Final Reflection: First Semester

One thing that should be stressed in high school is that college is not a joke. When I was still in high school, I used to believe that, because I had been successful through my senior year, I WOULD be successful in college. Now, I realize that while I COULD be successful, there are no guarantees about anything anymore. Entering Ohio State, I generally did not have much confidence in myself, but I did at least assume that I would be able to survive college; I was naïve enough to think that I could just walk into Ohio State and let everything just work out. Reality hit hard.

 

Adjusting to the rigor of college has been difficult for me. I have especially struggled with letting go of wanting to make everything perfect. Even writing this essay is a struggle for me in that I want everything to connect perfectly; I want everything to sound exactly right. One way that I have tried to address this has been to seek out professional counseling. I am just getting started with this, however, so the results have not yet been astonishing. Another, more immediately impactful, solution has been to get to know my TAs and my lecturers. Having my teachers know who I am, beyond just my name, provides me comfort in the sense that I know that there is somebody out there who understands what I am going through. What has been great about this is that, so far, the professors and advisers whom I have reached out to have been extremely empathetic towards my case. Because I have reached out to my instructors, I have been able to develop a better feel for what they expect out of me for various assignments; this has made it easier to let go of some of the things that I had obsessed about before. While my battle with making everything perfect is far from over, I have at least started on the path that will led me to a more fulfilling lifestyle.

 

At the beginning of the semester, I had been considering a path as a chemical engineer or as a computer scientist. I was also giving some consideration to a career as a financial planner because I was drawn to the ability to directly help other people and because I am more drawn to quantitative fields than to other areas of education. Because of these interests, I decided to attend the lectures hosted by the College of Engineering, the Division of Natural and Mathematical Sciences of the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Fisher College of Business. My hope had been that the lecture hosted by the College of Engineering would provide more insight into what chemical engineering and computer science could offer. Chemical engineering had been a consideration of mine based on my experience in my high school chemistry class; computer science was a new interest of mine that had been sparked, in part, from an attraction to the growing nature of the field. I also wanted to explore other possibilities in engineering because the classes that I was in were almost entirely for engineering. So, I wanted to see if the path that I was on was really for me; I was looking for some reassurance. Next, the Natural and Mathematical Sciences Lecture was a lecture that I attended, in part, because I had previously been interested in Data Analytics. This interest had been based on the interest in statistics that I had developed in my high school statistics class. The presentation given by the Fisher College of Business had been of interest to me because my parents had encouraged me to explore the business world and because of my interest in financial advising.

 

Now, at the end of the semester, I realize that the lecture that has had the biggest impact on me so far has been the Natural and Mathematical Sciences Lecture. Specifically, this lecture made me aware that there are multiple options for majoring in computer science. This was helpful because I am now considering becoming a physical therapist. Therefore, rather than majoring in Computer Science and Engineering, I am planning on majoring in Computer Information Systems with a BA through the College of Arts and Sciences. Such a path would make it easier to major in computer science, which is interesting to me right now, while taking the prerequisites for physical therapy school. Finally, because I am interested in physical therapy, I attended the lecture hosted by the Education and Human Ecology Department. Getting into physical therapy school is my goal right now because I am drawn to the connections that I could form with patients as I help them down their road to recovery. The Education and Human Ecology Lecture gave me more information about a possible major in exercise science, which might be the path I take if computer science doesn’t work out. I also want to attend the lecture hosted by the School of Health and Rehabilitation Services. This lecture will hopefully give me a better understanding of all of my options in the healthcare industry.

 

My interest in physical therapy has shifted the focus of my studies. I had originally been considering something in an engineering field. Now, I feel that that decision was largely based on the salary of the jobs and a desire to be able to say that I had some sort of direction in my life. However, now when I consider a career as a computer scientist, I can’t help but imagine that I would want more interaction with the outside world than that job would offer. While I still am thinking about majoring in Computer Science because it seems interesting, being a computer scientist forever is not what I want to do. Computer Science, as a major, is appealing because of the number of things that you can create with some knowledge of computer science. However, what I really want to do with my life is to feel as though I am making a difference for someone else. I think that the best way for me to do that is to work directly with people. So, while the salary of a physical therapist certainly is still attractive, I also like that such a job would allow me to directly impact someone else’s life. This matches up with the “Social” interest of mine that my Holland Code identified. Specifically, people whose top results for their Holland include “Social” typically find satisfaction in helping other people, making the health field suitable for them.

