And it Begins

Where has the time gone?…

And just like that, I’m here at The Ohio State University. After years of learning, growing, and exploring, I’ve found my home here as a Buckeye. For the longest time, Ohio State was the last place I wanted to be — living 20 minutes away from home just seemed too close, you know? College is all about freedom and independence, so I continually told myself that I would get out and start fresh. After navigating an excessive number of college road trips, visits, and applications — I was led to The Ohio State University and here I am! I am so grateful to be here, to be blessed by the campus, friendly people, and encouraging environment. I’ve already been provided with opportunities I truly would get nowhere else:)

I’m an honors student in the Fisher College of Business studying Accounting with a minor in Statistics (fun, right?), and I honestly couldn’t be happier. As I look to the future, I think about all the opportunities ahead of me, all the memories to be made, all the late nights to be spent studying, and I hope to document these times for my family and friends, but also for myself as I reflect back on my experiences here, continue to learn, and remember all the great times Ohio State provided me. I invite you to follow my journey here at Ohio State, everything from my academics and extracurriculars to my current goals and challenges.

I once thought I would be hundreds of miles gone by now, but once you’re a buckeye, you’re always a buckeye:)

Peace and Blessings,

CG

 

 

 

College Has Shown Me…

College years are incredibly important for reflection and development, so I plan on keeping a list of things I have learned outside the classroom that are applicable to life in general! In my four years, I’ll keep updating this list and be left with all the things I feel I have learned and contributed to the person I have been shaped to be. Here it goes:)

Freshman Year:

  • Don’t ever be afraid to reach out for help. People want to help you and want you to succeed! (09/14/17)
  • Be confident in your ideas. It may be scary to put yourself out there, but with more risk comes more reward. We all have unique perspectives and can contribute valuable ideas and thoughts! (10/27/17)

Peace and Blessings,

CG

Opportunities to Serve

O-H-I-O pic is a must at all service outings:)

How good it feels to be a part of a school that cares so much about the community…

Growing up, I was actively involved in serving the community, be it in my hometown or out on mission trips through my church, and this is something I believe to be essential to living the life we are called to live. Entering Ohio State, I knew I wanted to find ways to give back to others. Not knowing how easy or hard it would be to find these opportunities, I was beyond excited when I found so many great events to serve, even within the first two months of being on campus.

Before coming to campus, I applied to be a part of the Business Honors Learning Community, an honors cohort of 27 first year students. We all live together and partake in weekly meetings focused on building relationships, professional development, and giving back to the community. The focus on service was one of the things that greatly attracted me to the learning community, and I am so pleased to be a part of such a wonderful group of students! So far, we have had two service opportunities that have been a blast! About a month ago, we made no-sew blankets for the Ronald McDonald House here in Columbus. Not only was this a great way to give back to the community right in our backyard, but it was a wonderful way to have fun and deepen friendships within the BHLC! Our second service opportunity so far was just today, where we were able to write letters to active service members. I have done this in the past, and I really believe it to be a great way to encourage those over seas who are doing so much for our freedoms here. This is such a simple reminder to those serving us that we appreciate them and that we are thinking about them. I’ve had so much fun with the BHLC service project so far and I am looking forward to all that is planned to give back to the community in the coming year:)

In addition to the service opportunities I’ve had with BHLC, there have also been OSU organized events that I have been a part of! There were already events planned for early on in the school year, which I really think shows Ohio State’s commitment to service. During the second week of school, I had the chance to be a part of an event called “Community Commitment”, put on by Pay it Forward. During this event, students from all over campus spend 5 hours serving in locations all over Columbus! My roommates and I were bused to a local church where we worked on cleaning up a garden that provides fresh herbs and produce to the meal program housed in the church. This was an amazing chance to get off of campus, experience and engage with the city, and connect with the community. More recently, I attended a service event through the Honors & Scholars program at a local Furniture Bank. Here, we had the chance to get our hand a little dirty (literally!) and paint different parts of a refurbished desk. The Furniture Bank has partnerships with many Universities in Ohio and happened to recently get a shipment of old desks from Miami University. However, the site was not in need of desks, so they cut them in half and made nightstands that we got to paint! We had a blast, but unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance to take a picture of my messy clothing after:)

Ohio State has already provided me so many areas to serve and give back to the surrounding community! I’m so grateful to be in a place where involvement and presence in the city is encouraged and where the belief that changing the world occurs not only through knowledge gained in the classroom, but through how we give back outside of the classroom. I’ve much enjoyed “getting my toes wet” in the chances I’ve already had to serve the area, and I’m looking forward to fully “diving in” as I continue to seek out and explore opportunities of community engagement and service.

