This semester I had the opportunity to participate in OSU’s Buckeyethon which is one of Ohio State’s largest philanthropy event. Buckeyethon raises money for pediatric oncology and hematology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. This money goes to help with treating current patients but it also goes to funding research to find a cure to oncology and hematology. Being able to spend twelve hours dancing to raise money for the children who are currently suffering and will receive this awful diagnosis was incredibly powerful. During the dance marathon children that are currently battling cancer and blood diseases are able to come and dance with the students participating which was amazing and extremely motivating to see that the money and time that is put into this event is worth every penny to help these children. To be able to experience the moment when the final total money raised was unveiled was incredible. This moment was so special because we had just heard from a family that is being treated at Nationwide and hearing how appreciative they were for the money that was being raise to help support their children. It was incredible to see how many other students were just as passionate and excitied to work towards a goal of raising money to fight against pediatric oncology and hematology.  This event was a great opportunity to give me a chance to reflect on my own life and how lucky I am as an individual.  It was also amazing to just see the kids get a chance to be away from the hospital and have a great time. This event encouraged me to purse a career in oncology in hopes that a cure can be found and that no child will have to go through treatment for cancer or any blood disease.

On Wednesday mornings I get the opportunity to go off campus and do science experiments which children that are in low-income situations that would not be able to experience these projects. The program I get to volunteer through is called WOW which stands for Wonders of Our World, which is exactly what it is. This past week, my volunteer team and I went to a first grade classroom to teach the children about magnetism.  I was skeptical at first of the station I was running which was to allow the students to predict which object were and were not magnetic. I thought that the children would not enjoy it because it was not as “cool” as the other stations. These children blew my expectations out of the water. Seeing the excitement on their faces when they correctly predicted an item and just their astonishment at magnetism in general was an amazing experience. Also, seeing how the children grew in understanding and tried to redefine what they thought magnets were each time they predicted wrong.

This experience taught me how to lead a group but, from just being around the children I saw the importance of inspiring children in science and showing them all the fascinating things about science. The children also taught me to be amazed by the small things like being able to pick up a metal spoon with a magnet. Being able to teach these children also taught me be patient and to let them grow in their understand by working through what they got incorrect and why that was. Being able to see these kids love for science and love for learning helps me fuel my passion to continue to learn.

When my teacher told my class that we were to build a working prosthetic arm that could pick up multiple cups with different diameters, I thought it was crazy to ask a few high school students to take on the challenge but I was up for it. The group I was in was a great group of hardworking students which I learned in order to be successful you have to have a group surrounding you that will support you and want you to succeed. In this project I learned tools to help me become a better leader and to become more resilient in my work.

My group in building the project was all very indecisive on how to start the project and when which forced me to come out of my comfort zone and take on the role of being a leader. This small leadership role taught me that communication is a major factor in a successful groups, as well as the importance of being able to have control over the situation without being a controlling person because the line is very thin and can easily be crossed. Building this prosthetic arm defiantly taught me how to be resilient because my group failed many times before we succeed. The most difficult part was building a hand that had the right angles, right amount of grip and the right amount of force to grab the cup. Our group went through many different hand prototypes and multiple different materials to make our hand out of and in the end we ended up going with a cardboard base which straws to a grip.

This project was extremely important to me because it taught me so much about the design process by actually experiencing it rather than just learning it but, it also taught me about the importance of being resilient even when you think a project just is not going to work.  Building a prosthetic arm caused me to understand the difficulties that come with trying to build a prosthetic arm and the factors you have to consider when designing it like look, comfort and functionality.

This experience brought me way out of my comfort zone not only physically like learning to use power tools but also in a internal discomfort in the fact that I had to come out of my comfort zone and become a leader but also have to gain the mental strength to take on a project that was going to be extremely difficult to complete and was going to have many failed prototypes before creating a successful product. This experience set me apart for others by the fact that it gave me a hands on experience to the design world but also, gives me a background into the world of prosthesis and their importance.

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