 

Discovering that there was more than one option for majoring in computer science also gave me the chance to consider a college other than the College of Engineering. I think that this was important because, since I started out in FEH, I was beginning to feel trapped in engineering. This was because I did not want to start from square one again, yet all of my current classes are for engineering. Learning that there were more options available for me has allowed me to once again feel like I have some breathing room. This extra breathing room has allowed me to really consider what is the best path for me to become a physical therapist. As a result, next semester, I will be able to explore new areas of education with a biology class, while still taking a computer science class. This way, I can begin exploring the health field, while exploring computer science at the same time.

 

While the college lectures have given me some breathing room in terms of my perceived options, I wish that the lectures had given me more specific information on careers that result from majors in each college. I appreciated the student panels that were present and the information about how each student knew how a major was right for them. However, I feel that more information about what options a specific major provides after college is also very important in deciding what to study. So, if I could change one thing about the lectures, I would put a greater emphasis on what a degree through a specific college means after college. For example, the panel from each college could try to focus more on specific projects that have been completed by graduates from the college. This might paint a better picture about what a real job looks like.

 

As I continue to explore my options, my focus for next semester is to either confirm my interest in computer science or to cross computer science off of my list. This is because I will be in an introductory computer science class. So, I expect that, by the end of the year, I will know whether or not I really have an interest in computer science. I also would like to look further into the field of physical therapy to determine whether it is a field that will suit me later on. Along those lines, I hope to take advantage of my chance to shadow a professional who is a physical therapist. Since my mom works for The Promedica Health System, she has connections to physical therapists. Through these connections, I hope to develop a better understanding of what I could do as a physical therapist and what my work would really look and feel like.

 

Looking back on these past few months, I really wish that I could tell myself just how important it would be to figure out how to put less stress on myself about being perfect in school. If I knew how bad it could really get, I would like to think that I would have done something differently to stop myself from letting the situation get so out of control. Sometimes I just wish that I could put things in perspective before I let myself get overwhelmed by it all. So, if I could give myself one piece of advice, I would tell myself to attack each problem bit by bit, rather than turning everything into a monster that is larger than life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Informational Interview: Financial Advising

Over fall break, I had the opportunity to interview my parents’ financial adviser, Mr. Simpson, about what his experience in the field was like. I was able to contact him due to the relationship that he had built with my parents. I chose to interview Mr. Simpson because my parents had trusted him as their financial adviser for as long as I could remember, so I was comfortable interviewing him. I also chose to interview Mr. Simpson because I had been considering a career in financial advising and Mr. Simpson has been very successful in this field.

I began the interview by asking Mr. Simpson about what his major-related, extracurricular experiences were like. He prefaced his response by noting that his goal in college had been to one day “own, run, [and] operate an advertising agency”, so he wanted to understand both the “design side” of advertising and “how to run the business”. As a result, he double-majored in graphic design and business. From this, he went on to say that he had done “a lot of on-campus logos [and] signage” for several restaurants. He had done this for his Business Development Program, which was designed to teach him how to “go out and develop points of purchase”. As an aside, he mentioned that he found the time to take some “fun” classes, such as aerobics, “to break up the monotony of just taking business classes”.

He then shifted the focus of the interview to how he got into financial advising, which had been a question that I had hoped to ask him anyways. Specifically, he “grew up with financial planning [and] financial consulting ever since [he] was three years old” because that was what his father had done. As a result, he “knew that that was something that he was going to end up doing if the advertising world did not take [him]”. However, it was not until he was three years out of college that “he chose a different path, as many people do out of school” and decided to actually become a financial adviser. He said that oftentimes, “you think you’re going one direction and it isn’t what you expected and you end up utilizing… what you learned in school” for applications in other fields. He pointed out that the skills that you learn in preparation for a job as a financial adviser can truly be applied to a wide range of business careers. He believes that if he “took his resume to Huntington”, he would be able to get a job because of how universal the skills that he has learned are. He further emphasized that there are “so many parts to what [he] does that you can choose to do”. This flexibility enabled him to change his career path in advertising when he “redirected [his] focus” and “went into financial planning back in 1990.” Within the financial advising field, he chose to do “Personal and Business Financial Planning, Pre- and Post-Retirement Planning [and] Education Funding”. Since that point, he has been “cultivating [his] book” and helping his “clients to go from point A to point B”, which he finds to be “very rewarding”. He enjoys “seeing people start out with no plan, create a plan, work the plan and have it pay off in the end”. Another factor that was mentioned later in the interview about why he became a financial adviser was that he “was getting married in 1990”, so he needed to “get on a career-path” and do something that he would enjoy.

