For my academic requirement for the SP19 semester, I attended the Climate Change and Environmental Issues pt. 2 panel on March 6, 2019.  The seminar was held on campus at Hagerty Hall.  At this panel, there were three speakers, each of them were  from different clubs and institutions around Columbus.  Each club is promoting their solution or ideas to change in order to help fix the climate change.  The clubs and institutions were the Ohio Sierra Club, Ohio State Sustainability Institute, and Ohio State Energy Partners.

In my opinion, the Ohio Sierra Club was the one presentation that caught my eye the most.  I thought this was an interesting presentation because they want to have 100% of Columbus only use renewable energy by the year 2050.  I thought this was interesting because Columbus is such a big city.  This will be a very hard task, but they seem like they can make it happen.  This would make a big impact on climate change and a positive change for our environment.

This panel changed a belief of mine because I was never that educated on climate change and the impact of what would happen.  I always thought people would blow it out of proportion and that it was not that big of a deal. After listening to the speakers, I am more educated and realize that this is a serious concern for all of us.  The speakers helped me to better understand what is happening with the environment.  This also personally connects to me because in 2050, when the Sierra Club wants to have Columbus on 100% renewable energy, I will be 50 years old and will have a family of my own.  So, this will impact my future family.  This event helped me grow personally because of how much I did not know about climate change.

This event relates to the topic of international affairs because climate change affects everyone and everything.

For my non-IA requirement for the spring semester, I attended the Korean Culture Night at the Ohio Union.  I went to the Korean Culture Night by myself which put me out of my comfort zone itself.  I felt uncomfortable because the language and culture were something I am not used to.  I have travelled throughout the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, and Spain but Asia is somewhere I have never been.  I have never been around people from Asia either since I grew up in a small, very white, town.  This is something I had to acclimate myself to while I was at the event.  I was also not comfortable because I went by myself.  I typically do not do things alone and I am always spending time with my friends, so going somewhere alone is a huge step for me.  I did not enjoy doing this alone, but I knew I would grow as a person if I went by myself.  Not being able to understand the language, culture, and going by myself were some of the reasons I chose to attend the Korean Culture Night at the Ohio Union.

At the Korean Culture Night, there were individual acts put on throughout different acts.  The different acts were called ‘Fan Dance’, ‘Samulnori’, ‘Daebak’, ‘Taekwondo’, ‘Jam’, ‘Hay’, ‘Avengers’, ‘Hypebeats’, ‘QOA’, and ‘TPOK’.  The show was put on by the Korean Student Association at Ohio State (KSA) and the Korean International Student Organization (KISO).  At the bottom of the brochure handed out at the event, it states that this is the largest festival of Korean culture.  I think this is very impressive and such an exciting opportunity that was have at The Ohio State University.  The front of the brochure also has Korean writing on it which is very interesting.  The first act was ‘Fan Dance’.  I thought this was super cool because just like in the Hispanic culture, they dance with large, colorful fans but both dances are nothing alike.  I enjoyed that I was able to relate the dance to something I am familiar with because it helped me get more comfortable with my surroundings once I could relate to them.  Another act that was put on was taekwondo.  I thought this was super cool as well because I have never watched taekwondo so being able to finally put actions to words was very interesting.

Overall, I thought this was a very cool experience for me because I was able to grow as a person, experience a culture I have never experienced before and help myself become more independent.  I also was able to connect something I have experienced in the past with something I never expected myself to.  I was also able to make a connection between the Hispanic culture and the Korean culture which I never expected myself to be able to do.  I also thought this event was super cool because it is the largest event of its kind and I would not have these opportunities if I did not attend such a large university.

For my third, and final reflection of the Autumn 2018 semester, I attended the Nationalism, History, and Revolution in Cuba talk at Thompson Library last week.  To be honest, I was not sure what to expect going into this event as I had never attended a talk like this.  I have watched many videos on similar subject matter, but never attended in person.  I was a bit nervous and a bit excited at the same time! After arriving at the talk, I found myself enjoying this event because I was able to interact with people on campus that I don’t normally get to interact with. Being a STEM major, I don’t have a lot of interaction with the humanities majors as often as I would like to. People who attended this talk were there for various reasons including extra credit, participation in a history club, or simply just to enjoy the talk.  This talk as very interesting and gave me the opportunity to have a different outlook on the world.

