Global Awareness: While I have spent most of my life in Columbus, Ohio, I lived the last 5 years in Houston, Texas. Houston is the most diverse city in the world and therefor gave me lots of opportunities to learn about other cultures and perspectives. However, this past summer I left Texas for a month the work at the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital. I stayed with a host family, and became totally immersed in aussie life. One of the main things that I noticed was how much the general community cared about the local wildlife. Every store and house was decorated with photos of nature. While most of this is attributed to ecotourism, the general public of Australia knew significantly more about their local wildlife than most people in the US. Going forward, I wish to use my education at Ohio State to educate the public and raise empathy for wildlife across the country.
Original Inquiry: As I walked around campus my first week of school one can’t help but notice OSU’s various styles of buildings. However, it wasn’t until I joined the ornithology club that I really examined the impact of the building styles on the environment. The Lights Out research project is a research project through the ornithology club, which is a group effort to collect birds that have fallen victim to window strikes, to then log their data into a data base, and return the specimen to the Ohio State Biological Diversity Museum. After my first shift of Lights Out I was taken back by the number of window strikes we had found and was even more suprised when the head of the project showed us the complete list of what they had found. This season alone, the team has found over 100 birds that have died due to colliding with windows. This caused out team to analyze why these birds are hitting, and more importantly, what can we do to prevent it from happening in the future. As this project continues, I would like to study more topics involving bird conservation, and how humans, animals, and habitat can all thrive without being detrimental to the existence of one another.
Academic Enrichment: This semester, the classes I am taking are working to support my future course work. I started college being absolutely positive that I would be a zoology major. I’ve wanted to be a zookeeper my entire life, and zoology is a very common major for those positions, however the keepers I have worked with have always told me that the classes matter more than the title of the degree. When I met a group of Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife (FFW) majors, I noticed that the immense amount of knowledge about nature was exactly what I came to Ohio State to learn. I sent the degree plans of both zoology and FFW to six zookeepers who mentored me throughout the years and they all agreed that it was time for me to switch majors. I am so happy to be in this new major with so many classes that I believe will be a huge asset to my career.
Being a zookeeper is very physical work, and with that, I will want to change my career when I age. This idea came to me when I was volunteering at the Houston Zoo. As I was crawling on all fours under a boardwalk in order to change a filter for the North American exhibits. As I was dodging cobwebs and hitting my head on the boards, I realized how impractical the situation was. I began noticing more inefficiencies in the exhibits, from pools that didn’t have drains, to floors slopped towards the center of the exhibits. I decided that I wanted to become an exhibit designer after being a zookeeper, this way I can fully understand ways to make the animals and the people who work with them happier. To do this I am adding on a landscape architecture minor.
Leadership Development: Only after a few short weeks, the Ohio State Ornithology Club has become my new family. The officers of the club have taken me under their wings, and have been constantly sharing their knowledge with me. When I get a grasp on all the aspects of the club I could definitely see myself becoming an officer for the club in a year or two. This club has been immensely helpful in my future and my studies. The club has taught me some things that directly relate to the club like bird identification, migration, behavior, and field work as well as some unusual things like plant identification, soil identification, and climbing.
Service Engagement: The Ohio State zoology club offers the opportunity to volunteer at Butternut Farms Animal Sanctuary. I got the pleasure to go with them to the sanctuary, while I was there we assisted in maintenance of the facility, including sweeping, mopping, and dishes. While we were there, we also learned about the mental and physical consequences to wild animals who have been taken as house pets. This information can be useful for educating the community and advocating against attempted domestication of wild animals.
The G.O.A.L.S of Ohio State remind me of ways to become the person I want to be. By focusing on these areas I can find ways to make my career and personal aspirations attainable.
I plan to work towards these goals by continuing my involvement in each of these areas.