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 is a reflective description of the artifact that attempts to communicate its significance.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

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 information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

G.O.A.L.S.

[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.

Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc .
Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]

Survey Discussion Response

Proposition: An aspect of my life that has changed over the past few months is how much work I must put into maintaining my grades and learning to understand course material.

Proof: This change started immediately on the first day of class in Math 4181H at 9:10 a.m. We were discussing the real number system which does not seem very complex since it is rather intuitive on the surface. Although there are certain properties that are not as intuitive. However, for intuitive properties intuition does not suffice as a proof (Dedekind cuts will suffice when appropriately used) and I struggled to follow and develop proofs. As the semester progressed, I began to acclimate to the idea of a rigorous proof after hours upon hours of staring at them. For example, when I look back at the notes from the first lectures I now understand the logic behind the proofs. This implies that the farther along in the semester I was, my logical thinking abilities were increasing. While I still struggle to write out a rigorous proof, I am usually able to write a proof sketch. Since proofs are essentially a mathematical argument, the defense of my ideas is easier and usually follow from a fundamental idea. For example, my physics and econ professors emphasize not memorizing material but deriving it through understanding. To truly understand the material takes much more time than trying to memorize it. However, it has paid huge dividends developing logical arguments which in turn maintain my grades and increase my understanding.

Q.E.D.

Similarly, I want to continue to develop my personal development by furthering my reasoning skills and applying them to all aspects of my life.

A rigorous proof of this is left as an exercise for the reader.