Second Semester Explore Columbus Assignment

Exploring Columbus with Dayna: Zest Juice Co

For my Second-Semester Explore Columbus Assignment, I chose to take my mentee to Zest Juice Co in Grandview. My mentee is Dayna Snow, a first-year Political Science major. This shop was in a nice area only about 5-10 minutes off campus. It is in the Grandview area, and Dayna had never been to the Grandview area! My mentee and I planned to meet up and do our Explore Columbus assignment on April 6th, however we did not choose where we wanted to go ahead of time. Planning our Explore Columbus project was not as difficult as we expected it to be. I am at home this semester, which is about 2 hours away from campus. Dayna was aware of this, but we both kept in contact and decided that we wanted to do our Explore Columbus in person. Similar to last semester, we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time before the semester ended, so that we were not planning around exams last minute. I had to travel down to Columbus for a composite picture day for my sorority, so I texted Dayna ahead of time to see if she was available that day. It worked out that she was available, and we made a plan that I would pick her up on Tuesday, April 6th. At about 3:30 that day, we were trying to decide between coffee, smoothies, or ice cream. Dayna said that she was in the mood for smoothies, and I knew just the place to go. Zest Juice Co has been on my list of places to go for a while now, and Dayna said she had never heard of it. I was looking forward to checking out the location and sitting inside the shop with Dayna. I picked Dayna up around 4:00 and we drove there. Parking was easily accessible, which is hard to find in Columbus. We both agreed that even though the shop was only a few minutes from campus, it felt like a completely different world. Zest Juice Co is in a plaza right next to a Buffalo Wild Wings and across the street from a very beautiful yoga studio. We were both pleasantly surprised by how nice and clean it was inside the shop, and we found a nice seat by the window. We were the only two people sitting in, so it was nice and quiet. The menu was a bit overwhelming at first, but both of us decided on smoothies and sat down to talk. We both agreed that the smoothies were a bit pricey, but it was well worth it for the clean products used in the smoothies. We sat there for about an hour and a half and talked about our second semester experiences. We discussed the Covid vaccine quite a bit, because she had just gotten her Johnson & Johnson vaccine, and I was getting my Pfizer vaccine in a week. We talked about our optimism for fall semester and about her new role in the leadership council of ACES. I am the outgoing Communications chair, and Dayna is the incoming Communications chair so we talked a lot about the position! I gave her some tips and told her about some things I wish I would have known. We also completed our second-semester interview assignment for the mentorship program while we were there. When it was time to leave, we both agreed that we would definitely go back to Zest Juice Co, because it seemed like a great place to study and their smoothies were excellent. We were both very interested in trying their Smoothie bowls in the future. We drove back to campus and I dropped Dayna back off at Smith-Steeb so that she could go out to dinner with her friends! It was awesome getting to catch up with Dayna, especially after a semester at home. It was a beautiful day, so on our way back to campus we were able to see many people out on the Siebert Lawn and South Oval. We even saw her roommate crossing the street in front of us! Overall, we would both go back to Zest Juice Co, and recommend it to a friend. Their smoothies were great, the atmosphere was nice, and it was very easy to get to! There are many different locations of Zest Juice Co, but we would especially recommend the one in Grandview because it was very big and located in a nice area. I had a great time exploring this Columbus smoothie and juice shop with my mentee, and highly recommend this experience to others!

Second-Semester Mentee Interview

My mentee and I, Dayna Snow, chose to go to Zest Juice Co to combine our second-semester interview and explore Columbus assignment. While we were there, we talked about how Dayna’s semester has been and her recent experience getting the Covid vaccine. She expressed that she is optimistic about a normal college experience in the fall. The questions that I chose to ask Dayna are as follows:

 

Are you enjoying your major? Why or why not?

