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 first generation American, global awareness has always been a big factor to my life as well as service. I founded Algerian American Youth Group (AAYG) my Junior year of high school. This organization is meant to help assimilate
    recently immigrated Algerians into the American Culture. We tutor children English, help parents find work, and help raise money by having traditional Algerian parties and potlucks.
  • Leadership Development: Alpha Phi Omega (Service Fraternity)
    I am the pledge class president of over 200 new members. Our pillars are service, friendship, and leadership. I have found a great community to volunteer with and make a local outreach within Columbus Ohio. I have performed over 100 hours of service including volunteering at nursing homes, the woman’s center, and wheelchair basketball and football. It is my job to get to know all of the pledges as well as help coordinate events and meetings.
  • Service Engagement: One of my most impactful service activities is volunteering at the Women’s Center where I help women who were once sex trafficked or have been victims of domestic violence. I help by providing meals, collecting donated clothes, providing woman hygiene products, providing narcan training, and giving a mental support system. From the first day I volunteered, I immediately connected with the women there. A lot of the woman have drug addictions and I just gained so much more insight and understanding to their lives and their addictions. I personally opened my spectra of understanding and have come to understand their struggles and battles while trying to overcome this disease. Although it is a very sad and touchy topic, I believe that awareness should be spread and people should be further educated on the topic.

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 everyone! My name is Sonia Guessas, and I am a first year at The Ohio State University. I am from Hilliard Ohio (which is around 15 min away). I am a Biology major, and I’m also minoring in Leadership. I plan to go on to medical school, and be a part of  Doctors without Borders. I knew I wanted to be a Doctor when I volunteered at a hospital in Algeria, and just saw how different the conditions were there. It was eye opening, and I knew right then that I wanted to help under privileged communities.

This summer I had an internship at Nationwide Children’s Hospital center for Perinatal Research. I learned and practiced many new techniques, such as how to run PCR, how to correctly perform RNA and DNA extractions, Gel Electrophoresis, and Genotyping. I spent around 6 weeks focusing on DNA extractions, and I was later able to use my results to study the causes of Preeclampsia.

As of now I am a Morill Scholar as well as a Health and Science Scholar. I plan on joining a Pre Med Fraternity and the Pre-Health Connections and Volunteering club. I also love to run, so I may join the running club. I really love to workout and do outside activities  (when it’s warmer). I really love to travel. Sometimes I like to just go the beach to relax, but other times I like to go to different counties and get to see different cultures around the world.

I am excited for the next 4 years, and of course the football games! Lets Go Bucks!