This semester I participated with my sorority in fundraising money for Buckeyethon. Buckeyethon is a 24 hour dance marathon hosted by The Ohio State university to raise money for education, awareness, and research towards the hematology and oncology unit at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. This is my second time being able to fundraise at least $250 dollars to attend the dance marathon on Saturday morning. It was a very long 12 hr shift, but so worth seeing the kids and their families enjoy the games, dance, animals etc during this marathon. This year, the university raised a grand total of 1.7 million! Each year, more and more money is raised and donated to the hematology and oncology unit at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. I am very thankful to not be affected by such a terrible disease that 43 kids per day get struck with. Just seeing the statistics, hearing the stories, and spending time with the kids and families truly builds my strength and empathy for this cause and makes me a better leader. Because of service learning I am so grateful and fortunate of the life I have.

ZTA sorority Buckeyethon 2019

On September 29, I was able to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. I was recently inducted into the National Society for Collegiate Scholars (NSCS), and within this program there are a lot of volunteer opportunities. Me and six other scholars went to Habitat for Humanity Restore for 4 hours. While giving our time, we assisted with loading and unloading donations into the Donation Processing Center, helped customers load purchases into their vehicles, marked prices on items and organized merchandise in various departments of the ReStore. It was incredible to see how much stuff was donated to be sold for a discounted price. Being able to unload the truck made me realize that I was stronger than I thought, but most importantly how working in a team and giving equal effort gets the job done best. It wouldn’t have been as easy as it was if there was a team effort or if one of us was slacking. In fact, if one of us slacked, we most likely would’ve dropped the ovens, fridges, tables, doors, and windows that were donated. So, because of service learning I am a stronger teammate and leader.

I am on a pre-dental track, so I am also a part of the pre-dental club here at Ohio State. Within this club, we learn a lot about what it takes to get into dental school, as well as have opportunities to meet new people, volunteer, and participate in different activities. The way I found out I could volunteer at the Ohio Dental Association Convention was through the dental club meetings. The events are also posted on their website: https://u.osu.edu/predentalclub/ . I worked the convention from 8-11am at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Here, I helped take a part rooms/events, hand out flyers, and helped promote the ODA. After the work was complete, we were able to mingle and explore the convention ourselves. From working this convention, I was able to gain more confidence when approaching people, and asserted myself more. Additionally, I was able to network with some of the dentist there, and learn more about where they were from, where they went to school, and asked for advice. Both off these things aided my leadership skills because it enhanced my communication skills. So, because of service learning I am increasing my networks and gaining advice for my future.

For welcome week at tOSU, Wipeout is one of the main events where students of all ranks come and do a water obstacle course that is based off the popular tv show. For this event, I volunteered from 4-7pm at the aquatic center. Since freshman year, I knew about this event, and I was able to volunteer through Penny Barkhurst,  the outreach programs coordinator that works for the department of recreational sports. While I was volunteering, I was stationed in the lobby. Here, I helped all the contestants put on their ankle tag, in which allowed them to be timed when going through and completing the course. Because of service I am learning more about myself. I realize that I am an approachable person with a friendly face because I always had more people come to me than my other co-worker. I always greeted them, told them what to do, answered their questions, and wished them good luck after they were all set. Volunteering helped my gain more leadership because it helped me developed more soft skills, or being positive and confident for the people I am helping, and volunteering for.

Purple Family photo

This was during welcome week for our scholars program. Welcome week is designed for us to create new bonds between the incoming freshman, as well as, get to know the second years, and some of the third and fourth years.  We broke up into small groups in order to become closer. I had 4 parents, which are second years, and they provided mentorship and advice. Those couple of days we participated in several activities. The activities included: volleyball, soccer, wheelchair basketball, corn-hole, trust exercises, and giant Jenga. These activities allowed us to get to know our fellow scholars, and build a more friendly and welcoming environment. On the last day of welcome week, we were able to do a scavenger hunt around downtown to get to know the area. However, the part I enjoyed most was getting to walk into the Shoe and get pictures, and at the end of the day be able to sing Carmen in the Rotunda. I got to know many of my peers that I live with in Morrill Tower. Also with the activities, a lot of leadership, communication, and common purpose arise. These skills are prominent for the future in working together, and creating a mutual environment. I am very grateful to have this experience with all the scholars that participated. My “parents” are the best, and we still contact each other on a weekly basis. The people I hang out with all the time are also the people in the scholars program. Dunn Sports is truly a welcoming group, and I am appreciative that I get to be a part of something so impactful.