This was a question that I was especially excited to ask Dayna because she had recently changed her major. Dayna was in the process of changing her major when we met up first semester, so I was eager to hear how she was doing in her new major. She said that she was genuinely enjoying this major more than she enjoyed her original major. She is now a Political Science major, and she likes it because she is learning a lot about the world in general. It is something that she is genuinely interested in, so it doesn’t really feel like schoolwork when she’s in her classes. I expressed that this is how it should feel. I am excited to keep checking in on her progress in her major and I hope she continues to enjoy it as much as she expressed when we talked.

 

What class on your current schedule is most challenging and why?

Dayna found Data Analytics to be her most challenging class so far. It is a GE class for Political Science. This class involves coding, and the coding is very specific. While I was not able to provide help with this because I am not a math person and have never attempted coding, I validated how she was feeling about this class and encouraged her for a great end to the semester in this class. She expressed that she is excited for it to be over because she is almost done with math in college.

 

Do you think you will keep the same involvement next year, why or why not?

This question was a difficult one to answer, since this year has been unprecedented and, as Dayna expressed in our first meeting, it was hard to get involved as a freshman. I figured that this would be difficult because I personally enjoyed the involvement fair when I was a freshman, and their involvement fair was completely virtual and somewhat confusing. Dayna said that she does look forward to getting a little bit more involved next semester, but for the most part she is content with her current involvement. We also discussed that she will be more involved in ACES, because of her new position on the leadership council. I celebrated the accomplishment of this leadership role with her and highlighted some of the things that I loved about my role as Communications chair on leadership council this year. I will use what I know about her excitement for involvement and try to send her opportunities to get involved in the future.

 

What recommendations do you have for improving the ACES program?

Dayna did not really have any recommendations in this category, because she has enjoyed her experience in the scholar program so far. Her only recommendation, as expected, is more in-person events. Of course, that will depend on the precautions in the fall semester. We were both optimistic that she will get to experience more in person events for her second year in the ACES program. She also mentioned that more interactive community meetings could be helpful, since many people in her grade in the program do not know each other. Her and her roommate live on the sixth floor of Smith-Steeb instead of the fifth, so it has been difficult for them to meet other ACES.

 

Have you had the chance to explore your desired career through internships, field experiences, etc?

Dayna just changed her major from Early Childhood Education to Political Science this semester, so she has not had a chance to check career opportunities or internships out yet. However, in her survey class, she had to look at Handshake for an assignment and saw many cool internships and career opportunities for the future. One cool internship that she looked into was for NPR. I look forward to seeing the opportunities that open for Dayna in the future as she gets deeper into her new major.

 

What is your favorite memory from last semester?

Last semester, during a nice day, Dayna and her friends went to the Short North and got sushi together. During this little adventure off campus, they also checked out some of the cool local shops located in the Short North. I shared with her some of my favorite places in the short north, and we discussed our experiences with transportation to get there.

 

I have enjoyed connecting with Dayna this year through the Mentorship program, and I look forward to continuing building our friendship in the future.

Explore Columbus with my Mentee

Explore Columbus with Dayna:

Dayna and I chose The Roosevelt Coffeehouse for our Explore Columbus assignment. We visited this coffeeshop on November 2nd, 2020. I made sure to choose this date because I knew how difficult waiting until the end of the semester could be, as well as how unpredictable it may be with Covid. We chose this place because it is my favorite coffeeshop in Columbus and Dayna was very excited to check it out. We went on this Explore Columbus trip with another mentee/mentor pair, Ryleigh and Eliza! Ryleigh and I picked Eliza and Dayna up from Smith-Steeb in the morning and we drove downtown to the Roosevelt coffeehouse. There are two locations of this coffee house downtown and while we thought we were going to the location we had been to before, we ended up at the one we had not seen before. This was exciting, because we all got to check this place our for the first time together! It was in a beautiful area, despite all of the construction going on around the building. This coffee shop was so nice and took Covid precautions very seriously. While we were sitting in there, we noticed that once a person got up, an employee immediately jumped to disinfect their table. They also validated parking in a garage, which was very nice since it was downtown and parking is sometimes unpredictable!. Getting to this location was fairly difficult, because they were re-doing the road that it was located on. Nevertheless, we made it to the coffee shop. We were greeted by a friendly employee and all of us took a moment to try to decide what we wanted to try. Dayna got an iced coffee with Almondmilk and a bagel and I got an iced latte with almond milk and homemade pumpkin sauce. We both enjoyed our drinks very much! We hung out at a table and talked individually and as a group for quite some time. We talked about how our years have been going, and Ryeligh and I shared some of our pre-Covid and post-Covid college experiences! We stayed at the coffee shop for about two hours chatting. When we got up to leave, we realized that Ryleigh had accidentally crumpled our parking ticket that we needed to get validated and put it inside her empty iced mocha cup. This was very funny, because we needed that ticket to exit the parking garage. Ryleigh had to go into the bathroom and use the blow dryer to try to dry the ticket. It was a beautiful day and we walked back to the car. We were all very thankful when the ticket was scanned and we were free to leave, because we were nervous it would not work. We then headed back to Smith-Steeb to drop Eliza and Dayna back off to start their day of classes! We would definitely go back and recommend it to a friend! We agreed that the atmosphere was great, the coffee was great, and the tables were very spaced out! We would recommend it to a friend because it is the great atmosphere to chat with friends, but it is also a good space to get some homework done! The only thing that I would not recommend about this coffee shop is that it is a little difficult for first-years to get to, since it is downtown. However, if you have a car it is the perfect place to go since they validate parking for up to 3 hours!

From this experience, I learned that driving in downtown Columbus is somewhat difficult, and there is a lot of construction in the city. It was fun exploring a new city, especially fun for Ryleigh and I since we finally have our cars this year. I’m glad that we were able to take our mentees off campus and downtown for a change of scenery, especially in a time where there are very limited places open for inside seating. I would recommend that someone completes this same experience but makes sure to keep their parking ticket on hand. The Roosevelt coffee house is definitely a place to check out in the city!

Mentee First Semester Interview

First Semester Interview Assignment:

 

My mentee is Dayna Snow and we did our first semester interview and explore Columbus assignment at the same time. Dayna’s major was early childhood education, but she is switching to political science. The questions that I chose to ask Dayna are as follows:

 

How do you like to study? Have you found a good place to study on campus?

I learned that Dayna likes to study at Thompson Library. I shared a couple of my favorite study spots and I hope that she is able to visit some of them next semester. She did mention that with the pandemic it is hard to find new places that are open to study at the moment. Dayna also mentioned that she normally studies by reviewing her notes, reading her textbooks, and filling out study guides. I’m hoping that I will be able to mentor her by sharing some new study spots and study tips as we approach second semester!

 

What has been your most challenging class so far and why?

Dayna explained to me that her hardest class so far has been Math 1125, which is math for early childhood education. She said that this class involves the use of basic math, but there is a lot of expectations for one specific correct explanation of how she got to her answers. I shared with her the names of a couple of our peers in ACES that have taken this class, but I also shared that I had heard that this was a difficult class as well. I made sure to inform her that many people struggle in this class and it is very difficult. I hope to follow up with her at the end of this course and see how the rest of the semester went!

 

What do you plan to do with your major after graduation? Graduate or Professional school?

Since Dayna is in the middle of switching majors, she is not yet completely sure with what she wants to do with her major after graduation. I made sure to affirm that this is completely normal and that she does not have to know what she wants to do during first semester of freshman year. She did share with me that she is thinking about possibly approaching law school. She discussed that she is passionate about wanting to live in a city after graduation, specifically New York City, Chicago, or DC. She emphasized that she is definitely open to different options of career choice as she approaches beginning this major in the spring semester. I plan on using this information to continue to help her in any decision that she may need to make or helping advise her in the direction of her goals. I also made sure to affirm and encourage her towards this career path!

