Having global awareness is an important part in being a well-rounded person. In my first year reflection, I wanted to pursue this awareness through study abroad. Although it is still a possibility, the likelihood of my participation in these programs is falling. However, I still continue to meet people and make friends who have experiences in culturally diverse places or are directly from those places. They have and continue to give me insight into other people and places that I currently do not have the means to visit myself. I plan to continue to involve myself in student organizations in the future (particularly those that involve my knowledge in a foreign language – German).
Considering academic and “original inquiry,” I have actually been more successful than my other goals. I currently am involved in academic research in the physics department. I am still continuing my search for variety and summer opportunities to inform me of what I may want to pursue as a career after I graduate. I would like to get maybe two or three different positions to give me a more broad idea of physics and astronomy research endeavors, and what I would like to contribute to advancing. I currently do attend and continue to attend talks provided by the Astronomy and Astrophysics Department through the student-led Astronomical Society and their continuing lecture series with guest speakers from NASA and other universities.
My Honors Contract involves a lot of heavy Honors Courses, primarily in my major (Honors Quantum Mechanics and Electricity and Magnetism and high level astronomy courses), so as to challenge me and best prepare me for a career in the field. Now, most of the classes in my curriculum are major requirements, and those (along with a GE class for Persuasive Writing) are what are going to be the most beneficial to give me relevant skills in the areas I wish the pursue. My other GE choices are for my own personal interests; they are classes on topics that I am interested in learning, but have little to no bearing on my future careers.
In my first year goals, I wanted to become a tutor or teaching assistant for some academic class. I succeeded in this (and plan to continue pursuing these jobs in the future) by gaining an Instructional Assistant position to help lead and teach students in an introductory astronomy course. It has helped me take on responsibility in others’ education and challenged my own understanding of the topics I help teach. I also had the goal to get a leadership position in my favorite extracurricular (the Buckeye Mudder Club). I also succeeded here, and am now a member of its executive board as the Community Outreach Chair. I now help lead a group of around 80 students in our club activities. If time allows in the future, I still plan to maybe help lead other organizations I am involved in.
As the Community Outreach Chair in the Buckeye Mudder Club, I currently lead a group of about ten friends once a month or every other month to volunteer at the Mid-Ohio Foodbank to help provide food and necessities to the poor and disenfranchised people of Ohio. It is a humbling and enriching experience interacting with these kind people, and I am more than happy to do it and contribute to helping a society that has provided me with many opportunities. I will continue to do this, and hopefully add more opportunities through this position for myself and others to help out in other ways.