Year In Review

My first year at OSU was an amazing one and will be something that I will always remember. I can still visualize the first day and being dropped off and thinking…Well what do I do now? I had a great first year all around but I think I excelled academically, emotionally, socially, and physically. My mindset coming into college allowed me to not feel the stress of things and events in my life but rather see it as something that needs to get done and then put my best effort forward.

My favorite classes in high school were always the ones that had the most real world application like AP Statistics, AP Psychology, and Honors Anatomy and Physiology. So far in two semesters, I have most felt that real world connection with my philosophy and organic chemistry class. I’m pursuing a degree in Chemical engineering and while I don’t have a desire to work in a lab, the reactions and synthesis techniques we learned in organic chemistry had a profound impact on me because this is what chemists use in the real world. Another example is the heat and wave equation that I learned in Math 2177 where the two partial differential equations describe a wide variety of real world examples and are aspects of math that could actually be used in the real world.

I also had a great first year outside of the classroom as I developed new hobbies, learned how to live on my own, and do what makes me happy. I continued to work on my frisbee skills, developed a new hobby for rock climbing and racquetball, and made new friends in class and at my workplace. The biggest things I learned outside of class is definitely related to the environment and all pertaining activities. I became more conscious about my actions and what I can do to reduce my impact. I also learned about backpacking and rock climbing which I hope to do even more of in the following years.

As for what I’ve learned about myself and how i’ve changed relates to trying new things. I’ve always enjoyed trying new things and I tried to maximize my opportunities in high school but I’ve learned that in college, not every opportunity/new thing that I take will make me happy. Since there are even more opportunities present in college, I had to moderate myself and listen to my gut reaction on what things will make me happy. My beliefs are heavily influenced by the YouTube channel “Yes Theory” where they encourage people to just say yes as life is too short and people often miss out on great opportunities. I have learned a lot from them and I think that they played a role in my life this year as I would just say yes when a group of people would ask if I wanted to do something I’ve never done before.

My first year was filled with so many great memories that it would be too difficult to narrow it to an individual one. The time spent backpacking in Dolly Sods and camping in Hocking Hills was a great time that makes it hard to believe they were over 6 months ago. I also enjoyed all the events I attended like the TedX talks, bdubs trivia nights, buckeyethon, and taste of OSU. I also enjoyed getting a job on campus at Marketplace on Neil in order to make some money on the side. The process of doing everything on my own for my trip to Tanzania was awesome as it was almost a full academic year long process that has only seen the time winding down.

I had an amazing first year that was filled with so many special people and memories and I know that will continue for the years to come. I’ve worked hard this year and I’m ready for the summer to come so that I can go on my trips and relax. However, I know I will be ready for next semester and the challenges that come with it. I look forward to starting my chemical engineering class and begin taking upper level classes towards my degree.

Spring Break Review

Spring Break 2019!

My spring break was action packed and felt all too short. I spent a lot of time with my brother Kyle as well as with my best friends. My brother and I saw Captain Marvel together and it was amazing. Me and my two of my best friends, Justin and Dariah, drove 5 hours down to Gatliburg and rented an AirBNB on the top of a mountain overlooking Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. We stayed there for three days and hiked in the Smoky Mountains, explored Gatlinburg, and enjoyed the beautiful drives. We hiked Mount LeConte Via Alum Cave which was about a 12 mile roundtrip hike as well as the Chimney Tops which was 5.5 miles. Unfortunately, Clingman’s Dome was closed so we spent time looking around Newfound Gap. We walked around the streets of Gatlinburg and ate at Calhoun’s BBQ which had amazing pulled pork. After Gatlinburg, my good group of friends and I went bowling and to this cool brunch place called Cozy’s. I also enjoyed spending time with my cats who I always miss dearly when I’m at OSU. For the last weekend, my brother and I came up to OSU and spent the day walking around campus, ate Tacos at Condado and watched the new How to Train Your Dragon. It was a great spring break filled with constant activity but was a much needed break from the grind.

The biggest learning takeways from my adventures is that my training for Mt. Kilimanjaro has been going well as Chimney Tops was a very strenuous hike and I felt great afterwards. I also learned that my 40L backpack choice was a great one as it held up the whole time and my back carried it with ease. I didn’t learn much other than that but spring break reinforced some of my other previously held beliefs. These beliefs include being flexible, just saying yes to new and unknown things, and that there is beauty everywhere. There were times when I wasn’t sure what I was doing that day and just saying yes to something I wasn’t entirely comfortable with ended up being a great time. The Smokies were also a great breath of fresh air that allowed me to express my love for the outdoors as I find hiking very mentally satisfying.

