and the newfound freedom that allowed me to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted to. For eighteen years, I was forced to follow all the rules that were presented to me. Whether it were my parents, my soccer coach, or even my teachers, I was told what to do and when to do it because I was not old enough to make my own decisions. I did not know what was best for me, until I got the opportunity to decide where I wanted to go to school. That was one of the first times that I had full freedom to choose exactly what I wanted, without any outside input to convince me otherwise. I liked this freedom, I liked that I was able to figure out my future on my own, make my own decisions.

Even when I decided on Ohio State, I was still relying on those around me for so much, whether it be for money or advice. It was not until I moved in that I finally felt that feeling of independence; I was finally responsible for myself and all of what I did. That first day, I finally parted ways with my parents, on my own for the first time. This was both a nerve-wracking and exhilarating moment for me. Those months before leaving for school, I could not wait for move-in day, wanting so desperately to get away from my small town and find something new. I finally had that, I was finally free, and it was figuring out what to do with that freedom that was such an exciting feeling for me.

I was and still am a very dependent person, but in somewhat different ways. Before coming to school, I relied on my parents for everything. My parents gave me money, took me places, made my lunch, helped me with about anything and everything I could think of. I had to figure out a way to get away from these actions, trying to become a more independent person, being confident enough to do things on my own, taking full responsibility for everything I do. Though I was able to ween myself off of that, I noticed that I became dependent in a different way. I started more to depend on my friends. Throughout my entire life, I always had trouble making and keeping friends, picking people who only used me to copy my homework instead of liking me for the real me. This was a problem that I struggled with greatly all throughout high school, only amplifying the bouts of depression I suffered with in those last three years of school. Because I had all these problems on top of each other, I chose to isolate myself, try to prevent myself from getting hurt again. I spent a lot of my high school career alone, keeping to myself and all of my thoughts. This made me crave companionship and friendship even more than usual. Coming away to school, I was nervous that the same thing would happen, I would not be able to find good friends and everything would be miserable for the next four years. I am happy to say that I was 100% incorrect about that assumption. Since I have been here, I have been able to surround myself with such an amazing group of friends, friends that are so supportive of everything I do and helpful with anything and everything that pops into my head. Without this small group of friends, I honestly have no clue how I would have been able to survive this first year away from home. They have been able to pick me up whenever I fall back down into that deep, dark hole, cheering me up on even my worst days. Though I am still dependent on those around me, it is in a completely different way. I now lean on those around me for support and encouragement, both those things pushing me to accomplish whatever I set my mind to.

Since I have been here, I have had to learn how to take care of myself, trying my best for those bad days to be few and far between, making sure that I always had some amount of happiness and support in my life, no matter where it came from. I was finally responsible for my health and my well-being. I was in charge of what I did and why I did it. That was difficult to deal with at the beginning of the year, realizing that whenever something went wrong, I was the one that had to figure it out. I was the one that had to make sure that I was healthy enough to accomplish what was necessary for myself to succeed. There were a few times throughout the school year where the stress got to me and only bad things happened, but since then, I have learned how to deal with that stress in a healthy and efficient way. I have come back from that stress only bettering myself, becoming stronger each and every day of dealing with it. I have learned how to become a more independent and responsible person when it comes to my health and well-being, and it has only made me a better and stronger person.

Being a part of STEM EE Scholars has done nothing but help me transition into my first year here. Scholars has allowed me to not only be a part of a big group of people who have common goals and interests, but has also exposed me to the diversity that I never had the opportunity to see when I was in high school. Before STEM, I had only been exposed to those who are very similar to me in interests and cultures, coming from a very small area and high school. Since then, I have been able to learn about so many new and exciting ideas, things I never thought I would learn about coming to college, things that are not necessarily important to my major, but are important to my development into a new and more aware person. Not only has scholars been able to expose me to new cultures and ideas, but it has also been able to better prepare me academically for the future that is ahead of me. I have had the opportunity to learn about different ways of learning, ones that are more efficient and allow for better retention of information. Since becoming a STEM Scholar, I have gained better study skills, have learned how to reflect on myself and all that I have accomplished, and have been able to create relationships that I know will turn into life-long friendships. Coming to Ohio State and being a part of STEM EE Scholars has allowed me to become a better prepared and more confident/independent person and I can only wait to see what opportunities these two things hold for me in the future.