Peace and Blessings,

CG

Planes, Spheres, and Donuts — Oh My!

Sphere with one great circle and one regular (non-great) circle

Mobius Strip with a circle 1/5 units away from the surface

Plot of flowers made from polar curves

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Calling All Math Lovers!

I have exciting news to share today — my first college math project is officially complete:) Overall, this was a very interesting but ultimately a very beneficial experience to my educational journey. In high school I had been exposed to group projects, but all relating directly to topics we were covering in the class or that I worked with previously. Working in groups is often uncomfortable — be it the lack of division of work or simply the awkwardness of interacting with others — but my previous experiences with groups have all been relatively smooth. Transitioning to college, I was prepared for the worst when it came to group projects. I’d heard too much horror about things gone wrong, miscommunications, and ultimately a dissatisfactory overall experience. Needless to say, I was a bit spooked when we were assigned a group project. Not only was it in my hardest class, calculus III, but the groups were selected randomly! I was nervous, anxious, excited, stressed … basically any emotion you can think of, I was feeling. On top of all of these emotions was the fact that I was lost in how to complete the project — I was stuck, confused, and worried that I would not be able to pull my weight.

The project, while focused on what we were working on in class (parameterization), also included a component of programming and writing code that I was unfamiliar with. Each group was tasked with writing code in a programming system developed at OSU, Buckeye VR, to display 6 different curve/surface combinations:

  • Intersecting planes
  • A sphere with a great circle and non-great circle
  • An intersecting sphere and plane
  • A torus (donut) with two circles
  • A mobius strip and circular curve
  • Any creative combination of curves/surfaces

Left only with pictures of the goals and little instruction, we were expected to…

  1. Parametrize all of these curves and surfaces
  2. Figure out how Buckeye VR works
  3. Learn how to code the shapes
  4. Make adjustments to match the given picture

Our group divided up the work and worked individually before coming together to compare work. I ended up working on and completing the sphere with circles, mobius strip, and creative option — I chose flowers:) Though we did finish and successfully complete the project, this experience was definitely a stressful one from which I learned a lot. Initially, I felt like I wasn’t going to be able to hold my ground in a group of students who were so intelligent; I assumed I would be so far behind, not pull my weight, and ultimately disappoint the group. However, I worked very hard, researched, sought help, and was able to complete my part! This project taught me a lot about how I best learn something that is foreign to me (this being the programming), how to collaborate and share my ideas with a group, and most importantly how to be confident in my work!

There were parts to the project that came easily, for examples the mathematics behind the parameterizations, but I also struggled very much, specifically with the programming. Though this can be scary to not know how to do something important to an assignment, there are so many resources out there to contribute to your success! Not only did I get help from the internet and friends, but also the tutoring center and even my professor. I was scared of this project at the beginning — it was a group project, I didn’t know what I was doing, and I didn’t want to disappoint. From learning to code parameterized versions of curves and surfaces to seeing the value in getting help from others (and their willingness to help!), I can say that I truly learned so much from this experience. By the end, I was even having fun messing around with different parameterizations trying to make different, fun shapes appear. Maybe I would even enjoy another project for the class:)

Peace and Blessings,

CG

P.S. What a great feeling it is to work so hard to understand something and it finally works! Check out the pics of my final product above:)

 

 

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

How My Love of Math Led to Accounting:

The question of a lifetime… “What do you want to be when you grow up?” For me, my answer began as a singer, soon evolved to a forensic scientist, then to a financial manager, and now here I am with my heart set on becoming an accountant.

“You want to be a what?… An Accountant?… Why?…”

Before coming to study here at Ohio State, this was the reaction I would get from my peers about my future career choice. What sounded exciting to me evidently was not to many others. Ever since I was in elementary school, I found myself drawn to all types of math, working with numbers, and any sort of problem solving. In my primary school days, this could be something as simple as counting how many apples would be left after 5 were given away or figuring out how many triangles could fit into a given quadrilateral. I have grown up with a detail-oriented mindset, one very analytical and curious, which naturally aligned with my interest in mathematics. I love math so much that I even dressed as it one year for Halloween… dedication, right? As I continued to progress in my math studies, I realized how much I appreciate the systematic approach of the subject, how there is a process and an answer that can be repeated with every similar problem; however, entering higher levels of math and statistics revealed to me a whole other side I had yet to explore! In these classes I got to explore and develop skills in visualization and creative problem solving. I still love math, but for different reasons than I used to –now I have a deep appreciation for approaching problems in different ways. While I still appreciate the patterns found in math and numbers, I have come to be fascinated with how variable it can be and how many ways there are to tackle and solve a problem. There is so much room for creativity and thinking outside the box!