I then asked him to talk about if he needed to attend graduate school to become a financial adviser because he had gotten his undergraduate degree in another field. Through his response, he ended up answering my question about the licensing required to enter the field as a financial adviser. He said that when he finished college, he found a whole new world “that you need to complete” as a financial planner. He mentioned the required “licensing… FINRA appointment… Series 63, Series 65.. Series 67… [and] securities licenses” that he completed once he got out of school. These were things that he “had to do in order to go forward” because, for example, he can’t advise a client on “investing in a mutual fund unless [he] has his Series 6…”. Additionally, before obtaining his license, he had to find a sponsor, such as a broker-dealer. Later, he talked about recertification. He said that “every two years [he] has to go to a FINRA office… and go and take a test that is 200 questions”. If he passes that test with a 70% or better, then he is “good for another two years with FINRA”. The State of Ohio requires that he takes “25 hours of continuing education credits” such as “seminars [and] classes (which you can do online)” every two years. He did not complete these licensing requirements until after he was out of school for three years because he had really wanted “to run an advertising business” until he “just figured out that that was not what [he] wanted to do”. This was because of the amount of “baby-sitting” that went on in the world of advertising, whereas he hoped for a career that would grant him some independence.

He then shifted the conversation to the qualities that he had that drew him into the world of financial advising. This answered the question that I had planned to ask him about which qualities he found to be most useful for people in his field. He described himself as “an independent person” who wanted to make his “own hours, [and] not have someone tell [him] that this is what [he] had to do because [he] already had a goal, [he] had a focus”. When prompted further about why he liked being a financial adviser, he said that he “love[s] numbers”. He specified that he likes to “take a sum of money, against expenses, for a client and have them tell [him] where they want to be five years from now, ten years from now, fifteen years from now and, once they retire, where they want to go.” He even said that he “love[s] that process and helping people do it”. He noted here that, while such a process is satisfying to him, to a lot of people it is “boring”. He likes to “see that plan work”. He later noted that, in order to be successful as a financial planner, you have to be “self-driven”. This is because when he gets up in the morning, nobody tells him what to do. Rather, he has to “be his own boss” and “stay focused”. He then elaborated on the importance of “time management skills”, which he developed at the beginning of his career when he was trained by his broker dealer. This broker dealer provides a “continuous education” for those whom he sponsors by paying for “endless training and coaching and seminars that you can go to”. To further develop the skills required to be successful in the field, Mr. Simpson went to people who were already successful and “would look at their time management [and] their business plans” in order to plan out how he wanted to reach his goals. He stressed the importance of developing such a business plan, also known as a “12-week year”. Finally, he mentioned that a financial planner needs “to listen to what people want”.

Next, I asked Mr. Simpson how much time he spends working with his clients, versus planning out what he is going to recommend to them, to get them to where they want to be. He said that it was probably “70% fact-finding and spending the actual time with the client and 30% crunching”. He did mention, however, that “at the beginning it was like 50/50”. But now, after his time in the field, when he is “talking to somebody and they are telling [him] what their goals are and what [they] have to work with… he is already thinking about the solution…”. As a result, he does not need to take the extra time to have to figure out ways to get somebody to where they want to be.

The next question that I had for Mr. Simpson was what a normal day would look like for me if I decided to become a financial adviser. He said that, “…for the first year, or more,… your job is to make two to three appointments a day.” The idea is to give a lot of people an idea about “what it is you do” to start networking yourself right away. This is because “you have to constantly be getting in front of people at the beginning”. Then, after a couple of years, “you’re meeting with people and getting calls from people you don’t know because maybe one of your clients said, ‘Hey, you have to call this guy; he helped me out…'”. He said that this networking begins with “friends, family, acquaintances, [or] past jobs” and that “it’s better to be in a networking group where you have somebody from each walk of life, and it’s amazing the types of referrals that come out of those conversations”.

Finally, I asked for any advice that he could offer that I would not necessarily know to even ask for. In his response, he stressed the fact that maintaining face-to-face contact with clients is the key to success, even in this age of social media. He believes in the power of these face-to-face meetings because “you can learn a lot about a person by sitting in the same room with them”. He also feels that “people appreciate you coming over” and this has even led him to one of his wealthiest clients. He said to “never underestimate what could come later” from any meeting with a potential client. He also stressed the importance of always doing the “right thing for the client”, no matter what. He said that this is how you retain clients and receive referrals since people are more likely to trust you.

At the end of the interview, he mentioned that his work follows him everywhere. He said, “I don’t care if I am on a two-week vacation; everybody else goes down to the beach or to the pool and I stay back and say, ‘I’ll see you guys in two or three hours.'”

