Hi all! Welcome to my About Me Page! My name is Meredith Guggenheim and I’m 18 years old. I grew up in a small, quaint town just outside of Cleveland, OH called Chagrin Falls. My immediate family includes my two loving and supportive parents, my younger brother, Andrew, and myself. I have two chocolate labs named Kacy and Mandy. Some things that I love to do are travel, play tennis, dance, paint and shop! I enjoy learning about different cultures and have traveled to Austria, France, Germany, Mexico, Slovenia, Switzerland and many US states. I played tennis in high school and danced at Fairmount Center for the Performing Arts. Dance has been a huge part of my life; it allows me to express myself through movement and pushes me be more outgoing. I started dancing 11 years ago and regularly took ballet, contemporary, jazz, modern, pointe and tap classes. I performed in biannual recitals, local festivals and events. Last March I traveled to New York City to perform with dancers from my studio. I also like to stay involved religiously. At my church, I served as a representative on the Youth Leadership Team and attended youth group events and mission trips. I identify myself as a patient individual, a caring friend and a focused student.

Regarding my education, I attended Chagrin Falls Schools, a public school system, and graduated in a class consisting of 150 students. It was beneficial for me to go to such a small school for I was able to make lasting friendships and strong connections with my teachers. The administrators at Chagrin Falls Schools value the arts and the creation of well-rounded students. At Chagrin, I was able to take rigorous AP classes while also taking various art classes such as film photography, painting, computer graphics and drawing. In school, I played the violin and had the opportunity to perform with my high school orchestra at Disney World in Orlando, FL. I also was able to travel to Paris, France with my French class and stay with a French family in Toulouse. As a person who loves to stay busy and involved, I joined lots of clubs in high school such as, Key Club, International Club, Philosophy Club and Art Club. I was also co-editor of an annual booklet at my high school that features student artwork and writing. Even though I involved myself in many school-based activities, I applied myself in my classes and took them very seriously.

I believe that my science and math teachers at school and health professionals that I’ve come in contact with have made me interested in the STEM fields. For example, seeing the passion and excitement my science and math teachers brought into the classroom pushed me to want to learn and do well in class. During my senior year, I had to complete a Capstone research paper. For my paper, I chose to research Pediatricians. Through my research and writing, I realized more about my interest in STEM fields and more specifically, the medical field. At the end of senior year, I was able to complete a senior project and shadowed a Pediatric Dentist. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Pediatric Dentistry because I love working with kids and am interested in the medical field. After my senior project, I presented information that I learned at a grade wide senior project showcase. This summer I learned even more about Pediatric Dentistry while volunteering with Team Smile, an organization focused on providing free dental care to inner city children. I met and talked to local pediatric dentists and other oral health care providers. These opportunities to explore have surely impacted me and will guide me in deciding what I want to.

After visiting Ohio State for the first time in the spring of my junior year of high school, I knew that I wanted to be a buckeye. I was amazed by the sense of community, the drive to learn and excel and of course, the team spirit! When applying for OSU, I found out more information about the scholars programs offered and was intrigued by the STEM EE program. I thought that the STEM EE program would be a good fit for me because it would allow me to learn more about STEM fields and connect with other students interested in them. Now that I’ve moved in on campus and classes have started, I am super excited to be a buckeye and a STEM EE Scholar at The Ohio State University!