The Dunn Sport and Wellness Scholars program has helped me in beginning the process of determining what I want to major in and what I want to do in the future. Each week, we have new speakers from all different sorts of backgrounds come tell their story and what they do now. This is probably one of my favorite aspects of being involved in a scholars program and it is unique to DSWS. During the second semester, we had the CEO of AccelWELL, Nicki Meyer Dennis, come speak to us. Before arriving to the meeting, I was reflecting on how I have no clue what I want to do with my life and was kind of freaking out. After hearing her speak about her company and going deeper into what AccelWELL does, I was intrigued. Before joining DSWS, I honestly had no clue what wellness even was, but after gaining a deeper knowledge of what wellness is in class last semester, I knew that I was interested. Listening to her speak helped me to realize that wellness may be something I may want to do with my future. I was also given her contact information, so if I ever want to contact her company and ask questions about what a job in wellness may entail, I am able to. Having professional speakers come and talk about what they do has helped me develop personally and possibly could help me develop professionally.
DSWS has helped me to get out of my comfort zone and meet new people. Since I am a commuter, I am not constantly with everyone in the program. Everyone else has gotten a chance to meet one another and develop deep friendships and towards the beginning, I felt like an outsider. It taught me that making friends with people who live together is not as easy when you aren’t always there. The second semester has been a lot better because I found people in the program that reach out and invite me to things. They are super nice and inclusive too, which makes things easier. I also realized that I can’t wait for people to contact me, but I need to be bold and reach out to them.
When I entered DSWS, I was a shy girl who knew a handful of people that went to OSU. As the end of the year approaches, I can say that I have gotten out of my comfort zone and been more vocal and bold when meeting people. I have made a core group of friends through a program called YoungLife, but I also have met people in DSWS and my classes. My level of maturity has grown immensely because I realized that I am responsible for completing my assignments on time and to the best of my ability. It has been a crazy, but incredible year at THE Ohio State University.