A picture of my friend, Madi, and I at Bid Day for Zeta Tau Alpha
Ohio State has provided me with so many wonderful opportunities, and I am thankful to be a Buckeye!
Although this is labeled as my sophomore year in review, I will be reflecting upon experiences from both my freshman and sophomore years to complete my Honors Contract.
Global Awareness
Throughout the past two years, I have joined various clubs, taken many courses, and participated in activities that have made me a more well-rounded global citizen. First of all, I have taken three semesters of Italian language classes at Ohio State. This has exposed me to the Italian culture and allowed me to learn more about my ancestors and cultural heritage, as I am half Italian. Italian club, which I joined with several other students in my language classes, have introduced to me to various Italian people and cultural markers, like cuisine and film. I have come to appreciate the differences between Italian and American culture, and I can identify the greatest aspects of both. Following commencement, I plan to take a trip, whether it be a week or month in duration, to see my homeland of Italy. This will further foster my understanding of their way of life. Secondly, from participating in clubs and my sorority, I have been exposed to many different types of people. In my sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha, we have girls of various ethnicities and religions. Spending so many hours every week with these women has given me a greater understanding of the world around me. I have learned about religions other than my own, especially Judaism, from these girls. I have also witnessed and been educated on cultural identities. For example, two women of African American and Indian heritage taught us about their holidays and belief systems. Similarly, members of the Buckeye Pen-Pals Club, and of the National Society of Success and Leadership, have all educated me on their personal belief and value systems. The Ohio State community has introduced me to so many people. In turn, these people have been amazing enough to incorporate me into their personal lives and let me see how they are similar to and different from mine. To continue to learn more about the world around me, I plan to meet as many new people as possible, and take every opportunity to learn about the diversity on this planet that arises.
Original Inquiry
Many of my advanced communications classes have contributed to my understanding of the research method and the creative process. Most notably, my Communication 2367H class, commonly referred to as Persuasive Communication, has pushed me to conduct my own research in survey form. We were first told to pick a topic we were passionate about. Therefore, I chose to focus on water scarcity in Sub-Saharan Africa and how it affects the lives of women and children in the area. Our professor lead us through the correct process of gathering reliable data and heading our own research. We were ordered to put together surveys using any scale of our choosing. I decided on a Likert scale. We asked our audience questions that we found necessary to gather their opinions on. From this information, we were taught that thorough analysis would increase the likelihood of our successfully persuading people to adopt a behavior we are advocating. Moreover, the school of communication at Ohio State is home to many fascinating research studies. I have personally attended four studies as a subject to provide data. I plan on attending more as I advance as a student here to better understand the ways in which experiments are conducted and their outcomes studied to arrive at a conclusion about an overarching topic.
Academic Enrichment
My Honors Contract demonstrates a commitment to the goal of Academic Enrichment because I made the decision to take many higher-level courses in areas of study that vary greatly. I found it important to take courses from a multitude of disciplines because I feel that the most well-rounded people must have training in as many topics as possible. Moreover, one can never know too many things. I do not believe that one is “enriched,” if they know everything about one subject, rather than many things about many subjects. For example, I included classes about Speech and Hearing Science with classes from Entomology and Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies. The passion I have for picking up as much information as possible throughout my stay at Ohio State shows that I am striving for academic excellence. Additionally, the fact that I chose to major in strategic communications as the first step to achieving my dream of becoming a corporate lawyer shows my commitment to excellence. This is become there are many less time consuming, in that not much writing is required, majors that I could have selected to accomplish the same end goal. However, I felt that strategic communication would give me the necessary writing and verbal skills to effectively work with clients and overseers alike. I have learned the proper mechanisms by which to send messages within and without a company, and how to send these messages most efficiently. I feel that these are very necessary talents to be a successful lawyer within the corporate world.
Leadership Development
The Ohio State University has provided me with an overwhelming amount of opportunities to develop my leadership skills and become a great example for people around me in the short time I have been here. The spring semester of my freshman year, I decided to join Zeta Tau Alpha as a founding sister. Being a founding sister means that we were the first members of the new installment of the Alpha Zeta chapter here at Ohio State. Although I decided that being on the executive board for the sorority was something I did not want to do, I still was expected to set an example for the young women around me, whether they were my sorority sisters or not. We were, and still are, held to a higher standard than most other women in Greek life on campus because what we did in the early days of our upstart would become our legacy, and all eyes were on us. In short, being new meant that we had to set an example and pave the path for the future of our sorority. After joining ZTA, I went on to join the Sophomore Leadership and Involvement Community. This is a learning community on campus that accepts the most well-rounded second year students. We get together to discuss events that would be good for students living on campus, such as resume workshops, and also are involved in the Columbus community. We are expected to be leaders for students on campus through our grades, volunteer work, and enthusiasm to be involved around campus and Columbus. The National Society of Success and Leadership is another organization I joined during my sophomore year. This is a club for students excelling academically to help them reach their future goals. We are molded into effective leaders through small group meetings in which we collaborate to find the most effective ways to help each other figure out problems in our personal lives. We hold each other accountable for accomplishing our goals, making us each a leader for each other. Workshops on public speaking and managerial skills are also mandatory for being a member of the chapter. Finally, I have most recently become a Peer Mentor for freshman in the Honors Program. This will greatly help me refine my leadership skills because it is my job to give first year students useful advice so that they transition into college life as smoothly as possible. I will be one of their most valuable resources on campus, and should take initiative and be a great example for them. Each aforementioned activity will develop my leadership skills and relates to personal goals in very obvious ways. To be a lawyer, I must be an effective leader, keeping my team and tasks organized to avoid any costly mistakes. I would like to run my own law firm eventually, as well, meaning that I will be in charge of many workers. To keep order among my staff, I will need to know how to demand respect while maintaining friendships and peace among everyone in the office, including myself. The small groups I meet with, and the people I set examples for are helping to mold me into a better person and manager everyday, which will eventually pay off in my career.
Service Engagement
I am involved with a few service organizations on campus, including;
- The Sophomore Leadership and Involvement Community- This is the learning community that I joined my sophomore year. We live in The Residence on 10th on South Campus and volunteer at events around the Columbus community. My most memorable event with the community was cooking Thanksgiving dinner for STARHOUSE, a shelter for homeless teens downtown. I plan to continue to be involved with STARHOUSE after I leave the Sophomore Leadership and Involvement Community because I find it astonishing that children my age are in such contrasting situations than mine. I really enjoyed helping and reaching out to these individuals.
- Zeta Tau Alpha- My sorority is heavily involved in breast cancer awareness and education. We volunteer at various events, such as 5Ks around the Columbus community that benefit breast cancer victims and research. We also spread awareness by hosting seminars on female reproductive health and passing out ribbons at football games during the month of October. Moreover, we host fundraisers to raise money that we donate to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Seeing how many women are affected by breast cancer, I plan to continue to participate in 5Ks, runs, walks, and other fundraisers to bring money and awareness to the cause for the rest of my life.