Overall, it was a great first OSU spring break. However, it is good to be back at campus and I’m looking forward to finishing my first year strong.

Jeni’s!

The second place I chose to write about for My Columbus To-Do List also falls under the Ice Cream and Desserts list because you can never have enough of those, ammirite? I had never heard of Jeni’s before coming to Ohio State and I had heard a lot about it and I was not disappointed. My hometown Mason has a lot of ice cream and dessert places like Graeters, UDF, Speedway, and Culvers just to name a few so I always enjoy trying new ice cream places.

A picture on the inside of Jeni’s where you can see half of the displayed Ice Cream flavors and the cone making machine (grey box next to the ice cream flavors)

At Jeni’s, I got cookies and cream in one of their special cones (that I can’t remember the name of) but everything about the overall ice cream experience tasted of excellence. You could tell the amount of care and effort that went into the ice cream and cone making. The cone making process was actually on display when I was there and it was so neat to see how they make it into a hard conical cone to eat ice cream out of. I would highly recommend Jeni’s to anyone who eats Ice Cream as you can never go wrong with any flavor of ice cream and Jeni’s sure has a wide variety of options for anyone.

 

After being downtown to Columbus, it makes me realize that what everyone says about Cbus is true, that Columbus is a unique city that has a wide variety of options for everyone. I’ve also been to Bicentennial Park, a few of the other shops on the short north as well as smaller concert venues and the Nationwide Arena for a show. There are also so many aspects of Columbus that I still have not explored but that I hope to explore in my time here at Ohio State. I would like to get to some of the Ice Cream and Dessert places as well as some more of the parks that are downtown.

I highly recommend Columbus to other students here at Ohio State as it has something for everyone and it takes multiple trips to get the full experience out of it. The Short North alone could provide hours of fun exploring the streets and unique shops. There are also areas near Columbus but outside of it that I would like to get to like Franklinton.

Overall I had a great first semester exploring Columbus and greatly enjoyed my time at Jeni’s, Rocket Fizz, and other locations I explored.

Career Exploration

I’m currently studying Chemical Engineering here at OSU but I’m not entirely sure what career I want to focus on as of this moment. I am interesting in adding a business minor to my degree as I am somewhat interesting in business and I believe this will allow me to diversify myself and have an extra layer to my chemical engineering degree. Based on those two ideas, some of careers I have given a thought to include working on the business side for a chemical company and or working on the materials science side of chemical engineering.

After doing some research on the careers in my field, there are a wide variety of options as chemical engineering can be applied in numerous ways where there’s not one job to fit all degrees. This can be anything from research to counseling to materials science and the list goes on and on. The number one thing I found after doing research is that job experience is one of the most important factors. Not just because having work experience is important and vital to employers but also because it is vital to yourself where you might need multiple internships to figure out what you truly want to do for some of (or the rest of) your life. With so many opportunities at OSU, there are lots of internship options that I could apply for that would be a good initiation into the field for me. Clubs are also an important aspect of the chemical engineering degree as there are multiple clubs that put what you learn into practice and or network you with individuals currently in the chemical engineering field. I am currently in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and another club I have on my radar is the Chem-E car club where they designed a powered car that competes in competitions and this offers lots of hands on experience.

I don’t think the research that I did had an impact on my career path because I think at this point it is just about me getting my feet wet in the field and trying out as many different aspects of the field as I can so I can see what I truly enjoy and would like to do for a career. However, if none of these options work out, I hope that after I secure a business minor that that will open up other opportunities for me that I could explore. I think the people of Ohio State like upperclassmen, the faculty, and alumni are the best resources for me to go to as most of them have gone through what I will be going through and asking them for advice would be very helpful.

My next steps now are to be actively searching and applying for internships for either the spring and summer. Handshake has numerous opportunities available at the click of a “Submit Resume” and it will just come down to me doing my diligent research and applying for what I think I would be a good fit for.

Rocket Fizz!

I chose to visit places falling under the Ice Cream and Desserts list on the Columbus To-Do website. My hometown of Mason has a wide variety of Ice Cream and Dessert related shops and I really enjoyed trying all of them and all of the different flavors they offered. As Columbus will be my new home for the next four years, I really want to have that same feeling and be able to experience all of the amazing Ice Cream and Dessert places that Columbus has to offer. Besides just trying new places and dessert menu items, I hope this enables me to get out and see the great city of Columbus and maybe find another cool or unknown place while I’m eating some ice cream. I’ve heard amazing things about some of the places on the list and I cannot wait to try them and some of the cool and unique things that each one has to offer.

