Month: September 2018

IA Scholars Reflection 1

Damon Flores
IA Scholars
30 September 2018
Service Reflection 1
My first experience as a Buckeye and member of the International Affairs community occurred August 25 with my participation in The Ohio State Community Commitment. This experience served as a welcoming transition to the level of community involvement that I was going to accept as a new member of the city of Columbus community. As a group of International Affairs Scholars led by Natalie, a second year, we met at the Ohio Union and were assigned to provide our services to Columbus’ Cat Welfare Association. After getting to know each other during the bus ride, everyone was ready to work together as a group in any way the Cat Center needed. At the Cat Welfare Association, we were split up and some members folded clean cat towels while I was assigned to a group to help with the location’s landscaping. The main benefit of this experience was, although not being a cat person, being able to hangout and entertain stray and neglected cats all day. This event really opened my eyes to the mainly ignored problem of the large population of the stray cats in the Columbus city and the lack of allotted funds to support their maintenance and specific treatments. I mention treatments because some of those past abused cats were in poor physical condition either due to cancer, missing body parts, or disease which required expensive and sometimes unavailable surgery or treatment. I believe that my participation in this event also allowed me a greater concern for Columbus’ stray and neglected pets. Also the Cat Welfare Association is a nonprofit 501c3, which relies on donations and event proceeds as a main revenue to support the operations and wages of the workers, and I’m assuming is the main reason for understaff issues. This issue influenced my greater level of commitment to non-profit Columbus organizations whose lack of funds and staff shortages prevent their fullest capabilities to fulfill their specific community goals. I believe this event related to the Scholars program and more specifically the International Affairs community through the same pledged service commitment to social work that overall benefits the Columbus community which can apply to similar cities around the world. I believe I’ve personally benefited from my participation in The Ohio State Community Commitment through the emphasized focus to become a active member of our Columbus community and to every now and then give back to the less fortunate through service. This event actually directly relates to my current service learning course which urges us to become the positive influence that we want to see in the Columbus community. Through this influence and my positive experience during the Community Commitment, I have begun volunteering as a mentor in the Boys and Girls Club of Columbus. I am personally rewarded through the major impact that I have had on these school kids by helping them with their homework, both reading and teaching them to read, and teaching them the actually complicated sport of football. I have and will continue to enjoy the positive influence that I’ve had on the Columbus community through service.

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.

[ “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 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.

  • 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.]

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.]

About Me

[Your “About Me” is a brief biographical statement that might include your intended major, your academic interests, your goals, as well as the things that make you unique.  Definitely include a picture! Also, remember that you can always update this post at any point. 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.]