Sophomore Year in Review

Global Awareness: I have become a more globally aware person throughout the year in many ways. For example, engaging in constructive political conversations has broadened my view of several factors that affect countries outside of the United States. This has not only led me to be more aware of global news, but has also compelled me to think analytically about many topics when necessary. In addition, certain courses (ei. Principles of Macroeconomics, Spanish, Introduction to Philosophy, etc.) have enhanced my global awareness by highlighting specific mechanisms by which different countries are governed. I plan on going through with these practices for the remainder of college by taking more classes in Spanish and History, and probably for the rest of my life by keeping up with the news.

Original Inquiry: I have become much more familiar with the process of original inquiry thanks to many of my courses. For example, major assignments in many of my classes required us to write extensive research papers about a topic of our choice. Through assignments as such, I’ve learned to utilize the OSU library system and find relevant and professionally peer-reviewed sources. More importantly, I’ve learned to apply my knowledge to the contexts of these sources and compile all relevant information in order to ultimately formulate an analysis of my own. I am now confident in my research abilities and knowledge of the scientific process, so I would like to pursue some sort of research in my major field (Neuroscience) in order to apply the knowledge and skills that I’ve acquired throughout this year.

Academic Enrichment: I have taken many challenging courses that directly relate to my future aspiration of getting into medical school. Many of my courses are science-related mainly because they caught my interest and/or they will prepare me for medical school. For example, I plan on taking a graduate level course on neuroimmunolgy before I graduate because I have always been interested in our bodies’ complex immune responses, and I also value upper-level knowledge. This knowledge would also be directly applicable to the medical world, and therefore sparks my interest even further. This is essentially why I chose to pursue a Neuroscience major; the coursework seemed to be directly applicable to medical school, and will therefore provide me with a good foundation to start my medical endeavors.

Leadership Development: I’ve been a leader in the form of a tennis coach, a tutor for various subjects, and a summer camp counselor. All of these activities required me to come up with solutions for my students. Of course, doing so necessitated great decision making and social skills, both of which are crucial parts of being a good leader. These skills have improved throughout the course of participating in these activities, but there is always still room for further improvement. In addition, these leadership skills will hopefully be directly applicable as a prospective physician, as a physician’s job includes a lot of decision making and one-on-one contact. I plan to enhance my leadership skills even further by joining a mentoring-based club next year.

Service Engagement: I have volunteered at a couple of hospitals in a broad range of settings (one extreme being at the front desk, and the other extreme being in the Neuroscience/Trauma Intensive Care Unit), and plan on doing so in the future. In addition, I want to join a service-based club next year (such as the mentoring-based club mentioned earlier) in order to get more exposure to service-related activities.