Mentor Interview with Lauren Welch

For my mentor interview assignment, I talked to my wonderful mentor Lauren Welch. Lauren is an Economics major though she is not sure of it and believes that it could be changing soon. She is also pursuing a minor in French. She applied for the Honors program but was rejected so, ultimately, decided to join the PSL scholars because she found it the most interesting, and she was focused on political science at the time. She is currently, in addition to being a PSL mentor, a member of the Casual Debate Club, and works part-time at Sloopy’s Diner. She is currently on the Pre-Law track but is not certain of whether or not she will stay in it in the future. She also has some interest in the Data-Analytics field. Her favorite class she has taken so far is a class about politics in developing countries and what makes them developing countries. If she could go back, she would test out of her French 1103 class.

Lauren is from Beavercreek, Ohio, which is right outside of Dayton. Her dad is a lawyer and her mother is a chemistry teacher in a neighboring school district. She has three younger siblings- two sisters and a brother (who is disappointedly taller than her). Lauren was a part of a dance team in high school and she has been dancing for 14 years. She hopes to pick up dancing again in the future when she has the time. She also likes to go to the gym and read mystery/investigative thrillers. If she could switch places with a fictional character she would switch with Hermione from Harry Potter. She has been watching Criminal Minds and Gilmore Girls lately. Her favorite Criminal Minds character is Spencer Ried and she is Team Dean on Gilmore Girls (which hurts me deeply). Her favorite animals are elephants (just like me!). She didn’t realize, when she started college, how similar she and her friends would be.

Ultimately, I learned that Lauren and I are very alike. She too is not completely sure of her future, which makes me feel infinitely better, and she has a lot of the same interests as me. It was a pleasure talking to her and getting to know her better!

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 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.]

G.O.A.L.S.

  • Global Awareness: As a daughter of immigrants, Global Awareness is very important to me. I think its important to learn about people’s backgrounds and cultural identities so that we can cultivate an inclusive society. My goal for this topic is to join a cultural organization and possibly travel abroad. I believe that immersing myself in another culture is the best way to truly learn about it.
  • Original Inquiry: Being a Business major, I’m very excited to take part in different research and internship opportunites. I think that taking part in as many of these opportunities as possible is important in order to receive a well-rounded education in any field.
  • Academic Enrichment: I believe that it’s very important to challenge yourself when it comes to academics. A good student is able to push themselves to an achievable limit and make the most out of their education. I plan on joining different clubs and organizations as well as take many classes in order to reach this goal.
  • Leadership Development: While in high school, I was apart of many groups and organizations and was able to work my way up to leadership positions. I plan on achieving this during my college career as well in order to develop my leadership abilities for the future. I also plan on taking charge in my academics as much as possible.
  • Service Engagement: I am very passionate about service and serving and supporting the community in any way possible. I think it’s important to create a world we want to live in and in order to do so, you must take charge and make it happen. I hope to be apart of as many service opportunities as I can throughout my undergrad and in the future.

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

[Artifacts are the items you consider to be representative of your academic interests and achievements. For each entry, include both an artifact and a detailed annotation.  An annotation includes both a description of the artifact and a reflection on why it is important to you, what you learned, and what it means for your next steps.  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.]

About Me

Hello! My name is Neelima Gopinath (nee-lee-ma). I am a Business Administration Undecided major and I am part of the Politics, Society, and Law Scholars program. I graduated from Thomas Worthington High School, Summa Cum Laude in Science and World Languages. I am part of Fisher Cares: an organization through Fisher Business School that works on community service programs. I am also a member of the Undergraduate Business Women’s Association: another organization that supports and empowers women in the undergrad business program. I plan on attending law school after undergrad and becoming a corporate lawyer to support businesses and help them flourish. I am from Columbus, Ohio but my parents are from the South Indian state of Kerala, because of this, I speak fluent Malayalam and a little bit of Tamil (another South Indian language). I was vice president of our cultural community’s youth program which allowed me to connect with other teens and work on community service projects to support our community here as well as our family and friends back home (through volunteering with Meals on Wheels, providing breakfast at YWCA, and fundraising)! I love working with and helping people and I hope to continue doing so for the rest of my life.