One of the central G.O.A.L.S of Honors & Scholars at Ohio State is service engagement, meaning committing to service in communities. There have been many times in my life where I have participated in community service activities.
Throughout high school, I went on five mission trips with my youth group to different places across the United States. During these trips, we partnered with members of the community to repair homes, landscape, and run community events. In my local community, I volunteered at the Delaware County Common Ground Free Store serving meals and bagging clothing items.
Now at Ohio State, service engagement still continues to be an important aspect of my life. In the ACES scholars community, we are required to get twenty hours of community service a semester, which has motivated me to familiarize myself with the Columbus community and service opportunities. So far, I have made blankets for Project Linus, volunteered at the Centerville Community Center, and picked up trash by the Olentangy River with an organization called F.L.O.W. I plan to participate in many other events like these in my next semesters at OSU.
Another organization I am apart of is a newly created student organization called Rise. Rise is an organization focused on helping middle schoolers grasp the idea that where they come from does not effect who they will become. Since this organization is new, we haven’t started our activities yet, but in the spring we plan to go to local middle schools in the Columbus area. While at these schools we plan on tutoring, mentoring, and getting to know the children. I am excited to be the Co-Language Coordinator as well as the Community Service Coordinator.