Year in Review
I have learned and grown so much over the past eight months during my first year as an Ohio State student. I got to experience so many amazing opportunities and grow as a leader, student, and friend.
I have grown the most over the last eight months through my time as a Mount Scholar. When entering the program, I was afraid my introversion would set me apart from the classmates, but the exact opposite ended up happening. I was able to be my true self and demonstrate the power and importance of being an introverted leader through multiple Mount Leadership Society sponsored activities. Two that I would like to highlight are my time spent on the Recruitment, Outreach and Welcome (ROW) committee, and my experience as a Lead Builder during our Legacy Week project.
Throughout my time on ROW, I was able to collaborate with my fellow committee members and create several memorable events for Mount as well as get to know my peers better and discover more about everyone’s leadership styles and personalities every week. Through Legacy Week, I was also able to collaborate with peers and build service projects truly from the ground up while hurdling multiple obstacles and working to keep morale high. These were both experiences unique to anything I’ve ever done before, and I grew exponentially as a leader from both of them.
Next year, I am looking forward to leading the ROW committee as a co-chair, and getting to learn to collaborate and lead in a whole new way. I would’ve never had the courage to apply for this position without the learning and growing opportunities that Mount provided me with this year. I also look forward to continuing my involvement in Cru, a campus-wide ministry program, and getting to know the Mount Class of 2020 through both of these experiences.
Although I was incredibly disappointed to see this year get cut short, I am so excited to know that I have a wonderful community and support system waiting on campus whenever we get to return. It is so exciting to see how much I’ve been able to grow in one year, and I can’t wait to see what another year will hold.
G.O.A.L.S.
Global Awareness: Within my first year at Ohio State, one area in which I have developed a level of global perspective is through my Global Studies GE courses. To fulfill these GE requirements, I was able to take DANCE 3402 (Global Dance) and HISTART 2001 (Introduction to Art History). Through these courses, I was educated on global perspectives within the fields of art and dance, as well as the more general areas of religion, entertainment, and history. In my remaining time at OSU, I hope to further enrich my global perspective through classes for my Speech and Hearing Science major as well as potentially traveling overseas on a Summer Mission with Cru.
Original Inquiry: Although I have not yet been able to participate in research at Ohio State, this is my largest goal for my remaining undergraduate years. I plan on applying to participate in original inquiry through the Speech and Hearing research labs at Pressey Hall on OSU’s campus. I would particularly love to participate in research in the LATA (Language, Assistive Technology, and Autism) lab. This is something that I plan to do in the following semesters, and something that I’m really looking forward to.
Academic Enrichment: Due to my plan to graduate in Spring 2022 (one year early), I am currently taking many classes that will directly apply to my future career. My plan after undergraduate school is to apply to graduate programs in Speech Pathology and become licensed as a Speech Pathologist and hopefully work in a school or private practice with a specific focus on children with developmental disabilities. My Speech and Hearing Science major and Disability Studies minor both directly apply to this goal. This semester, I also chose to take American Sign Language to fulfill my language GE requirement. Learning ASL has always been a goal of mine to further enrich my ability and competence as a healthcare provider in the future, and I hope to utilize these skills in my practice in the future.
Leadership Development: I am able to participate in a variety of leadership positions through my roles within Mount Leadership Society Scholars and Cru. Within Mount, I am a co-chair of the ROW (Recruitment, Outreach, and Welcome) Committee. My position as a ROW chair has allowed me to develop my leadership style through planning events, displaying creativity and flexibility through virtual planning, and focusing on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion within programming. Our committee was also able to facilitate the Mini-Mega mentoring program within Mount and assign mentors with their mentees. Within Cru, I am one of four female leaders of the Bowen House Bible study. This position has taught me of the importance of intentionality in leadership, and has stretched my comfort zone through meaningful one-on-one and group conversation.
Service Engagement: Mount Scholars have the privilege of participating in an abundance of service-related projects and activities. During my first year of Mount, I participated in monthly service projects such as spending the day with a local Special Education classroom. I also acted as a Lead Builder for the annual Legacy Week service project, in which my team (Team Abuse) planned meaningful projects and volunteered with local organizations Huckleberry House and Freedom A La Cart. As a second-year Mount Scholar, I am currently working toward completing 75 service hours for my Year of Service. My service project involves thrice-weekly Zoom meetings with the Special Education classroom at Canal Winchester High School (my alma mater) helping with homework, participating in fun activities, and chatting. These meetings are able to help support my goals of service as well as my passion for spending time with children with disabilities has been a huge joy.
