Explore Columbus with Dayna:

Dayna and I chose The Roosevelt Coffeehouse for our Explore Columbus assignment. We visited this coffeeshop on November 2^nd, 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!

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.