Author: friedman.454

Welcome to my Honors & Scholars e-Portfolio

Matthew Friedman

Scholars 1100

Interview Essay

10/24/2016

During this assignment I was required to research and interview three different people so I could learn from their insight on how to survive at OSU. For this I interviewed an upperclassman, graduate teaching assistant(GTA), and a professor.  The obvious first step was to find all of these people. For my upperclassmen and GTA I had been given basic instructions on whom I could find. Any upperclassmen in my major and any GTA I wished (preferably in one of my major relevant classes). I could have found them through my STEM EE mentors or any other contacts. After that I only had to meet with them and ask the required questions and anything else I came up with. For the professor I had to go through a little longer process that involved Scopus and finding two articles written by an Ohio State professor. After I had found an article that I was interested in, all I had to do was contact and meet with the professor to talk about his/her work. All of this has meaning in it. We as the students wouldn’t have had to do this if it didn’t teach us anything and boy did it teach something important. The ability to find people and make new contacts at Ohio State. This is an extremely important skill. Without it students will not know how approach colleges and peers or how to find the connections needed to score that first job or interview for an internship. Long story short, without these skills one truly cannot succeed to their fullest potential at Ohio State. That is why this assignment was done.

For my upperclassmen I contacted one of my friends from high school who is an engineering major, Max Zernic. He is currently a junior at Ohio State. When I started my interview with him I first asked him about all of the opportunities on campus. For opportunities on campus he said that in general take what you can and know that you can’t be involved in everything. Be sure to make the most of your college experience. College isn’t the same if you don’t get involved and you will miss out if you choose not to. That’s how Max ended up in engineering. He went to the involvement fair, joined some clubs, and eventually became and engineering major. Basically make the most of your experience and don’t regret anything by the time that college ends. For tough experiences Max just said “Don’t be afraid to ask for help”. Then preceded to say this isn’t just for classes, it can be with people too. You just have to go and ask for help. If it is your roommate go to an RA, if it is a class, go to office hours. “There is always someone there for you and no one wants to see you fail, they only want to see you succeed.”. Basically what I took away from Max was that if one wants to do well at OSU they need to get out to go do things and meet people. One just has to put themselves out there. Without doing this one will regret their decisions and miss out on key opportunities. In addition to this one must know that there is always someone willing to help at OSU. No one wants to see a student fail, only succeed.

For my GTA I interviewed Alec Sichko who is my 1181 lab instructor. I decided to start with how he prepared for graduate school and his undergraduate experience and Alec stated that the best thing one can do as a freshman is to try as many things as possible. He elaborated on how if one doesn’t try new things during their first year they are going to miss out on many opportunities. The final question was about getting involved in research and Alec stated that the best way is to find a topic that one is interested in and just go ask someone who is involved to see if they need any help. The only other note that Alec said to me, is that as a whole all one just has to be passionate and eventually it will come. In fact, according to Alec that last line sums up college as a whole. So I took away basically the same thing from Alec as I did Max. Get out there and try new things. If one doesn’t they will regret it. Who knows if it will change the path one takes in life. In addition to that Alec also enlightened me on how it’s really not that hard to get involved in research or other topics. One just has to have the passion and desire and it will come. All one has to do is keep trying.

The professor I interviewed was Rajiv Ramnath. He currently works for Ohio State and at the National Science Foundation. To find my articles I first went onto SCOPUS. After that I went into the search bar and enter computer science and added a filter to allow it so I would only get paper written by professors and students at Ohio State. After searching through Scopus for articles about computer science with the OSU filter on I came across two articles written by Rajiv Ramnath. Finding these articles wasn’t the easiest and sometimes they were irrelevant. Some of the language used in other articles made what could have been a good article basically worthless to reader or the title could just have been a miscue. But on the other hand when one does find the “one” it can give the insight needed to do many world changing things. These articles can provide a countless amount of support for whatever one is trying to prove or disprove. This makes them extremely useful. Mr. Ramnath’s articles had to do with how software engineers and interface designers work together on a project. When talking to Mr. Ramnath he explained about how the designers needed to be involved in more of the process. According to him the designers come for the part that involves the user interface and then the software engineers are left to deal with the rest of the application. They have to deal with all of the bugs even if it’s based in the user interface. The solution that he gave is that the designers are working with the software engineers the entire way through. This would ensure that the end product would be of the highest quality. From this I realized that there needs to be more communication between both teams on the application. This ties into something else Mr. Ramnath was involved in, the capstone project that Ohio State engineering students must complete before they finish their undergraduate. The goal of the capstone is to allow engineers to have experience in the field before they go into internships or into the job market.  Without any experience in a real world situation how can we expect students to be able to get internships and jobs. The experience is what gets the internships and jobs. In addition to that if students do not have experience they end up in the spot with the software engineers trying to do someone else’s job. In all, taking to Mr. Ramnath has taught me the importance of experience and proper product creation and why we need it. Mr. Ramnath has done his part and we need to do ours to get the most out of college and fix things in the real world.