Before attending this talk I did not know much about the war.  I had very limited background knowledge as we briefly touched on it in my AP Spanish class in high school.  One thing I learned was the war was a pursuit of independence.  Under the pursuit of independence, the speaker talked about racial and gender inequalities.  Another thing I learned was all Cubans were engaged in the efforts.  With all Cubans being engaged in the war effort, there was a legacy built for the Cubans.  Throughout this legacy, there was a political and cultural phenomenon.  The speaker also said the efforts of the war were not met by the outcome.  After he said this, I had to think about that statement; it caught my attention.  It fascinated me because the speaker said the amount of effort put into the war was not shown by the outcome of the war.  This surprised me because if I were to put in a ton of effort into something, I would want the outcome to represent my efforts.  The last thing I learned was the Cubans saw the United States as intervening into the war.  When the speaker used the word ‘intervene’ I was shocked.  I was surprised by this because some people think the United States should interfere with the world’s problems, but the speaker spoke negatively about it.  I sided with the speaker as he spoke because I believe Cuba was able to handle the issue on their own.  I do not think the United States should get involved with as many issues as we do.  I feel the US should allow other countries to handle their own issues.

I learned a lot through this event and enjoyed meeting other students with different majors.  I am looking forward to attending more events, like this one, throughout my career at The Ohio State University.   

One event I recently attended was the International Affairs Scholars Mini-Involvement Fair.  I chose this event as my service reflection because I believe that becoming involved in your community is a great service for your community.  Being involved in your community benefits both you and your community.  The benefits you receive are the ability to make connections with people you might not meet otherwise, networking and becoming more familiar with the community and businesses.  If you are very involved in your community, people are going to know who you are and you will not be just another name on an application.  Involvement within any organization shows passion and leadership skills, and commitment.  Community involvement also helps to make a community everyone’s home.  It invites others in and raises community awareness and the goal is to please the community members and have a safe community.

At the International Affairs Scholars mini-involvement fair, there were multiple different clubs present and tables were set up so that each club could discuss their program.  The one program that caught my eye the most was Student Leadership Advocates.  Student Leadership Advocates is a club at Ohio State that helps other organizations with things like team bonding, goal setting, communication and public speaking and ice breakers.  This program interested me because in high school, I was chosen to be a member of Hancock Youth Leadership.  Hancock Youth Leadership is a program that encourages and teaches leadership in High School Juniors.  In Hancock Youth Leadership, I was able to go to places around Hancock County to learn leadership skills and how things in Hancock County all come together to make Hancock County successful.  Learning how all different aspects of the community such as farming, wind mills, judicial system, police force, etc, all come together was very beneficial to me and opened my eyes to the dynamics and challenges of a community.  We were taught how to handle emergencies and crisis along with community events.  I think learning the leadership skills early on in high school, would help me thrive in the Student Leadership Advocates program at OSU.

This event impacted me because I became more aware of the opportunities at Ohio State.  At the involvement fair at the beginning of the year, there were so many clubs and people it was overwhelming and I do not think I was able to fully understand how many opportunities there are here at Ohio State.  Attending this event made it more convenient for me to choose an organization to participate in.  This topic relates to International Affairs because in the Student Leadership Advocates club you learn how to become a leader and being a leader is something that can be done in all parts and places of your life.  I personally have benefitted from this event because I have been able to learn more about the variety of clubs offered at Ohio State.  I professionally benefitted from this because I know what clubs are available and those clubs will help me become more networked.

One of the events I attended recently was the Education Abroad Expo.  This expo really opened my eyes to the many opportunities Ohio State offers.  This Expo relates to International Affairs because studying abroad would require you to learn the culture, understand the politics, and get to know the people who live there.  By learning these things, you are able to first hand experience what international affairs really is all about.  Personally, I gained so much knowledge from this event.  I was able to see what programs were available and understand how to go about applying for any of the programs.  I was also given a price range and therefore, I am able to approximate how much it would cost to study abroad.  After going to the expo, I was able to set up a meeting with an advisor and talk with them about my next steps.  I do not think I would have been able to do this without going to this event.

If I were to create my own study abroad program, it would include many countries, many classes, and many opportunities to reach out to the communities I would be living in.  I would travel to countries in which I feel would be difficult for me to travel to alone.  I would study classes that the credits would directly transfer to Ohio State.  The classes would also be based on my major.  The countries I was traveling in would have many opportunities for me to volunteer and directly impact their community.  These experiences would help me professionally because they would give me experiences that not many people have experienced.  They would also help me because they would give me problem solving skills like nothing in the United States would give me.  For example, if I was lost on a train in China and there were no English speakers around me, I would have to be able to find my way back to my hotel.  This would never happen in the United States because there is always English or someone to ask for help.  These experiences would help me grow personally because I would not be as reliant on my parents because they would not be two hours away.

One goal I would have from studying abroad would to be find peace within myself.  For example, I would want to be able to be more confident in making friends and be more confident in other areas of my life that I am not so confident in now.  I think studying abroad would help me with this because the chances of me seeing people I embarrassed myself in front of are slim to none.  Although, if I was more confident with myself and it worked out to where I found my best friend, I would be able to see them.  I would be more willing to take chances and not worry about people judging me and having to see them again.

Overall, I am very excited to study abroad and the Education Abroad Expo only made me more excited.  I am excited to be able to learn things about myself and the culture around me.

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