As I was deciding what I wanted to study in college, I immediately knew I wanted to pursue a career in some sort of mathematics. Considering my different options, from applied mathematics to finance, from information systems to economics, I finally decided on accounting and statistics because I will get to combine all of the things that I love — procedural mathematics, problem solving, and creativity. I’ll have independence in my workspace but also collaboration with others, times to follow steps and others to think outside the box — ultimately, I’ll be doing what I love. What more could I want in a career?

Sure, I may get questions about my academic interests, my career choice, and the path I’m following in my life, but all the reasoning of support I need is the fact that I love this field and believe I will be fully satisfied with my studies and resultant career. World of accounting, here I come:)

Peace and Blessings,

CG

First Week of “13th” Grade

First day of 13th grade:)

Wow, what a day!

As I sit here writing this, I just completed my first week as a college freshman at The Ohio State University! This week has been full of new experiences, new friends, and new challenges — all of which have contributed to my current list of goals. These goals may range from academics to life in general, but I hope to make these goals tangible by writing them down. Hopefully I can monitor my progress and use this as a tool to reflect on my goals, check them off, and make new ones! After reflecting on the week, I’ve come up with 2 goals to be accomplished in the coming weeks of my first semester here at Ohio State!

  • Join a Club
    • College is all about getting involved, so that’s what I want to do! After attending the involvement fair, I realized how many opportunities there are within Fisher and the University itself, so I hope I can find something I’m passionate about, create lots of memories, and make new friends!
  • Use Available Resources to my Advantage
    • Let me tell you…after only 2 classes of calculus, I can already tell I’m gonna have to work really hard! Like I said, I’m a math lover, but that doesn’t mean it all comes naturally to me, so I’m setting the goal of reaching out for help and using my resources to my advantage! Be it office hours, tutoring, or meeting with friends for help, I hope to step outside of my comfort zone and get the help I need when I need it:)

I hope to work towards meeting these goals, checking them off, and continually making new goals for myself as I progress in my first year adventure!

Peace and Blessings,

CG

 

Who could it be…It’s Christine G!

Hello and Welcome!

My name is Christine Grooms and I’m currently a first year student here at The Ohio State University. I was born just about an hour away in Kettering, OH and lived in Centerville for the first 2 years of my life. Soon after, my family picked up and moved to Minnesota for a few years! I loved it there (even though I was just a young child…) and still love the cities, climate, people, and scenery. Right before I began kindergarten, my family moved back to Ohio and settled in Dublin, where we lived and I went to school up until college! Even today my parents still live in my childhood home:) Along with my parents, I have one older brother, Connor, who is also a student here at Ohio State. Lastly, we have a wonderful gray cat, Minnie, who we have been lucky enough to love for just over 10 years now.

Here at OSU, I’m pursuing my academic passion of math through a major in Accounting with a minor in Statistics. Extracurricularly, I am involved in the Business Honors Learning Community, the Undergraduate Business Women’s Association, a campus student ministry called Cru, and most recently was accepted into Student’s Consulting for Nonprofit Organizations. There are so many things to get involved in and I am beyond excited to continue pursuing the endless opportunities:)

Outside of the classroom, I find myself with many diverse interests across many unique fields. I consider myself a very creative person, specifically in my love of music and problem solving. Nature is one of my favorite places to be — I love hiking, exploring, and just enjoying the fresh air. In the interest of this post’s length, I’ll make a condensed list of some of my favorite things below:)

  • Jesus
  • Tea (all but fruity…)
  • Math
  • Great Music
  • Calendars
  • The Colors Navy and Rose Pink
  • Smiling and Laughing
  • Wood
  • Ice Cold Water
  • Flowers
  • Scarves
  • Making a Difference and Serving Others
  • Language and Traveling
  • Soft T-Shirts
  • Learning!

The list could go on and on, but these are some of the things that make me me! I look forward to sharing my journey and discovering more about myself, the University, and the world in the next four years.

Peace and Blessings,

CG