G.O.A.L.S. Essay

By being a part of the Scholars program here at Ohio State, I have been given the opportunity to both take part in and demonstrate the G.O.A.L.S. of the Honors and Scholars Center. These G.O.A.L.S. are the five qualities that we are encouraged to embody, tying them all together to create both a diverse and free-thinking student. I have been given multitudes of opportunities that have only allowed me to strengthen myself and my studies in those five different facets – global awareness, original inquiry, academic enrichment, leadership development, and service engagement. By taking part in the opportunities available in each of the five areas, I have not only been able to better myself in all of those areas specifically, but have also been able to become a more well-rounded student, connecting all of those ideas together and finding strengths in those little in-between places that I never thought to exist. I feel that both academic enrichment and service engagement are most applicable to me concerning my professional and personal goals, also allowing me to further both my success and involvement in and out of the classroom.

Academic enrichment means that a student is able to pursue knowledge and learning both in and out of the classroom, finding and putting new knowledge to use in new and exciting settings. This also means that a student is able to use this learned knowledge and apply it to both their future career and life choices. I feel that this is most applicable to me because pharmacy is an ever changing world and new things are being discovered each and every day. Being a pharmacist, one has to stay on top of news involving drugs, administration, and laws involving drugs. If something changes, they are responsible for knowing this. They are able to use this new found information to create the best possible outcome for the patient. Wanting to go into a career in pharmacy, this aspect of academic enrichment will definitely apply. I will constantly be learning new things, no matter how far into my career I am. I have always had a love for learning and the gaining of new knowledge, so the fact that I will be able to do this on a daily basis in the future only makes me more excited to continue on in my given career path. Another aspect of pharmacy that is very relevant to academic enrichment is the necessity of out of the classroom learning. When applying into pharmacy school, admissions will look at your GPA and your PCAT score, but what they want the most is experience. They look for volunteer hours, summer jobs, internships, anything that will provide the applicant with the proper experience necessary to succeed in the field. All of this out of the classroom time allows for learning that is not quite able to take place in a traditional classroom. By gaining experience in the field, I will be able to learn about and experience firsthand what I will be spending the rest of my life doing. Once in pharmacy school, I am also provided with the opportunity to do rounds in my last year as a professional student. By doing this, I will be able to learn about all the different areas of pharmacy that are available to me, which then helps to alleviate the stress in figuring out what to do after graduation. I believe that knowledge and experience gained both inside and outside of the classroom are so pertinent to success and I feel that this academic enrichment applies directly to how I will be spending the next part of my life.

Service engagement means that a student is aware of the social issues that are pertinent in society today and is able to take part in service that relates to helping/assisting to rid of or better those prevalent issues. This also allows the student to align their service with their major or areas in which they have interest. I have always felt that giving back to those who deserve it most is one of the best things you can do. By helping others, you are not only providing them with the help that they deserve, but also are bettering yourself, molding yourself into a kinder and more well-rounded student. Ever since I was young, I was always taught to give back, to donate both my time and my love to those who are in need of it, those who cannot survive without the help of others. I have been blessed with the opportunities to give back to my community over the last decade, whether it be volunteering for my church, through my school, or through various activities in the community. Because I have been able to give so much time back to my community, I felt it would only be right to continue this on into my future career. The main reason I want to become a pharmacist is because I want to be able to help people each and every day of my life, putting a smile on as many faces as possible. That is a pharmacist’s main role, helping those around them. I feel that I will be able to apply the service engagement aspect of the Honors and Scholars Center to what I will hopefully spend the rest of my life doing. The main purpose of service in the Honors and Scholars Center is to make the students aware of issues prevalent in society, one of which is mental health. I have been passionate about mental health for as long as I can remember and by specializing in that aspect of pharmacy, I wish to rid of the stigma and the generalizations that surround mental health. Just pushing it under the rug and basically calling it off as “fake” is a serious issue in society that, by helping those affected by it, I will be able to make those around me more aware of and figure out a way to rid of the stigma. I plan to incorporate this idea into my everyday life for the rest of my college and professional career. I feel that awareness and help to those who deserve it and need it most is something that should always be a part of my life and what I am doing with it.

Artifact #1: First Year STEM Welcome Event – Ropes Course @ Summit Vision in Columbus, OH

Artifacts Picture

First coming to Ohio State, I was especially nervous about meeting new people and finding people that would hopefully turn into life-long friends. The day of move in, all of STEM Scholars got an email about a first year welcome event the next day at eight o’clock in the morning. All it said was dress comfortably and meet in the lobby of Taylor Tower. We as a group had no clue what we would be doing or anything that was planned for us for that first full day. That Sunday, all of the first year STEM Scholars met in the lobby, not knowing each other, anxious about what the day ahead held. I was nervous about what we would be doing, wondering if it was something that involved getting to know all of my fellow STEM Scholars. This was especially worrisome to me since I am not too fond about meeting and talking to new people. When our Scholars coordinator finally showed up, she split us into groups of two, both groups participating in team-building activities, but each of them starting at a different destination. I got split up from all three of my roommates, some of the only people I really knew on that first full day, which made me even more nervous. We were told to split into the vans and we would find out what we were doing once we got there.

