My First Two Years

…We even take pride in our problems, because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope… Romans 5: 3-4.

I am in awe at the amount of change that has occurred in these past two years. My time at OSU has been immensely fruitful. The fall of 2014 I arrived at the best university in the world to study Neuroscience, fully confident in my aspiration to become a doctor in the long run. I expected myself to get into research as soon as I could, volunteer in whatever would look good on my resume and love every second of it. Mid-first semester I began to feel uncertainty in respect to my well-structured life plan. I found myself unfulfilled by what I was studying, the excitement I had when in the beginning of the year was plummeting. I feared what others would think if I quit being on the pre-med track, I especially feared letting my parents down as well as myself, thinking that I was tricking myself into taking the easy way out. I felt lost. I expressed my concerns with my family and receive an outpour of love and support. HSS was a blessing because I learned about other professions in the health field. My eyes were open to the core of the “well-structured plan” I had made before going into college. The foundation of that plan was the fact that I had fallen in love with giving myself in service to those who need help. Through the Health Science program, came across Nursing. I shadowed and interviewed different types of nurses and I was quickly pulled in. The more I learned about the profession and the vast possibilities that came with it, the more I felt that this was compatible with the core of who I aspired to be. Fast-forwarding to the fall of 2015, I began my first year in the College of Nursing at OSU and was accepted into the Honors Research Program. It was through distress and difficulty that I finally fully embraced the idea that this is my life and it does not matter what others think of me. I learned to let my faith be bigger than my fears. This is where the bible verse from above comes into play. I am full of hope and excitement for what is ahead of me. My second year as a health science scholar has been incredible. I feel fulfilled by what I am learning in class and clinicals, by what I am doing as a PCA, Catholic Minister of Communion and undergraduate researcher. I surpassed my initial expectations for my first two years and seek to do the same in these next two short years. My plan for the remainder of my OSU experience is to keep an open mind to the different paths that the nursing profession has. I plan to keep diving into things that I have a passion for as well as branch out into new interests.

Major Service Project

Major Service Project: Wellness of Mind, Spirit and Body

Service Sites: Bethesda North Hospital, NSPIRE, Newman Hospital Ministry

NSPIRE at St. Sophia's

NSPIRE at St. Sophia’s

I began to immerse myself in the helping of the sick through volunteering at Bethesda North Hospital, a place where I was able to explore the dynamics of a hospital unit and interact with various health professions as well as a variety of patients. I began by as an escort at Bethesda and then moved to the Mom and Baby floor. As an escort I was able to see the relief of leaving the hospital in they eyes of patients and loved ones along with new life stepping out into the sunshine for the first time. In my time as a volunteer in the Mom and Baby unit, I was able to interact with the patients in a more personable manner by providing basic necessities to them such as blankets, food and diapers. By being on the floor I also was able to observe the work etiquette and interaction of nurses, speech and hearing professionals, and doctors. My second service involvement was NSPIRE, a student nurses organization made up by undergraduate and graduate students, where we provided health services and education to underserved populations. The health services we provided where at St. Sophia’s Church and consisted of blood pressures, glucose checks, foot baths and listening to their hearts and respirations. At the YWCA Mom and Baby Clinic we provided education about caring for children and answered any concerns the parents may have in regards to caring for their children or themselves. The last service involvement was being part of the Catholic Ministry at OSU’s Medical Center. I was initially intrigued in spiritual wellness in the hospital setting because I had heard about a Muslim organization at OSU that would visit Muslim patients and show their support by visits and prayer; I thought it was such a beautiful idea. I then heard about the Hospital Ministry at the Newman Center and was hooked instantly. As a Catholic Minister of Communion I offered prayer, communion and visits to various individuals within the hospitals. My involvement at these three different sites have provided for an incredibly wholesome view of wellness, where it does not solely consists of medicine but also of non-pharmacologic therapies.

Through my involvement in Bethesda North, NSPIRE and the Hospital Ministry I have been able to interact with individuals for different walks of life who have taught me so much about health, life and myself. I came into this service project with little patient experience, yet as the year comes to a close, I reflect on the fruitfulness of this project. As a volunteer at Bethesda North I gained a wonderful mentor who challenged me to experience different aspect of the health field, giving me a greater appreciation for the different health professionals that must work together to provide the best care. At NSPIRE I was brought down to earth and humbled by every single person I interacted with. My involvement as a Catholic Minister of Communion opened my eyes to the beauty of spiritual wellness; it made me embrace my faith immensely and put my love for God and people into action.

The greatest impact that has come out of my service experience has been making people feel that they are important, worthy of care and that they can persevere through the situation at hand.

When I volunteered at Bethesda North Hospital, I was blessed to meet someone who encouraged me to follow my heart. The volunteer program coordinator became someone who I looked up to and found inspiration in. She challenged me to get out of my comfort zone when it came to discovering what type of health profession I wanted to go into. I admire her grace and compassion for service, something that has made a huge positive impression in my life and embellished my passion of service.

“Because of this service experience, I am” ever more inspired to provide holistic care for patients as I study to become a nurse and to be contagious with my love for service.

Service

The topic of health disparities is one that I humbles me and one that drives me to become the best nurse I can be. I am involved in an organization called NSPIRE, where we offer basic health aide to marginalized populations in Columbus. I have also recently gotten involved with the Newman Church Hospital Ministry where communion, prayer and visits are offered to OSU Medical Center patients, a beautiful way to serve our community.

