2nd Year Project Response

For the second year projects, I read about women in the STEM field, solar energy, and voter suppression during this pandemic. I am a new voter and also a woman studying for a career in the STEM field so all of these topics are very important to me. By reading about these topics I gained a better understanding about how solar energy can be used as energy and how it can eventually be cheaper then using the resources we have now. I also was better educated on the issues with how specific groups of people are being targeted by this pandemic and some states are making it more difficult to allow those people to cast their votes.earned about some ways this can be prevented and how to make sure my vote will be heard and counted. Because I am a women in the STEM field I already know a lot of the sexism that occurs although it was interesting to see someone’s view from being in engineering.  I think that learning about voter suppression and the systemic sexism in the STEM field  hit the closest to me. These two articles really made me feel like things needed to be done right away to combat these troubling issues. I think that next year I would like to write about one of these two topics and focus a little more on how I would suggest fixing that issue. I think that over the summer the U.S. needs to make a plan for the presidential election so that we do not run into more issues like we did with the primaries. I definitely think that it needs to start with the people and we need to make our voices heard and show our representatives and senators that we plan on keeping the set date for the election and they need to work together to come up with a solution. Teaching people how to let go of biases is a little bit harder but I do believe that it needs to start at a young age. Schools need to show more diverse career fields and instead of having stereotypes for certain careers, show that anyone can joins whatever career they want. I think that these articles gave a really good incite into how we can start making a difference in these issues.

November Question of the Month

November Question-

The question of the month for November is questioning whether or not there is a way to make the apportionment in the House of Representatives more “fair” since currently states with smaller populations are technically getting more representation then ones with bigger populations. The census takes a measurement of the population in an area and overall in each state. This is used to give states their number of Representative today.  To readjust the apportionment changes would have to be made to the constitution on how population is used to decided the number of reps. If it is currently held that a population size between 500,000- 1 million only has one Representative then that should change to allow the bigger population to have a bigger say in the House.

A bill to correct apportionment will never be passed through both the House and the Senate. Due to the polarity of our congress, those who have power will never willingly allow the other party to gain on them in any way. Just like the redistributing in our states, the two parties want to make sure that they have the upper hand in their state. Republicans would have issues giving another Democrat to a blue state and vice versa. States will also complain if others gain more representatives, the smaller states will complain that they don’t have enough representation.

If something changes there will always be people that complain that the changes made aren’t fair. If representation is given to Washington D.C. then whichever party doesn’t get that Rep. will complain that the other party was try to make a power play by giving them representation. Same thing goes with Puerto Rico and Guam especially since they tend to agree more with Democrats, Republicans will argue they they don’t have to undergo all of the decisions that the U.S. deals with, they aren’t even included in the election of our President. Even though Puerto Rico pays for Medicare, Federal tax, and other things that should allow them to have a say in the legislation that is made.

Personally, I think that a change should be made, a state that has twice the population size of another should have a bigger representation in the House. The House was made to have an unequal amount of representation based off of population size. The Senate was made to counteract that by having two representatives for each state, no matter the population. I just don’t think that either party will allow that to happen unless there is a very big pull in the American public, but D.C’s population has been complaining about this for a while and nothing has happened. Until the parties can set their power struggles aside, there will never be a truly “fair” apportionment for states in the House of Representatives.

Career

[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career.  Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

Artifacts

[Artifacts are the items you consider to be representative of your academic interests and achievements. For each entry, include both an artifact and a detailed annotation.  An annotation includes both a description of the artifact and a reflection on why it is important to you, what you learned, and what it means for your next steps.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

Peer Mentor Interview-

My Peer Mentor’s name is Vanessa Frank. She is from Geneva, Ohio. It is a small town which inevitably has a small high school. This, amongst OSU’s many opportunities and recognition, was the reason she wanted to go to such a big school. In high school Vanessa was apart of many clubs. She participated in soccer, tennis, cheerleading, 4H, Student Council, and National Honors Society. When she came here she knew she wanted to be involved. Every so often she still plays tennis with her friends, but Vanessa is also a part of a Sorority and a girls empowerment fitness club. In high school Vanessa also was a part of their science fair. She liked it so much that she knew she wanted to study science. However being a doctor wasn’t for her so she thought of being a lawyer. This is how she decided that her major was going to be Biology. PSL was a way for her to connect with people of like mindedness. Politics were always something that she gravitated to and she knew that people in PSL would be hardworking. While she was a freshman, she had a very good mentor. She was also in Biology and would help Vanessa with finding professors who had a good reputation and helping her through stressful times. This is why she decided to become a mentor, she wanted to help freshman with difficult majors just like she had.

Year in Review

[ “Year in Review”  is where you should reflect on the past year and show how you have evolved as a person and as a student.  You may want to focus on your growth in a particular area (as a leader, scholar, researcher, etc.) or you may want to talk about your overall experience over the past year.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

G.O.A.L.S.

  • Global Awareness: This year I  have joined multiple clubs that have many different people from diverse backgrounds that I can learn from. Also, being in PSL allows me to discuss different point of views and understand multiple sides of an argument. In the future I would like to Study Abroad so that I can immerse myself in a new culture, while also continuing my studies.
  • Original Inquiry: I am volunteering at eh Werner Medical Center and I hope to make connections there and see if I can find some research opportunities with the staff and doctors there. Throughout my Undergrad I would like to participate in research with some of my professors. I will start looking next semester seeing as this semester I am focusing on getting acclimated.
  • Academic Enrichment: I am a part of a debate club that I think will teach me more about key issues going on in the world. As well as being in PSL, which will help me learn about those same issues. I also help to get the most I can out of my volunteering opportunity at the Medical Center and learn a lot about the runnings of a hospital. I would also like to be apart of studying abroad and learn in a different environment.
  • Leadership Development: This year I have joined multiple clubs that I hope to have a bigger involvement in in the future. In later years I would like to become a Peer Mentor or a mentor in PSL and help incoming students learn about life at OSU.
  • Service Engagement: I am already volunteering at Werner Medical Center. In the future I would like to continue with that as well as volunteering at the Franklin County Animal Shelter or in different organizations around OSU.