 

What Is one of the most important things you have learned so far at Ohio State?

Dayna talked about how, especially this semester; she learned the importance of community. This semester has been difficult for most freshman at Ohio State, but she was lucky to find good community and some good people that she enjoyed hanging around. She also highlighted that this year she began hanging out with people that were from her high school but were not necessarily her friends in high school. I shared that I also noticed that with myself during my freshman year, and that going away to college, but still keeping friends around from home is a nice way to combat homesickness. She also shared that she has made friends on her floor, despite not living on the fifth floor of Smith-Steeb with the other ACES. She recognizes now the importance of leaning on friends in the midst of difficult times and that everyone at Ohio State seems very nice and welcoming.

 

 

What has surprised you about Ohio State since arriving on campus?

One thing that surprised Dana about Ohio State is how small of a community it is and how easy it is to navigate campus. She notices herself often running into the same people and it is so nice to recognize these people and connect with them. She has been surprised by how many people she has met during this year. Knowing this, I hope to be a good mentor by reaching out as much as I can and continue to check to make sure that she is still feeling at home at Ohio State.

Year in Review

During my first year at The Ohio State University, I have learned a number of new things about the community, myself, and academics. I learned what hard work, dedication, and community look like. Academically, I learned just how hard I would have to work in classes to remain in good academic standing and learned new organization skills to ensure that I would be successful in my classes. I learned how to take beautiful and organized notes on using the Notability app on my iPad. Learning about the perseverance and hard work that I would have to have in my academics allowed me to make the Dean’s List fall and spring semester of my freshman year, and allowed me to receive the Marilyn Ruth Hathaway Education scholarship through the College of Education and Human Ecology. I also learned the importance of being a well-rounded student by involving myself in different clubs and organizations on campus. I was very involved in my scholars program this past year, as well as Pen PALS, Delta Delta Delta sorority, and Cru religious organization. This was only the beginning of my involvement at The Ohio State University, as I hope to continue to branch out and pursue leadership positions.

My goals and aspirations have stayed mostly the same since the beginning of freshman year. I am still working towards an education degree and intend on pursuing a master’s degree to eventually become a school counselor. To achieve the first goal of completing a bachelor’s degree in education, I have been completing coursework and working hard to maintain good grades so that I can get into my major (English Education) next year. Some of the courses that I took this past semester that will assist this goal are FEEP (ESCE 2189S), Educational Psychology (ESEPSY 2309), and Literature for Adolescents (EDUTL 3356). These classes were very writing heavy, so they helped me to establish better writing skills and challenged me to think outside of the box. I was supposed to work at a Young Life summer camp this summer to expand my knowledge and work with students in a new capacity, however the camp was cancelled due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. This was unfortunate, but I hope to apply again to work at this camp next summer and gain the same experiences when it is safe to do so. My goals outside of academics have branched out more since the start of freshman year. I now see an abundance of opportunities and I look forward to pursing some of these in the future. For example, I took a Yoga class this past semester (KNSFHP 1195.01) and I really enjoyed it. This class sparked my interest and I now aspire to take on Yoga Teacher Training at some point in my college career, to become a certified yoga instructor. Taking my first field placement course second semester of freshman year also made me realize the importance of involvement when working at a school. This fueled my aspiration to be involved at the school that I will teach or be a school counselor at in the future, by becoming a club advisor, or even a Cheerleading coach. These are a few additional goals and aspirations that have developed as a result of some of my freshman year experiences.

This past year has been difficult personally, as adjusting to college was not how I had expected it to be. However, this adjustment allowed me to see growth in both my community and personal life. Coming to Ohio State has allowed me to see a campus full of diverse students, which is something that I had not been exposed to in my life at home. This led to me branching out and making new friends from all different backgrounds, and learning so many new things about my peers. This adjustment also allowed me to personally grow and persevere through the tough adjustment phase. I am proud of who I have become over the last year, and cannot wait to see further growth throughout my next three years at The Ohio State University.