The first place I tried on this list was called Rocket Fizz which is on High Street in the Short North.

Rocket Fizz is a really antique candy, soda, and sign shop. It has so many unique flavors of soda as can be seen in the first image and that is only about 1/5 of their selection. They also sell a lot and lot of candy which can be seen in the second picture and this includes the classic american candy as well as antique candy and international candy. All the signs in the shop were also ones you would see from 20-40 years ago and all the items above are reasonably priced. I really enjoyed being in a place that is so different from the norm and sells so many unique items. I would highly recommend this to a friend cause even if they don’t buy something from the store, it’s still a cool experience just to walk around and look at what they’re selling.

Artifacts

I had my mentor meeting with Alex Humphreys, second year, majoring in Animal Sciences and Catherine Chester, second year, majoring in Bio Chemistry (showed up at the very end due to conflicting class).

We had a great hour long meeting and while we didn’t discuss specific questions from the list, it was a great in depth conversation on all five aspects of the mentor meeting.

With academics, we discussed the progression of class and how the workload and difficulty has changed over three semesters. She stated that while the overall difficulty of classes had not increased, the workload of the classes definitely had to a noticeable point. I asked about the general credit hours for all her classes and she said she was taking 5 classes of 3 credit hours each for 15 hours total. This was the most she had taken so far as she took 13 and 14 her past two semesters. Even though we are in very different majors, it was very good information yet my assumption is that my classes for chemical engineering will increase in difficulty and in workload however, the general average credit hour of each class decreases. Right now most of my pre-major classes are 4-5 credit hours but most at the upper level of the degree are 2-3 with there 12 major specific classes to take.

Alex is very involved with clubs related to her major and to what she enjoys doing. She was in zoology club during her first year and it was her favorite club as they did neat volunteering events and club activities. She is no longer in the club but she took a lot away from it and really enjoyed her time. As of right now, she is involved with Oval Dogs and she had to choose that over Pets 4 Vets due to conflicting times. She really enjoys Oval Dogs where they talk about dogs with dogs running around them. At the beginning of the semester, I got involved with five clubs and while it is manageable to go to all the meetings, I think I am going to focus my efforts and time on just a few clubs. I really enjoy all the clubs I got involved with earlier this semester but American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Mountaineers, and Sierra Club will take precedence going forward. Just like Alex stated, it’s important to have a take away from each club and get a great and different experience from every club.

Alex absolutely loves ENR Scholars and has enjoyed every activity that she participated in last year and this year. I was curious about the comparison between first and second semester for ENR and she stated that it was very similar in terms of events, participation, and overall experience. She is currently planning the Cavern Tour on October 20th, 2018 and says that while it is stressful, she finds great joy when people truly enjoy the event that you plan. She is involved with the mentoring program in ENR as well as the Leadership Council. She highly recommends both and I know that I will definitely apply to be a mentor next year so that first years can have the great experience that I’m having right now and will continue to have.

Alex is currently majoring in Animal Science and is looking into becoming a zoo veterinarian as a professional career. She knows there is a lot of schooling involved with that profession and that it is a competitive field. Her backup is to have an exotic animal sanctuary of some form with big cats and other exotic animals from all over the world. I think this is super cool as I have had experiences with big cat sanctuaries and have loved every second of being there. As of right now, she is currently looking for a spring internship over a summer one because she wants to have an internship but also work lots of hours over the summer. She is currently working two jobs and wants to secure a spring internship and a summer job sometime in the near future. This is similar to my situation as I would love a summer internship to get that experience but after talking to upperclassmen in my major, it seems a lot more practical and probable to do summer research at the university and have a summer job as well. I am currently looking into this but I would be open to anything that gives me experience in my field.

General advice was the last topic we discussed and we focused on midterms, finals and general testing. Alex suggested on starting to study for class tests at least two weeks before the actual test. She has tried one week and two weeks and found that two weeks works out much better. This gave her a chance to space out the learning and by doing a chapter or a small section each night, she performed much better on tests. This is relevant because I have multiple midterms coming up and I need to find a balance for how to study for all them. I had a successful first round of midterms but fall break might affect me for the second round. I think a strong study plan will enable me to be successful for my second round even with the fall break interruption.

Group pic! (do we get creativity points for our photo??)