Career
In the future, I hope to become an accredited Speech Language Pathologist and work in a school or clinical setting with children and young adults with disabilities. I have attached a link to my resume, updated as of January 2021 – my resume includes a list of all of my relevant experience and skills that will apply to this position.
Artifacts
My artifact is a slideshow of images that were taken at events sponsored by Peeps Club. During my junior and senior years of high school, I participated in and acted as a co-president of this group. Peeps Club was designed as a way to allow special needs students to spend meaningful time with their peers outside of the classroom in an organic setting. All of the pictures included in the slideshow were taken my senior year, and reflect some of the activities that I was able to help plan, such as bowling outings, our annual spring dance, and a Halloween party.
I selected this artifact because my experience in Peeps Club really shaped me into the person that I am today, including leading me to explore majors in the special education field. I am incredibly passionate about the importance of the inclusion of those in the special needs community, as I have seen firsthand the life changing impact it can have on both individuals themselves and their families. I was changed as a leader, a learner, and a teacher by the relationships that I was able to form with all of my wonderful friends in Peeps Club.
I gained a lot of knowledge over how to generally handle conflict, disagreement, and out-of-my-control situations during my time in Peeps, as well as how to accommodate a vast variety of different needs and always individualize my approach. I also learned that oftentimes in the right situations, a good leader also needs to be a great friend. I will carry the lessons that I learned in Peeps Club with me throughout college and my career, the most important being that everyone is deserving of love and friendship, and this rule still applies when you are in a position of authority.
Artifact Two
Although college is often focused purely on academic life, I believe that life outside the classroom can be equally important in developing as a person and a leader. This semester at Ohio State, I was able to join the organization Cru and learn about myself through the friends that I was able to make and the experiences that we had together. I was incredibly nervous entering college about being able to make new friends since I am so introverted, and Cru has been the perfect opportunity for me to get to know peers that live in my building as well as peers who are older than me and have different life experiences but all share common core beliefs. I am so thankful for the lifelong friends that I’ve already been able to make, and for the experiences that I know I’ll be able to have through Cru in the future. This experience has allowed me to grow as a leader through my developing of new friendships and I know that it will continue to do so in the future.
Artifact Three
My experience as a Mega through Mount Leadership Society has allowed me to grow as a leader and has really shaped my experience as a second-year within Mount and in general. This image I chose to include is a screenshot of my Mount “family” during the MILES Ceremony, which represents all first years officially joining Mount. It was so exciting to get to be there to welcome my family into Mount. It is still so fun and rewarding to act as mentor figure for my Mini and experience college together, especially during the current pandemic. At a time when college looks more different than it ever has before, I am especially happy to be able to act as a mentor to first year students and also learn from them as we are all learning and growing together.
About Me
Hello! My name is Emma Foltz, and I am a freshman Speech and Hearing Science major and Mount Scholar from Canal Winchester, Ohio.
I am a very driven and enthusiastic person, especially when it comes to my passions! These include service, my faith, learning, spreading kindness, and advocating for those with disabilities and special needs.
I fed into these interests a lot in high school and hope to continue to do so in college. I could often be found volunteering in the special needs classroom at my school, and I spent my senior year as a co-president of “Peeps Club,” a group in which students spend meaningful time with their special needs peers outside of class. I love being able speak up for those who may not have a voice to do so themselves. I am also a licensed provider for those with special needs through the Franklin County Board of Disabilities.
At Ohio State, I am looking forward to being able to further all of my passions, from advocacy to attending church to cheering on the Buckeyes (one of my favorite hobbies). My biggest academic goal is to graduate with honors in four years or less, and take advantage of many service and leadership opportunities as a Mount Scholar. I look forward to seeing what my years at Ohio State will hold, go Bucks!
foltz.136@buckeyemail.osu.edu
“Every day is a gift, so make the best of it.” -Brock Johnson