STEP Signature Project

The Second-Year Transformational Experience (STEP) program rewards dedicated sophomores with a $2,000 grant for their academic enrichment. Without STEP, I would not be financially able to continue my type 1 diabetes research project this summer. However, I am happy to announce that my project proposal has been approved and I have received the funding. Below is my comprehensive proposal explaining my project, budget, and goals.

STEP Grant Proposal

This fall, I will present my STEP Signature Project and its outcomes at the STEP Expo.

STEM EE Capstone Project

To complete the two-year STEM Exploration and Engagement Scholars program, I had to complete a 40-hour STEM project over the course of my sophomore year. I chose to use my research involvement as my capstone project and was able to collect 145 hours by the time the year ended. Attached is my capstone project write-up, presentation, and hours log. All of these things were presented at the STEM Scholar’s Capstone Symposium on April 20, 2022.

Capstone Paper

Capstone Presentation

Capstone Hours Log

 

BLF Leadership Challenge #1 : Grove City

For our first challenge in the Buckeye Leadership Fellows program, a group of my peers and I were asked to analyze and convey the macro view of the economics, while weighing the competitive advantages and disadvantages of tax abatements for the City of Grove City over an extended period of time. The ultimate goal was to provide an innovative solution and/or potential targets for the City of Grove City as they continue to engage in economic development. After several weeks of researching, planning, and building our presentation, all groups competed and presented to a panel of Grove City government officials. Below is our presentation;

Community Reinvestment Areas in Grove City, Ohio

Buckeye Leadership Fellow

I am honored and excited to announce that I have been selected to join the Buckeye Leadership Fellows Program at The Ohio State University. Thank you Rob Jech, and all those who were involved in the application/interview process. I look forward to working with and growing alongside the best that The Ohio State University has to offer!! #BLF24

2021 Fall Semester Reflection

My first full semester in person at The Ohio State University was action-packed! I learned a lot from this long-awaited experience, inside and outside of the classroom. If I am being honest, at times I felt more passionate about my extracurriculars than the schooling that is getting my degree. However, I think that feeling is mutual among my pre-med peers who are also suffering through all of the general education classes. I mise well talk about the schooling first, and then we’ll get to the fun stuff.

Adjusting to an almost completely in-person experience was challenging. Right away, my time management skills were sharp. However, my study skills still require some work. Going through 13 years of lower education and 1 year of higher education without ever having to study haunts me to this day. Not to mention, there are just not enough hours in the day to complete all that should/could be done. Despite this struggle, I felt I maintained a good balance in my life and my mental health thanked me greatly for that. Unfortunately, I fell short of my final term grade goals. Though I felt defeated at first, I find peace in knowing that I have had quite the learning experience. I have come to see my undergraduate years as one big journey, not defined by a single semester. The life lessons, memories, and stories I have acquired will make great conversation pieces and essay answers in the future. With that being said, I am on the hunt for a comeback story this semester. Like I said, after coming up short of my goals in Organic Chemistry I and Physics I, I am hungry for drastic improvement in Organic Chemistry II and Physics II. Building a routine, being mindful of my physical well-being, adding consistency to my study schedule, and cutting back on some research hours are just a few ways I plan to achieve my goals for this semester! As always, stay tuned to find out how it goes.

Now for the fun parts. I say parts because The Ohio State University is A LOT of fun.

  • The “Insulin Producing Cell” project; As I have noted previously, I joined Dr. Gallego-Perez Nanomedicine Laboratory at the beginning of this semester. Dedicating 3 days and around 12 hours a week, I quickly became an elite undergraduate research assistant within the lab. The Insulin Producing Cell project researches how direct cellular reprogramming can be used to convert skin fibroblast into responsive β-cells (cells that produce insulin, which type 1 diabetics lack). If you would like to read more about my research experience this semester, please see the research essay that I submitted to the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.  When I said I began to become more passionate about extracurriculars as opposed to my schooling, 90% of that was due to this attention-grabbing research experience!  Goldwater Research Essay FINAL

   

  • Recruitment Hosting; It was so awesome to be able to be on the field and front row at every home Ohio State football game this season. Words cannot describe how awesome this job has been and I fully anticipate hosting for the next 2 years. We’ll see how many more recruits I can pull in and how many more times I can get on TV!

  • Tons more of Ohio State Athletics; Over the course of the semester, I loved getting involved in as much of the athletics around campus as possible. From sand volleyball and basketball intramural teams to Ohio State football and basketball games, I strived to stay active and involved with my fellow Buckeyes.

  • I am blessed to still be connected to my amazing friends and family! Some of my favorite moments this semester involved traveling to see everyone and showing my friends/family what it is like to be a Buckeye.

 

(p.s. My sister Jennifer got married in November and is expecting a little baby girl soon!!)