Career

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About Me

Hello!

My name is Ryan Edelbach and I am currently a first year here at Ohio State studying Chemical Engineering. I live in Mason, OH which is outside of Cincinnati and is a rather large town of about 35,000 people. I graduated from Mason High School and my graduating class had an outstanding 960 students in it. I really enjoyed my time in high school but just based off of how this first week at Ohio State went, I know I am going to love my time here.

I have an amazing family who I dearly love. I have a younger brother named Kyle that is going into his sophomore year in high school as well as my parents, Suzanne and Doug. I also have two cats named Butter, a beige tabby cat, and Steel, a gray tabby cat, and I miss both of them greatly. Fun fact, I only have one cousin and he’s 5 and his name is Bruce, he is one of the most adorable little kids I’ve ever seen and I love going down to visit his family in Texas every year. Besides Mason, I have also lived outside of Atlanta and Washington D.C. Living in Ohio was by far my favorite as I made some of my closest friends while living there and there was always something fun and exciting to be doing.

During my high school years, I was an independent student who took care of all my work so my transition into the first week of classes didn’t really feel like much of a change. I really enjoy learning because there is so much out there that we can learn and absorb that will make us better people and citizens to the world. I plan to be a lifelong learner because we can always push ourselves further and do more. Besides learning, I place a heavy emphasis on my leadership and self-awareness. These are two things that I believe all of us need to be proficient in as it will make a much more effective society as well as just overall better people in this world. One of the most important things I’ve learning over the past few years is to just say yes to opportunities and to not let fear hold you back. Going outside of your comfort zone is something I wish I could teach to others, you’ll never know what happens unless you say yes. I recently found a YouTube channel called Yes Theory that highlights everything I would love to say about this topic. They are a group of friends who complete tasks and do things by asking spontaneous and kind strangers to help them. For example, they asked their uber driver if they wanted to go skydiving on the spot and about 20 drivers said no and 1 said yes. She was scared at first but she had the time of her life and she was so happy that she decided to literally leap out of her comfort zone.

Some of my academic goals during my time at Ohio State are to be admitted into the Chemical Engineering department but more importantly learning what I want to do with my degree. There are so many possible avenues that I could explore but I know that no matter what I do, I’ll be using it to help others and to leave a positive impact on this world. Two other things i’m interesting in are becoming and RA and a TA. I love helping others as well as teaching others because the look on their face when something finally clicks or when you can see that they’re learning and understanding is a feeling that should be felt by all.

I could talk for hours about the environment, nature, travel, and the outdoors, there is so much to love and enjoy about it so I’ll try to keep it short. One of my lifelong bucket list items is to visit all 59 U.S. National Parks, each park is so vastly unique and distinct that it makes every visit such an amazing experience. As of right now, I have been to 12 of 59 which include: Grand Canyon, Redwoods, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Everglades, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Cuyahoga Falls, Joshua Tree, Virgin Islands, Glacier Bay, and Mammoth Cave. My favorite by a landslide was Grand Teton in Wyoming as it was some of the most beautiful and pristine land I’ve ever seen my life. Just picturing it right now makes me want to go back. I’ve still got a long way to go but this is something that I know I will get accomplished.

I love every outdoor activity that there is and if I haven’t tried it yet then I’m all down for trying new things. I just recently kayaked for the first time and I want to go again. The outdoors has so many neat and interesting aspects that are just waiting to be experienced. Serious backpacking and hiking were not a realistic activity for me in high school but those two things are definitely something I would like to devote my time to during my college years. I would love to be able to immerse myself in nature for days at a time and just explore the untouched nature.

One of the organizations I found at the involvement fair was called “GIVE Volunteers” and I have been searching for this club for a very long time. They do amazing volunteer work around the world and have travel opportunities to help people and make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate. At the August 23rd meeting, they had a 45 minute presentation and when I saw their videos, it was something I knew I had to do. I had not felt this passionate or excited about doing something and trying something that would change mine and others lives in a long time. I knew this is way I could have an impact on the world and make the lives of others better. The trip I am interested in going on is going to Tanzania for 22 days and volunteering on Zanzibar Island by building schools and houses for the local communities and then at the end climbing Mt. Kilamanjaro. While it is financially costly, I am dedicated and committed to making this work because this is something I know I have to do as it is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I know my time at Ohio State will be filled with many exciting twists and turns and I am ready to embrace all opportunities. Life is only what we make of it and I plan to live my to the fullest by trying new things and living outside of my comfort zone.

Go Bucks!