G.O.A.L.S.

  • 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: Along with pursuing rigorous coursework for my first two semesters of college, I have also chosen to pursue a minor in Clinical Psychology and Individual Differences. I wanted to challenge myself to branch out of education coursework and learn more about psychology, which will help me later in a counseling graduate program. I have chosen to challenge myself in coursework and branch out beyond what is expected of me in order to exemplify academic enrichment. This year I also made the Dean’s List first and second semester, as well as received an EHE Scholarship. I had the privilege of being the recipient of the Marilyn Ruth Hathaway Scholarship through the College of Education and Human Ecology at The Ohio State University.
  • Leadership Development:The Mentorship Program has proved to be a very valuable part of my ACES experience. It has been so special connecting with a mentee that is younger than me, especially when they are experiencing OSU for the first time in the midst of a Global Pandemic. My mentee is Dayna Snow, a first-year student studying Political Science from Toledo, Ohio. Her major was originally Early Childhood Education, but she switched it to Political Science about halfway through first semester. She enjoys her new major so much better. My mentee and I are both somewhat quiet, but passionate about involvement and community service. We bonded a lot over the struggle to make friends right away on a campus as big as OSU’s. We both leaned on people from our high school, who we were not necessarily close with before coming to OSU. This was a very rewarding experience for both of us. We are different in our studies for sure. During our second semester interview, I told her that I admired her passion for Political Science, because that is a field that I know nothing about. I am an Education major, and she switched her major from education over to Political Science. My mentee definitely became more confident between first semester and second semester. I could tell that she was coming out of her shell and enjoying OSU more during second semester. Throughout the year, I grew as a mentor and leader by learning to reach out more frequently, even when I was afraid of rejection. My experience as a second-year mentor helped me to see how great of an impact you can have in someone’s life just by telling them that you are there for them. I also learned the importance of keeping up with communication. A lot of times I am hard on myself and refrain from reaching out to people because I feel like I am bugging them. The mentorship program helped to show me that I am never burdening someone by reaching out and making them feel understood and heard. It was also vital in the mentee/mentor relationship to keep in touch. My experience in the mentorship program as a mentee lacked communication, so this is something that I was determined to fix when I got my own mentee. I made sure I was checking in on Dayna a couple of times a semester and planning our Explore Columbus project way in advance both semesters. This project helped me to develop as a leader in more ways than one and made me realize my passion for helping others in their transition to the university. I helped my mentee in the area of socialization by introducing her to others in the ACES program. Dayna was placed on the sixth floor of Smith-Steeb instead of the fifth floor with other ACES members, so she was not familiar with many of her peers in the ACES program. To help with this, I planned for us to go on our first Explore Columbus trip with another mentee/mentor pair so that she could meet another first and second year ACES student. I helped my mentee in the area of mentoring by checking in on her study habits and giving her tips on classes. This became a little more difficult when she switched her major to Political Science, but I still made the effort to understand the classes and her course load. I also made sure that she knew I was a support system for her on-campus and that she could reach out if she ever needed anything. I know how impactful it can be just knowing that you have someone you can call if anything comes up, and I wanted to be that person. I also helped my mentee in the area of orientation by sharing some of my favorite places around campus and off campus with her! When we first met, I took her on a little tour around campus to show her some of my favorite places. I think she found this helpful, and I was glad I got to be a part of this experience for her since she was unable to have an in-person orientation. I also was able to share many of my favorite places off-campus with her, through conversations and our two off-campus adventures. There are many benefits of a mentoring program, but especially this year it was important to make sure that first-year students felt welcome and at home at Ohio State amidst a Global Pandemic. The mentor program was also vital to helping ACES students feel like they were a part of a community in a virtual world. As I mentioned earlier, college is a tough transition and having someone that you can go to for anything and in any situation is something that can be very impactful. The mentorship program in ACES has truly been a fantastic experience.
  • Service Engagement: With which activities are you involved (both ongoing and short-term commitments)? This semester I have chosen to involve myself with BuckeyeThon and Pen Pals. I have also participated in short-term volunteer opportunities such as the OWL program or Community Commitment. I plan to continue to engage with the community through these programs in my future semesters. The Pen Pals Program has helped to contribute to my understanding of Columbus City schooling and some of the situations that those children come from at home. I find it a privilege to be able to interact with these children and find a way to make them smile in their week. I also have grasped a greater understanding for children with Pediatric cancer through the BuckeyeThon program. I have become informed of many different ways to help raise awareness and fundraiser for pediatric cancer through BuckeyeThon. I enjoyed volunteering with both of these student organizations and I plan to continue to engage with the community by looking for new opportunities in the ACES newsletters, as well as keeping an eye out for where I think there may be a need in the community. 