After receiving all of this input from Mr. Simpson, I do not think that financial advising is for me. This is because the things that are suitable to me about this field simply carry less weight in my career goals than the aspects of this career that are less than appealing. First, I do think that the qualities required of financial advisers match me fairly well. In particular, I do think that I possess the discipline to “be my own boss”. However, I do not think that such freedom is beneficial for me because I am afraid that I would end up over-working myself. This is because I would never be comfortable allowing myself to take some time off. This is a quality that I have noticed in myself when it comes to things like schoolwork. On the same note, I do not like the idea of having a job where I would need to work while on vacation because maintaining a distinction between time for work versus time for relaxation would be a struggle for me. Second, I find the idea that a career as a financial adviser would allow me to personally work with and impact the lives of individuals to be very appealing. However, the idea that I would need to sell myself to every single client that I meet is overwhelming to me because I do not possess the confidence to do this. Next, I am drawn into work where there are definitive answers. However, financial advising would never truly have work like this because the career involves developing a plan for clients based on what might work, which would change with each client. Even more, the amount of recertification that is necessary to continue with financial advising after college is unattractive to me. This is mostly because recertification is required every two years and involves nearly constant coursework (so that one does not need to cram before their license expires). Lastly, the idea of having to constantly crunch numbers sounds very unappealing to me because tedious calculations tend to make me very frustrated. Because of this interview, I have stopped exploring the field of financial advising (at least for now).

While I think that I have already made a decision about my future in the field of financial advising, I believe that more research into the various paths that one can take as a financial adviser would benefit me. This research may allow me to make a more definitive decision on whether financial advising suits me. This is because Mr. Simpson mentioned that there are plenty of different ways that a career as a financial adviser could take me. Some of these paths would even involve a more structured setting and may not require me to work on a client-to-client basis, but would give me the chance to work directly for a larger corporation. Therefore, while I may not be interested in a career exactly like Mr. Simpson’s, I may find a suitable path in one of the variations of his career.

Next, this interview reinforced two ideas that have been stressed to me for the past several years. The first was the importance of networking and personal contact. Mr. Simpson stressed that it is necessary to network yourself from the beginning as a financial adviser. He emphasized the importance of networking because it allows you to demonstrate your worth to other people who would otherwise be unaware of the ways that you could benefit them. The idea of networking has been something that was always talked about in school; this interview clarified how networking translates into a real career. Mr. Simpson then reinforced for me the importance of always doing the right thing for the client. I have heard this in previous jobs and I find that I strongly agree with the importance of maintaining ethical conduct. This would especially be important as a financial adviser because I would be dealing with people’s lifesavings. Therefore, acting in a way to benefit myself at the cost of my client could ruin their, and/or their family’s, future. By always working for the benefit of the client, I would never need to doubt that I had done my best to help them. Regardless of the career path that I take, it will be important for me to keep this moral obligation in mind in everything that I do; that way I will not lose sight of the value that I place on trying to be the best person that I can be.

With this informational interview, my Holland Code results and the Major Elimination Game, I think that I will be able to find a career that will make me happy. My Holland Code set me up to be able to initially narrow down the list of potential majors that I would pursue by giving me an idea of careers and majors that were compatible with my interests. This personality test also forced me to look at my interests from a different perspective. What I mean is that the test labeled what it thought my interests were, which forced me to evaluate whether these descriptions really fit me. This self-reflection has given me new insight into what it is that I want to do with my life; it reinforced my desire to find a job where I can impact individual lives directly. Now, near the end of Survey, the Major Elimination Game gives me the chance to use the reflections that I have completed throughout Survey to further narrow down the list that I can use to explore majors with. With this new list of potential majors, I feel that I have more focus regarding my career options moving forward. Finally, based on the usefulness of this interview in narrowing down my list of potential careers even more, future interviews of professionals in other fields may even allow me to identify a career that I would be interested in pursuing.

