In my first official post, Let’s Give This a Try, Shall We?, I touched on a few things. If you happened to stumble across it already, feel free to skim these next couple of sentences. However, if you’re just joining me for the first time, I’ll give you the low down. Though I encourage you to give it a quick look here, all you really need to know is this: I don’t know how to write a blog… at all.

Great! You’re all caught up! Now that we’re on the same page, I’d like to take this time to tell you a bit about myself. First, I’ll give you the boring, cookie cutter version (name, hometown, major, blah blah blah). Don’t worry, I’ll keep that short and sweet. Then, I’ll tell you the things that you most likely don’t care about. You know… my favorite shows on Netflix, ice cream flavors that might as well be named after me, sports I(’ve) play(ed), hobbies that I love, etc. “Why, Sam? Why would you bore us with this?” Because this is my blog and I can do what I want; that’s why.

• Name: Samantha Flora (but since we’re so close, you can call me Sam)
• Hometown: Medina, OH
• Major: Biomedical Engineering
• Minor: Entrepreneurship and Innovation
• Extra-Curricular Activities/Organizations: Humanitarian Engineering Scholars, Biomedical Engineering Society, Society of Women Engineers
• Career Goals/Interests: Design prosthetics, create artificial tissue for burn victims, work one on one with patients

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to the fun stuff.

I was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where I remained until 2007. When my parents told my eldest brother and me that we were moving to Ohio, my fourth grade-self thought my world was ending. As you may have guessed it, though, everything worked out as it should have. The more I reflect on the move, more so now in my older age, there were so many things that Ohio has given me that, perhaps, Indiana could not have. The most obvious, and arguably most significant, is Ohio State. Not only was I raised in Indiana, but my parents are both Boilermakers. It seemed obvious (to me, at least) that Purdue would be where I ended up. Spoiler alert– that didn’t happen. Why? Because “Out-Of-State-Tuition” was “Out-Of-The-Question”… Not to mention the fact that the five hour car ride is quite the hike. So the question was begged: What’s a large school in Ohio with a reputable Engineering program? Though I’m sure you’ve figured it out by now, the answer we came up with was Ohio State.

When choosing a college, student body size was a major factor that I had been taking into consideration. Being that I graduated high school alongside 200 other classmates, I was slightly intimidated by the overwhelming 65,000 students that make up Ohio State. During my junior year in high school, I took multiple visits down to see campus. One visit in particular, though, really stuck out to me. I remember hearing my tour guide say “You can make a big school small, but you can’t make a small school big”. In order to make campus feel a bit smaller, I intend to join a number of different organizations. For starters, I cannot begin to express how excited I am to be a member of the Humanitarian Engineering Scholars Program. With this, I’m hoping to be able to find a group of friends that share similar academic interests as I do. Not only am I looking forward to being able to make connections and build relationships, the Scholars Program definitely has its perks (at least from what I’ve seen, so far). As far as priority class scheduling, Torres House living assignments, and short-term study abroad opportunities, I saw no reason at all that I shouldn’t at least give the program a try.

Meeting my roommate, Katelyn, for the first time – Just one of the many great things HES has brought me.

Not only do I hope to diversify my college experience through HES, I am really hoping to play volleyball. Whether it be through a club organization or an intramural team, I’m looking forward to continuing my volleyball career in some way, shape, or form. I’ve been playing volleyball, both for school and for Junior Olympic teams, since I was about twelve years old. Because of my large time commitment to the sport, I can’t possibly imagine not playing past high school (not to mention the fact that I miss it… a lot). I’m quite excited about this, actually. I can’t wait to get back to playing the sport that I love.

Winning Conference Champs – Senior Year (Number 14, far left).

At this point in time, that is all I know about what my future at Ohio State might entail. I’m trying to keep an open mind and be accepting of any and all opportunities that I might have along the way. With a campus so large, the possibilities are near endless.

I can tell that you’re upset that I didn’t get to tell you about my favorite ice cream or my current Netflix obsessions. Sorry to disappoint, but don’t worry: those aren’t too interesting anyway. I do hope, though, that I gave you a bit of a better picture of who I am and what I intend to do here at OSU. Thanks so much for reading and I hope you have a fabulous day!