I cannot thank ENR scholars enough for everything it has done for me these past two years. Coming into college, I was leaving my home of ten years in Germany and move back to the United States to start my college career. ENR scholars welcomed me with open arms and much needed guidance my first semester of college. Moving from my military community that I grew up in for my whole life, into a smaller community within Ohio State, made the transition to college so much easier.I truly don’t know where I would be if I didn’t have the support of my friends that I made through ENR as well as Esther and Amanda.
The highlights of my ENR Scholars experience is definitely making great friends with so many caring and positive people. Another great experience was being an ENR mentor for a semester which fostered my goal to become a clinical psychologist. Being able to help my mentees with their life problems and be a resource for them their first semester at Ohio State was truly a humbling experience and I’m so proud of them! ENR has taught me a lot of life lessons and to name a few:
- How to (and the importance of) living a sustainable life style
- Everyone has life struggles and the most important thing is to take care of yourself physically and mentally.
- Just because something doesn’t go as planned, doesn’t mean it is the end of the world. Everything happens for a reason.
- The importance of having a flexible schedule & writing everything in your schedule.
- The importance of asking for help when you need it.
- & most important: how to sleep in a hammock.
Over the course of these two years, I have definitely changed my impact on the environment. I use public transportation or walk to most places, make sure to turn off all lights and unplug electronics before leaving my dorm room, hang dry my clothes instead of using a dryer, and make sure to properly recycle to
Columbus standards/regulations. Next year I will be moving off campus with two other ENR Scholars, Turner Shrout and Adrianna Pollee (YAY! Very excited!) and I am going to use the same actions as stated previously, plus develop more sustainable food practices like buying locally sourced vegetables and meats instead of eating at a dining hall.
For the incoming class of ENR scholars, the best advice I can give you is: what you get out of this experience is the effort in which you put in. The more events you attend, the more you hang out with people in your scholars class, and becoming a part of leadership council or mentorship council is when you will really see the benefits of being an ENR scholar. There are so many great people to meet within ENR and this scholars group will give you the opportunity to discover new aspects of the environment, Ohio State, Columbus, and yourself as an individual.