I took away a few big things from this assignment. First off during one’s freshmen year everyone should take every opportunity they get to experience the most of college. Who knows it might even be what one does for the rest of their life as in Max’s case. If one doesn’t take the opportunities given one will regret it. Also I am left with that no one wants to see a student fail and to get all a student has to do is ask for help if needed. On the topic of how to find people and opportunities at Ohio State it is really just go out and find them. They are everywhere and one only has to put themselves out there. All one has to do is be their self and passionate and it will come. All in all, I learned a good deal about how to survive at Ohio state. Both in my freshmen year and going on into the future. I personally believe that this assignment is a must for all college freshmen at OSU. It has taught me so much about how to get the best educational and social experience possible. Without it I have no idea where I would be. And I know for a fact that I will be referencing this paper for years to come!

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 information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. 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

Matthew Friedman

Scholars 1100

Interview Essay

10/24/2016

During this assignment I was required to research and interview three different people so I could learn from their insight on how to survive at OSU. For this I interviewed an upperclassman, graduate teaching assistant(GTA), and a professor.  The obvious first step was to find all of these people. For my upperclassmen and GTA I had been given basic instructions on whom I could find. Any upperclassmen in my major and any GTA I wished (preferably in one of my major relevant classes). I could have found them through my STEM EE mentors or any other contacts. After that I only had to meet with them and ask the required questions and anything else I came up with. For the professor I had to go through a little longer process that involved Scopus and finding two articles written by an Ohio State professor. After I had found an article that I was interested in, all I had to do was contact and meet with the professor to talk about his/her work. All of this has meaning in it. We as the students wouldn’t have had to do this if it didn’t teach us anything and boy did it teach something important. The ability to find people and make new contacts at Ohio State. This is an extremely important skill. Without it students will not know how approach colleges and peers or how to find the connections needed to score that first job or interview for an internship. Long story short, without these skills one truly cannot succeed to their fullest potential at Ohio State. That is why this assignment was done.

For my upperclassmen I contacted one of my friends from high school who is an engineering major, Max Zernic. He is currently a junior at Ohio State. When I started my interview with him I first asked him about all of the opportunities on campus. For opportunities on campus he said that in general take what you can and know that you can’t be involved in everything. Be sure to make the most of your college experience. College isn’t the same if you don’t get involved and you will miss out if you choose not to. That’s how Max ended up in engineering. He went to the involvement fair, joined some clubs, and eventually became and engineering major. Basically make the most of your experience and don’t regret anything by the time that college ends. For tough experiences Max just said “Don’t be afraid to ask for help”. Then preceded to say this isn’t just for classes, it can be with people too. You just have to go and ask for help. If it is your roommate go to an RA, if it is a class, go to office hours. “There is always someone there for you and no one wants to see you fail, they only want to see you succeed.”. Basically what I took away from Max was that if one wants to do well at OSU they need to get out to go do things and meet people. One just has to put themselves out there. Without doing this one will regret their decisions and miss out on key opportunities. In addition to this one must know that there is always someone willing to help at OSU. No one wants to see a student fail, only succeed.

For my GTA I interviewed Alec Sichko who is my 1181 lab instructor. I decided to start with how he prepared for graduate school and his undergraduate experience and Alec stated that the best thing one can do as a freshman is to try as many things as possible. He elaborated on how if one doesn’t try new things during their first year they are going to miss out on many opportunities. The final question was about getting involved in research and Alec stated that the best way is to find a topic that one is interested in and just go ask someone who is involved to see if they need any help. The only other note that Alec said to me, is that as a whole all one just has to be passionate and eventually it will come. In fact, according to Alec that last line sums up college as a whole. So I took away basically the same thing from Alec as I did Max. Get out there and try new things. If one doesn’t they will regret it. Who knows if it will change the path one takes in life. In addition to that Alec also enlightened me on how it’s really not that hard to get involved in research or other topics. One just has to have the passion and desire and it will come. All one has to do is keep trying.

