It’s crazy to think that I’m about to graduate from the Dunn Sport and Wellness scholars program! It has made my first two years as an undergrad at Ohio State both meaningful and impactful, and am incredibly grateful to have been a part of it. DSWS has opened doors for me to volunteer with a variety of organizations in Columbus including the Columbus Marathon, Buckeyethon, The Columbus Dream Center, the Dunn Dash Indoor Triathlon, and Friends of Goodale Park. This volunteering has opened my eyes to the needs in our city and has shown to me that I can make a difference in the community. The program has helped me develop personally this year through learning from a variety of speakers, from my peers, and from the experiences it has provided. Many of the guest speakers at our meetings challenged me to assess my personal wellness and life balance, and have pushed me to take a closer look at my career goals to assure that they match my passions well.

I have matured greatly during my freshman and sophomore years here at OSU – personally, professionally, and academically – and am excited to see my continued personal growth during my remaining two years here. It is difficult to even remember who exactly I was before DSWS and before college.  The DSWS freshman leadership class in fall 2016 began my personal journey to becoming actively aware of my values, strengths and weaknesses, and my leadership style. The intentional extracurricular activities in addition to the weekly meetings have further developed my awareness, congruency of character, and personal wellness. The time spent living, learning, and having fun with my fellow DSWS scholars (especially during freshman year while living in Morrill Tower) have shaped my actions and experiences at Ohio State for the better. Being a part of such a strong community of academic achievers has pushed me to become as strong as I can be academically as well, which is incredibly important for my career. Dunn Scholars has been there for me through the good and the bad, and I would not change being a part of this group for the world. It would not be all that it is without the hard work of our advisors and student leaders or without the great scholars themselves. I am excited to continue my involvement in DSWS through future third and fourth year programming, and cannot express my gratitude for this program enough!

During my freshman year at Ohio State, I have grown in ways I could not have imagined before coming to college.  It was a rough process to try to figure out how to effectively study for classes and to balance my classes with extracurriculars, but I got better and better at is as the year went on.  Lots of trial and error made it possible for me to become the student I am today.  I was also able to grow as an undergraduate researcher at the OSU Sports Medicine Research Institute- I started out by doing basic, data entry tasks at the beginning of the year and ended the year by presenting my own research poster project at the OSU Sports Medicine Research Day in May.  One of the most impactful ways I grew this year as well was in my religion.  I started going to Rock City Church in October of my freshman year, and was able to grow in my faith and am going to go on my first mission trip this summer.  It will be a nine day trip to Choluteca, Honduras, and I am incredibly excited to go and serve the people there.  Another major way I grew this year was in my relationships with others.  I have never had such close, tight-knit friendships as I have this year and it was been awesome for me to get to know so many people on such a deep level.  Overall, it has been an incredible freshman year full of self-improvement and maturation, and I am so grateful to call Ohio State home.