Career

[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career.  Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

Artifacts

Artifact #1: ACES Pillars Film Project

This artifact is a group project that I completed in my first semester of my first year with a group of people in my scholars program for the scholars course. The goal of this assignment was to reflect on the concepts exemplified in the ACES Seminar course and apply them to a film review. It was created throughout the semester and presented in class in the last week of class. We applied the ACES pillars: positive social change, advocacy, community, and service to the film How to Dance in Ohio. We created this project to educate the public about important issues impacting communities. I selected this artifact because it was a great way to connect a film to the pillars we were learning about in scholars seminar, and also connect them to real situations happening in our area. How to Dance in Ohio also took place in Columbus, Ohio, so the film presented a unique opportunity for the group to learn about things going on in the area. I also selected this artifact because it demonstrates successful group collaboration. In order to complete this assignment we had to get together as a group of five to watch the movie and complete the assignment. This required time management and cooperation. Through this assignment I learned about a great local program for people with developmental disabilities. I also learned how to connect this film with our pillars. The collaboration, cooperation, application, Time management, and group work skills that I learned through this assignment will help me in the future as I approach education and work situations.

Artifact #2:Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Essay

This artifact is an essay that I wrote for my ESPHE 3206: School and Society course this semester. I really enjoyed this course and felt I learned a lot from it, especially about the topic of culturally responsive pedagogy. I worked on researching and creating this essay over the span of three weeks. During this three week span, we also had a guest speaker, Dr. J. Rawls, come in and talk about the subject of pedagogy. I felt that I learned so much from this guest speaker and was truly influenced by him. Dr. J Rawls is an American hip-hop musician, producer, educator, and speaker. He came to speak to our class about Youth Culture Pedagogy and how he relates that to Hip-Hop in the classroom. I selected this artifact because I feel it combines one of the most influential things I have learned in this course, and the material that I learned from the guest speaker. This is significant because this was my first time learning about culturally responsive pedagogy and youth culture pedagogy. I felt that this topic was truly influential and researching this topic made me realize my true passion for education. From learning about this topic, I will take it into my future career as an educator/school counselor.

About Me

Hi, my name is Emma Fry and I am from Medina, OH. I graduated from Highland High School and am currently a first-year student at The Ohio State University and a member of the Advocates for Communities and Education Scholars Program. My intended major is English Education through the department of Education and Human Ecology and my goal is to achieve a Master’s degree in School Counseling. Academically, I enjoy psychology and writing courses. In high school I enjoyed being an editor for our school’s newspaper, and this helped me to realize my passion for writing. I also realized a passion for working with others in high school, through programs such as Peer Leading, Hornet Mentoring, and DARE Role Modeling. I continue to be involved on campus through student organizations like Cru, Young Life, Delta Delta Delta Sorority, and the Pen Pals program. I can also be found taking advantage of the free yoga classes or volunteering for various events through my scholars program. I intend on becoming more involved throughout the duration of my time here at OSU.