Leadership

The Newman Church has become a community that has inspired me by how genuine and steadfast they are in their faith. I went to one of their retreats called Buckeye Awakening in October of 2015 and it was incredible. The retreat opened my eyes to see that I really want to dive into my faith and be a part of this wonderful community.

 

Academic Enrichment

I interview Randi Bates, a PhD student at the College of Nursing. I first met her though my research mentor Jodi Ford. Randi caught my attention because she is not only a PhD student but has her Nurse Practitioner degree and has been a nurse abroad, things that I professionally aspire to do. Randi graduated with a bachelor of science in nursing from the College of Nursing at Ohio State. Her senior year she met someone who traveled and was inspired to do the same. The Peace Corps caught Randi’s attention because it offered travel, helped with health insurance and great work and life experiences. In 2007 Randi applied and was accepted to serve in the Peace Corps. There were three months of intensive training where she learned about project planning, Spanish, cultural competency and how to apply for grants. Randi was sent to the Dominican Republic for two years where she worked with a community leader who helped her learn more about the community and gain their trust. Randi’s project focused on teaching sexual education to teenagers, as well as teaching young girls art (her favorite focus). Through her favorite focus of teaching young girls art, she saw how there was psychomotor and social development in this specific population. Randi expressed how working in the Peace Corps was one of the most wonderful and hard times she has ever experienced. She also was able to be a first responder in the Haiti disaster in 2008 expressing how she felt new and felt that she couldn’t contribute a lot by just being a nurse, something that inspired her to get her nurse practitioner degree when she returned. Randi is now an NP in outpatient nephrology, she told me how much she liked being able to be more independent in her work and has gained so much great clinical experience through it. As a PhD student, Randi is interested in early childhood education and policy, more specifically how childhood stress and the relationship with a mother affect long-term stress, expecting to graduate in 2 years! I was and still am so impressed with all of Randi’s achievements and aspirations. I told her this and she said that she loves just going above and beyond and challenging herself; she advised me that if there is something that I have the slightest interest in, that I should absolutely go for it. Randi was also an SNA for 3 years before going to the Peace Corps and encouraged me to keep that job in order to gain more hospital experience, patient interaction and network. My interview with Randi Bates was incredibly fruitful and motivational in my dreams to be a nurse, travel and get my nurse practitioner degree.

Original Inquiry

I am part of the College of Nursing Honor’s Program with Research. I recently started my hands on work with my research mentor and her research on stress levels in children and the effects that low socioeconomic statuses have on them.

 

Global Awareness

I attended the “Study Abroad: History and Archeology of Medieval Ireland Info Session” on November 17th 2015. As a nursing student, the human body fascinates me and I found in it interesting that they have been able to discover human remains from 60 years back in a small neighborhood in Ireland. I’m also intrigued by the fact that as a student, you can have the opportunity to make a great discovery at the other side of the world.

 

Health and Wellness

I attended that “Mindfulness Stress Management Workshop” on November 11th 2015. This was a great workshop where I learned about how mindfulness can bring relaxation into your every day. My favorite quote was “live here, now in the present”.

 

Informational Interview

Peace Corps

I interview Randi Bates, a PhD student at the College of Nursing. I first met her though my research mentor Jodi Ford. Randi caught my attention because she is not only a PhD student but has her Nurse Practitioner degree and has been a nurse abroad, things that I professionally aspire to do. Randi graduated with a bachelor of science in nursing from the College of Nursing at Ohio State. Her senior year she met someone who traveled and was inspired to do the same. The Peace Corps caught Randi’s attention because it offered travel, helped with health insurance and great work and life experiences. In 2007 Randi applied and was accepted to serve in the Peace Corps. There were three months of intensive training where she learned about project planning, Spanish, cultural competency and how to apply for grants. Randi was sent to the Dominican Republic for two years where she worked with a community leader who helped her learn more about the community and gain their trust. Randi’s project focused on teaching sexual education to teenagers, as well as teaching young girls art (her favorite focus). Through her favorite focus of teaching young girls art, she saw how there was psychomotor and social development in this specific population. Randi expressed how working in the Peace Corps was one of the most wonderful and hard times she has ever experienced. She also was able to be a first responder in the Haiti disaster in 2008 expressing how she felt new and felt that she couldn’t contribute a lot by just being a nurse, something that inspired her to get her nurse practitioner degree when she returned. Randi is now an NP in outpatient nephrology, she told me how much she liked being able to be more independent in her work and has gained so much great clinical experience through it. As a PhD student, Randi is interested in early childhood education and policy, more specifically how childhood stress and the relationship with a mother affect long-term stress, expecting to graduate in 2 years! I was and still am so impressed with all of Randi’s achievements and aspirations. I told her this and she said that she loves just going above and beyond and challenging herself; she advised me that if there is something that I have the slightest interest in, that I should absolutely go for it. Randi was also an SNA for 3 years before going to the Peace Corps and encouraged me to keep that job in order to gain more hospital experience, patient interaction and network. My interview with Randi Bates was incredibly fruitful and motivational in my dreams to be a nurse, travel and get my nurse practitioner degree.