For my major service project I have been a volunteer at the James Cancer Center. I am a volunteer in the MICU/SICU and help with the family waiting to see their loved ones, and communicating with doctors and nurses.

As a result of this experience I have gained knowledge of how hospitals and ICU works in regards to trauma care. I have also gained the knowledge that death is a natural part of life and how to help the patients and the family with the last few days of life. Majoring in Respiratory Therapy, I feel this is preparing me and giving me great experience of what I may encounter in the future.

A person I interacted with that made a positive impact on my life was the charge nurse. Whenever I had questions about a patient or how to inform the family members, she was always willing to help me. She really taught me how to be strong but yet empathetic in trying situations.

Because of this service experience, I am empathetic.

At the beginning of my time as a Health Sciences Scholar I was just a new student overwhelmed with the course load and how to study and trying to meet and make new friends. I knew I wanted to do something in the health care field and I knew that I didn’t want to become a Doctor anymore, so I felt lost and confused. Now, I am a more confident student. I still am overwhelmed with the course load and sometimes I feel as if I have no idea how to study, but I found a major and got accepted into that major and my life feels a little more put together and has some purpose now. Once I finally found out major options and what my passions were it felt as if my time and struggle as a student finally meant something.

I would say overall I met my initial expectations for my first two years as a student. They flew by and were harder than I expected, but these first two years I grew a lot not only as a student but as a person and discovered a lot about myself that I never knew existed.

For my remaining time at OSU as a student my goal to get into my major is complete, so I plan to continue to work hard and do well in classes to always increase my GPA. Since I have worked ahead in my classes I hope to add on an Aging minor as I feel it would be extremely beneficial in the line of health care that I will be working in. I also hope to enjoy and truly cherish these last few years as a student.

[ “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.]