The professor I interviewed was Rajiv Ramnath. He currently works for Ohio State and at the National Science Foundation. To find my articles I first went onto SCOPUS. After that I went into the search bar and enter computer science and added a filter to allow it so I would only get paper written by professors and students at Ohio State. After searching through Scopus for articles about computer science with the OSU filter on I came across two articles written by Rajiv Ramnath. Finding these articles wasn’t the easiest and sometimes they were irrelevant. Some of the language used in other articles made what could have been a good article basically worthless to reader or the title could just have been a miscue. But on the other hand when one does find the “one” it can give the insight needed to do many world changing things. These articles can provide a countless amount of support for whatever one is trying to prove or disprove. This makes them extremely useful. Mr. Ramnath’s articles had to do with how software engineers and interface designers work together on a project. When talking to Mr. Ramnath he explained about how the designers needed to be involved in more of the process. According to him the designers come for the part that involves the user interface and then the software engineers are left to deal with the rest of the application. They have to deal with all of the bugs even if it’s based in the user interface. The solution that he gave is that the designers are working with the software engineers the entire way through. This would ensure that the end product would be of the highest quality. From this I realized that there needs to be more communication between both teams on the application. This ties into something else Mr. Ramnath was involved in, the capstone project that Ohio State engineering students must complete before they finish their undergraduate. The goal of the capstone is to allow engineers to have experience in the field before they go into internships or into the job market.  Without any experience in a real world situation how can we expect students to be able to get internships and jobs. The experience is what gets the internships and jobs. In addition to that if students do not have experience they end up in the spot with the software engineers trying to do someone else’s job. In all, taking to Mr. Ramnath has taught me the importance of experience and proper product creation and why we need it. Mr. Ramnath has done his part and we need to do ours to get the most out of college and fix things in the real world.

I took away a few big things from this assignment. First off during one’s freshmen year everyone should take every opportunity they get to experience the most of college. Who knows it might even be what one does for the rest of their life as in Max’s case. If one doesn’t take the opportunities given one will regret it. Also I am left with that no one wants to see a student fail and to get all a student has to do is ask for help if needed. On the topic of how to find people and opportunities at Ohio State it is really just go out and find them. They are everywhere and one only has to put themselves out there. All one has to do is be their self and passionate and it will come. All in all, I learned a good deal about how to survive at Ohio state. Both in my freshmen year and going on into the future. I personally believe that this assignment is a must for all college freshmen at OSU. It has taught me so much about how to get the best educational and social experience possible. Without it I have no idea where I would be. And I know for a fact that I will be referencing this paper for years to come!

Artifacts

Over my time at OSU so far there have been a few events that I feel have furthered me as a person. One of these events that has occurred so far was the Corn Maze trip. This event allowed me to have many new experiences. One of these experiences was the corn cannon where you had the option to shoot at D. Trump or H. Clinton. One could easily tell where the local support was by simply looking to see how damaged each was. Another such experience was the corn maze itself because it allowed me and my friends to get to know each other better while trying not to get lost in a corn maze.

On the topic of friends there were many things that occurred on this trip. First off I made many new friends through this trip. Not only in STEM scholars but with the other two scholars that went on the trip. So far these new friendships have been strong and I expect them to last quite a while. There were so many fun activities to do at the corn maze with my friends and every one helped to make my friendships even stronger. I’m so glad that I ended up going.

 

 

About Me

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My name is Matthew Friedman. I am from Solon Ohio which is about 20 minutes southeast of Cleveland. There I graduated from solon high school with honors. I am currently a pre CSE major. My goal is to be hired into a large tech company like google or Microsoft. If not I would like to be working for the service industry in a place like Penske. I value honesty above all.

I came to college to get a BA and possibly a Masters in Computer Science & engineering. I got interested in this field during high school when I started taking computer science classes my junior and senior year. My Computer Science teacher, Daniel McKeen, really helped me understand my love of coding by giving me extra projects to devolpe my skills.  Since I was young I was always passionate in the field of STEM sciences and I plan to continue this throughout my lifetime . I intend to pursue these by taking STEM classes all throughout my time at OSU as well as the classes need to graduate with a degree for computer science and engineering.

As I stated before my goal is to eventually work in the computer science service or development field. During high school I enjoyed my job at Heinen’s grocery store where I was a bagger/cashier. There I bagged and rang groceries for customers for about 15 hours a week. In the future I would like to be involved in the code that will save lives or make the daily lives of people easier and better.

I feel I belong in the OSU STEM Scholars program. I have contributed to the community in the past by volunteering for my local marching band at the high school concessions stands and as a guide to new  bands at the annual band show. Next semester I am going to be in the athletic band and next year I plan to try out for the marching band.