Once my van finally arrived at the destination, we were told that we would be participating in a ropes course at Summit Vision. After all of the scholars grouped together, we were sat down and introduced to the facility and all they offer. They told us about what we would specifically be participating in and we were then taken to our course, all of the students there being split into two groups. Doing this again, I was nervous about continuing on, knowing only one other scholar in my group. We were introduced to our course and all of the safety precautions we were to follow. We were then provided with our harnesses and helmets and were allowed to go on our way. Climbing up the initial ladder, it was very nerve-wracking, realizing how high up I was, not knowing what I was getting myself into. We had a variety of different paths we could take to get to the end of the course, higher levels being more difficult than the lower ones. I chose to stay with the lower ones at first, testing out the waters to see how well I could handle the course. The more I went through the easier levels, the more confident I became in the course itself and the more confident I became in myself. I was then able to move to the next level of paths, feeling more and more comfortable as time continued on. Once I started to get tired, I chose to make my way to the end of the course. Once I got to the end, I got to choose to slide down the slide or do a free fall at the end. Wanting to keep the streak going and try something new, I chose to go down the slide, knowing that it would be quite some time before I would get another opportunity to do something like this. Once the slide ended and I began the free fall, it was once of the scariest and most exhilarating things I ever experienced. I never felt so free, just gliding down that rope to the end of the course.

I feel that this was the best possible way to start off the semester and my years in STEM Scholars. It was such a fun and interesting way to meet new people, people that I did not realize at the time would become some of my best friends in the following months. When completing the course, we were required to have clearance from a fellow scholar before switching our carabiners from path to path. By doing this, I was able to brush up on my teamwork skills. This showed me how important working with others is to my own success. Without the other scholars on that course, I would not have been able to successfully complete my chosen path to get to the end of the course. I was also able to meet many new people and form many new relationships that later turned into friendships. Though nervous at first, I was able to put my communication skills to use, talking to others, learning things about those that I would be surrounding myself with for the next two years. That day, I not only grew as a person, becoming more confident in my abilities and what I could accomplish, but also became a part of a group that would later turn into a family.

Resume

By participating in STEM EE Scholars, I have been able to not only further expand already existing skills that I possessed, but also develop new skills that will allow me to succeed on my given career path. Taking part in the many STEM events that have been offered to the group over the course of the year, I have been able to learn about many new and exciting topics that I knew little to nothing about before attending the event. While attending these events, I was forced to learn new material very quickly. Without doing so, I would not have been able to keep up with and understand the information being presented. I have been able to better my critical thinking skills and just quick thinking in general because of this.

Being a part of STEM EE Scholars, I also was required to attend a Scholars Seminar class both first and second semester. By participating in class discussions and attending the lectures, I was able to discover my strengths and how to further develop them. It also allowed me to better both my organizational and study skills, knowing and understanding the most efficient way of learning and retaining information. This has proven useful both inside and outside of the classroom, allowing me to stay on top of tasks and deadlines.

I have also been able to continue on with my passion for helping others. Throughout my entire life, I was taught the importance of giving back, giving your time and effort to something that is important to you. From junior high all the way through my senior year of high school, I dedicated a lot of my time to volunteering both through local charities and my local church. Coming to school, I was afraid that I would somehow lose that, that my busy workload would get in the way of my ability to give back to the community. Through STEM, I have been given the opportunity to give back, while also being able to instill new knowledge in the minds of those who are younger than me. I have been able to do this by tutoring middle schoolers at Columbus Performance Academy and volunteering at COSI. These opportunities to give back have allowed me to further my communication skills, learning how to teach others what I know and how to help them best retain the information taught. This skill is very important for someone pursuing a career in pharmacy, a pharmacist having to be able to explain how the prescription works and why the patient needs to take them, essentially teaching them about the medications they need to take and I feel that I have only been able to further develop it since becoming a part of STEM Scholars.

I feel that being a part of STEM EE Scholars has better prepared me for my future and the goals I have set out for myself. I have been able to develop skills that will be necessary for my success, which will in turn help to provide me with the opportunities to gain that experience that is necessary to succeed in the field of pharmacy. The skills I have learned and developed over the course of this year have only bettered me as both a student and a person and the extent to which they have helped me cannot be summarized in a few bullet points on a resume.

Alyssa DeMatteo_Resume