 

College Transition Lecture: Reflection

What a time to be alive. School is back, once again, and not many people are happy about it. For many people, the school year means less time with friends and more time feeling stressed out. This year, with the start of college, is especially stressful for me. Among other things, I now have to learn how to do everything (except cook) for myself. This means that I have to allot time for chores, like laundry, that I never really had to worry about before (Who knew how long it took to do laundry?!?). However, laundry is not my main concern; my main concern is learning how to deal with the much larger course load associated with college. This is surprising to me because in high school I was in a lot of AP courses, so I expected to come to college with some feel for how class would work and how much homework I would have. Boy was I wrong. Instead of seeing the best four years of my life ahead of me, I am dreading what is to come, especially because I find myself not exercising and not hanging out with friends as I spend so much time on homework. College is not the same as high school and now a different set of skills is required. For example, in high school, I had solid study habits and my parents did not have to make sure that I had studied for my test or that I was caught up on homework. I even knew how to ask for help from teachers when I needed it. These were things that I was good at, but now I have to learn how to transfer them to college. I need to learn how to study more effectively, rather than simply studying everything even if I already know the material. I also need to learn how to manage getting to office hours to ask for help because the office hours of each professor are different and do not always line up with my schedule. Learning how to become a more well-rounded student should give me some more free time.

 

In this free time, I would like to get involved in some sort of organization to force myself to make time to do new and fun things. Up to this point, however, I have failed to get involved in a single student organization, even though there are several that I am interested in. Something that I have recently become interested in is joining a bible study because I am looking for a way to think critically about my faith in the hopes of strengthening it. Another interesting club that I hope to join is the running club as a way to stay active, which, as I mentioned before, I have failed miserably at. Sadly, I simply have not found the time for these groups yet. Truly, I do not know how I can survive these next four years living like this (hint: I probably can’t) and I want to figure this out. The essence of an idea stressed by the Student Panel at the College Transition Lecture that I attended was, “Don’t just school”. What I mean by this is that they have recognized that life is not always about school; Ohio State, even, is not all about school. This really struck a chord with me because of how little time I have set aside for anything other than school. What this advice from the peer mentors did for me is confirm to me that I need to change my habits. I cannot spend all day studying for and worrying about school. It is neither enjoyable, nor is it productive or healthy. I need to take their advice seriously and find ways to expand my college experience beyond the classroom. In doing so, I may even find a way to enhance my intellect, while getting involved in a club that actually interests me. One way to get involved that they mentioned was through internships. Finding an internship in a field that truly interests me may be the way to go because I can get some field experience as a way to explore career options. For now, I must take it one day at a time as I learn how to find some evenness in my life. Baby steps.

 

Hopefully I have vented thoroughly enough by now to satisfy myself. Maybe now would be a good time to insert some more positive thoughts. Yeah, let’s do that. To start, there are a few things that I am actually looking forward to. I would say the one thing that I look forward to most at this point is the end of the semester when I can start some new classes (if my engineering courses end up truly not working out) and maybe find something that actually interests me. More immediately though, I am looking forward to these next few weeks because I am simply hoping to find some sort of rhythm that I can be happy with. Hopefully, once I have figured out how to navigate my courses and find some time to go on a run or relax for a second, then I can report back with some more positive news. Right now, I am surviving, but I look forward to thriving.

 

Oh! I just realized that I forgot to mention one thing that I am truly excited about! Ohio State Football Games! Duh. I have the Big Ten Package this year, so I am especially excited about the Michigan State and Penn State games this year. I am confident that these will be big and exciting games. Indeed!

 

The future is as bright as I want it to be. I have the power to change my life. I am in control, even when it does not feel like it. Things will work themselves out.

 

 

 

 

 

Year in Review

[ “Year in Review”  is where you should reflect on the past year and show how you have evolved as a person and as a student.  You may want to focus on your growth in a particular area (as a leader, scholar, researcher, etc.) or you may want to talk about your overall experience over the past year.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

G.O.A.L.S.

[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.

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: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to 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 information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

Artifacts

file:///C:/Users/mark.gilliland7/AppData/Local/Packages/Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe/TempState/Downloads/Common%20Application%20Essay.pdf

The above link will take you to the essay that I wrote in the hopes of acceptance by Ohio State. It highlights the struggles that I face each day as I wage my war on anxiety.

About Me

Hello! My name is Mark Gilliland. I am an alumni of Sylvania Northview High School. During my time in high school I was involved in cross-country and baseball. These sports served as an excellent get-away from the stress of daily life. I was also involved in the Leadership Academy at my school, which provided me the opportunity to get involved with case studies and Leadership Lunches to learn from real leaders in my community on how to guide a group to success. The Leadership Academy introduced me to DanceGOLD, which was a charity event designed to raise money for the Victory Center, a local center that provides free therapeutic services to cancer patients. In addition to the Leadership Academy, I was involved in the National Honors Society in my school as the Secretary, furthering my development as a leader in the community. Finally, I served on Interact, which was a club that provided information on different service projects throughout the community. As for my future at Ohio State, my goals are to learn how to positively impact the community, while pursuing a career that I can love.