The fall 2021 semester flew by! I cannot wait to make more memories in Columbus and continue the pursuit of my undergraduate degree. As I continue to learn and expand my horizons, I have begun to become unsure of where I am headed in medicine. Lately, my heart has been in traveling and mission work. However, my passion for research is still omnipresent. Only time will tell. Again, stay tuned, because I am in the process of planning a multi-week mission trip to Ghana with the Doctors Without Borders club at The Ohio State University! For now, that is all I have to share. Yesterday I got my COVID-19 booster and flu shot at the same time. Saying I am exhausted is an understatement. Cheers for a good semester.

2021 Summer Reflection

Finally back on campus and loving every aspect of in-person OSU. It is once again time to reflect on the prior season of my life! This summer was a big one. Overall, I walked away knowing who I am better than ever before. With this being the last summer I plan to spend at home (due to my campus job and Type 1 Diabetes research), I was on a mission to make it a blast. And a blast my friends, family, and I did indeed had. With all that went on this summer, I could write a book. For everyone’s sake, because no one wants a book, allow me to highlight some of the fun things below:

Camper: My aunt bought a camper last spring. My friends and I spent a lot of time enjoying that space around the lake.

          

Golf: I took up golf this summer, under the direction of my high school friends that golfed competitively. We spent a large amount of summer golfing days away.

          

Florida Vacation: We took a family vacation to St. Pete’s Beach Florida.

          

RZR riding: My friends and I loved night riding/mudding in our ATVs.

        

Roadtrips: I took two road trips; one to Minnesota and the other to Kentucky to see friends and family.

          

On a more professional note, I held two summer jobs. The first job is one I have had since 7th grade. I worked for my dad’s lawn care and landscape business; Gotch & Company. My second job was at Aultman Hospital where I found myself assisting in the Emergency Room and Operating Room!

                   

In a nutshell (Go Bucks!) that’s my summer. I will forever feel grateful and blessed for memories like these with my friends and family. I see each person in my life as a contributor to the enrichment of my character. With all of that play out of my system, its time to get to work here at The Ohio State University.

2021 Spring Semester Reflection

Wow… it is crazy to think I already made it through my first year of college. Almost everyone can agree by now that this year has been wild and it has been a horrible time to be a first-year in college. Being on campus at The Ohio State University for only 4 weeks of this entire year has definitely given me a sense of disconnection from the Buckeye community. I expect this fall I will be a second-year that gives off big first-year vibes. I hope that my few visits to campus this year, along with the time I hope to spend on campus this summer, will help offset my obvious lack of experience in Columbus. On the bright side, I am far from the only one that is in this situation. So, with all that out of the way, shall we get to a more positive note? This spring semester was actually pretty decent. Much better than last fall 100%. I sort of feel like an expert in online learning, it’s basically my minor it feels like. I remember the first week or so of this semester, I was blown away by the lack of stress and the surplus of free time I had. And I do not think that was due to a lack of rigor in my coursework. I had 16 credit hours with two labs in the fall, and this spring, I had 14 credit hours with 3 labs. I would say that’s fairly even. But like I said, some of the ease of this semester came from the fact that I knew what to expect from online learning. Thus, the schooling aspect of this semester I deem a success! Along with that, there are other extracurricular successes that I experienced this last semester that I am excited to share.

First, I applied, was interviewed, and ultimately was the one of 30 applicants selected for the Director of Communications executive board position with the MSF Doctors Without Borders chapter at The Ohio State University. As I mentioned in my last reflection, MSF was the first and only student organization I decided to become regularly involved in due to my passion for health care equality that stems from my experiences with diabetes.I am really excited about this position, as I will be managing the MSF email and leading all communications in/out of the organization.

Secondly, I applied, was interviewed, and was ultimately selected for the Football Recruitment Host position with Undergraduate Admissions at The Ohio State University. With this job, I will be touring and guiding football recruits through gameday while sharing my one of the kind experiences at Ohio State. Furthermore, I will be helping out with general admissions as needed throughout the year. This amazing opportunity is going to be so fun. The recruitment team of 60 hosts gets front-row seats and on the field access to every home game, as well as free team Nike apparel and game day meals.

Lastly, I was elected as a BMS class representative for the 2024 class. Acquiring this elected position was an honor. To be recognized as a leader by my outrageously smart peers means a lot to me. I look forward to returning to Columbus this fall and making up for all the time our cohort has lost due to this pandemic.

In conclusion, this spring semester was ten times better than last fall. Youngstown State University was a nice temporary home but I beyond prefer Columbus campus way more. I am thankful for this experience, even though it has not always been adequate. I truly feel everything has worked out the way it was meant to be. I have grown and will continue to grow from these experiences. Now that school is over, this summer will be spent working, shadowing at the hospital, working out, and relaxing. A much needed break and then it’s back to work this fall with school/diabetes research!