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Year in Review
Semester in Review (1st Semester)
Over the course of this semester, I have definitely grown both academically along with as a student. Academically, I have never been challenged this much. For starters, over the school year, I pulled my first all-nighter because I had to study. I also learned the proper way to study and take notes during class. I have also become far more involved in school along with clubs that were not sports that I was in. For example, before college, I had never sing anywhere except inside the shower, however, now I am on a capella team here. Biological Science scholars has also changed me. First of all, I learned the proper way to do many things such as create a resume, what ethics are considered during experiments, along with many other skills that otherwise I would not have learned till much later in college.
Year in Review (1st Year)
The first year was a lot of fun! Although I only had one and a half semesters on campus, I had some of the best experiences of my life. During this year I learned how to manage my time while alone (without my parents). This included simple things such as doing laundry immediately and not delaying it and included things such as finishing my work early so I could have fun on a Friday night! This was also the semester I emailed many professors to find research to later learn that it is harder than I had thought. All the professors that did seem interested had to cancel due to the pandemic. The year got cut short which wasn’t quite as fun but understandable.
Semester in Review ( 3rd Semester)
This semester was strange for me as all the professors had their classes online and this was my first time taking classes that were asynchronous. Usually, I would have class at a specific time and only at that time. This also however was my first time taking a Biomedical Engineering specific class which was very interesting and convinced me that this major was the right choice. I also took the hardest class that I had ever taken, Organic Chemistry 1. This taught me a lot about how I needed to change the way I study and how I manage my time!
Year in Review ( 2nd Year)
This semester was the hardest one so far. With all the classes being online, I had to make sure I studied on time and didn’t get behind. Usually, with a spring break, I am able to get ahead in classes giving me extra time for the final exam preparations however that was difficult this year with no designated full week of spring break. This year however has been very good to me for clubs as I have gotten more interactive roles in some of the Clubs that I am involved in. I have now gotten the executive position of Operations Manager in OSU Dhadkan, an a capella group, and have also become a Morale Captain for Buckeyethon. I’m very excited to see what I can do in these roles in the clubs. As of now, I am still looking for research which has gotten harder to find with a lack of funding across labs on campus due to COVID-19 but I am still optimistic.
Overall I have also seen an overall change in myself as I have begun to get better at focusing on assignments that I do not want to do. This was mainly due to a video I saw that emphasized a rule known as the 15-minute rule. This can be summarized as anything I don’t want to do but can be done in 15 minutes, should be done right away. I adjusted this rule to 1 hour and this has helped me get through many lectures for classes that I may not enjoy as much as others.
Currently, my plans for summer include taking 2 online classes, along with shadowing doctors in my hometown. I am very excited to have this opportunity as being in the hospital environment has been something that I have wanted to do for a very long time and therefore I am looking forward to it a lot!
G.O.A.L.S.
G.O.A.L.S are an integral part of the Honors and Scholars program at OSU and they stand for:
G stands for Global Awareness. I started showing my global awareness in high school where I attended an Indian cultural school which taught me about my cultural heritage along with the problems that occur in different parts of India. Through this, we found charitable foundations that helped in educating poorer parts of the Country and donated money there. In college, I have joined OSU Dhadkan, an Indian American fusion a cappella team that celebrates the songs and music of both cultures!
O stands for Original Inquiry. So far, I have not been able to contribute to this section of GOALS as I have not yet gotten involved in research, however as the end of the pandemic seems near, I have been reaching out to professors and doctors around the Columbus area for opportunities!
A stands for Academic Enrichment. In high school, I showed my commitment to academic enrichment by taking many AP and IB classes and maintaining a 4.0+ GPA. So far in college, I have shown my commitment to academic enrichment by taking many tough classes and by pursuing an engineering major while still being Pre-Medicine.
L stands for Leadership Development. In high school, I held many leadership positions as an officer of the table tennis club, and captain of the Tennis Team and Cross Country Team. I plan to continue my leadership in the clubs that I am involved in now.
S stands for Service Engagement. My contribution to community service has slowed down with the rise of the pandemic however I have still helped around the community in the form of food and daily use product drives! Before this, I volunteered at COSI and in many Eagle Scout Projects around my hometown!
Career
Artifacts
The first artifact that I would like to share would be my tennis racquet. This is because there have only been a few things that I continued from elementary school all the way into high school and playing tennis was one of them. The racquet that is shown above is the racquet I got as a 6th grader right before I started to practice for the school tennis team. This is still the racquet I have at home and the only one I use. At Osu while I have not joined the club tennis team, I still play occasionally with my friends!
My second artifact is the badge that represents the rank of Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts. I find this as having importance as I have been a part of the organization since first grade where I joined as a tiger cub scout and from there I continued where I joined boy scouts at the end of 5th grade where I eventually made my way through the ranks of Boy Scouts to the rank of Eagle Scout. After earning the rank of Eagle Scout, I then wrote and published a book, “My Journey to Eagle Scout”, as a way to give back to the scouting community. This book recounts most of my scouting experiences as well as gives tips to new scouts who have the same goal as me! Profits from the book were donated back to my troop to help fund new camping gear and supplies for the new scouts!
The third item I am having as my artifact is a guitar. This is because I have played lots of instruments in the past. I started in the first grade when I got my first guitar. I continued to play the guitar till sixth grade where I had to chose another instrument as I was a part of the school band. There I played saxophone for another 5 years and after that, I started to learn the piano. Having a musical background has highly influenced the way my college experience has gone. In the first semester of college, I joined an a cappella team named OSU Dhadkan which has made my college experience a lot more fun even during the pandemic time.
As my last Artifact, I would like to add the Buckeyethon Logo. This is important to me as it is a cause I have been interested in since high school. Back there, we have Dublin-thon. It runs on the same premise and operates the same way but was local to the three high schools. At the end of the year we also had a dance marathon for 8 hours held in one of the schools gymnasiums. I have recently been chosen as a morale captain for the club this year and as this is a more Pre-Medicine oriented club, I would choose this as my artifact. In this I will have more of a leadership role as well which will help develop me as a member of the community.
About Me
My name is Shivam Gangal and I am a freshman at The Ohio State University. Currently, I am a Biomedical Engineering Major in the Pre-medicine track. I am originally from Dublin Ohio.
In Highschool, I was involved in a variety of clubs such as Speach and Debate, Baking Club, and Table Tennis Club, in which I was an officer. I also was captain of the Tennis Team for 2 years, and a captain of the Cross Country Team. While in high school, I also volunteered at the Center of Science and Innovation along with the local annual Irish festival. Through these experiences, I have gained lots of leadership experiences that I hope to continue at OSU.
At OSU, I am involved in OSU Dhakhan, an a cappella group, BMES (Biomedical Engineering Society), Medical Innovations Club, and Buckeyethon.
By joining the Biological Sciences Scholars Program, I hope to expose myself to new opportunities that can further my goal of going to medical school!