Year in Review

I began my sophomore year with the drive to succeed. I knew that this year would be essential not only for creating a strong GPA, solidifying friends, and perfecting extracurricular involvement, but also for creating a stable base for my future academic endeavors. After a full summer of volunteering at Riverside Methodist Hospital, working as a Patient Support Assistant at Riverside, and helping out with neuroscience orientations for incoming freshman, I was ready for a new semester. My autumn semester began with the class that I had heard so much about (in a negative way), Organic Chemistry. Not living up to it’s “hype,” Organic Chemistry lecture and lab proved to be very enjoyable once I realized how crucial organic chemistry is in the production of many of the products that we use everyday. Combined with physics, cognitive neuroscience, and a writing course, autumn semester was veritably intellectually and mentally challenging, but it was definitely a challenge that I  enjoyed overcoming.

Getting off to a solid start in classes, I was especially excited to start up the fall season of OSU Club Baseball. Having spent many hours in the summer working out in the gym and going on runs/sprinting, I was ready to see my improved velocity break the gun come practice. Additionally, each autumn is when we run Club Baseball tryouts. Tryouts come with a new group of incoming freshman who will most likely spend the next four year in the Club Baseball family. With that said, I always look forward to helping run the tryouts so that I can scout out/interact with potential prospects that are both quality ballplayers on the field and decent people off the field as well. I’ll say that I couldn’t be happier with then newest group of Club Baseball players.

In addition to the exciting things happening at Ohio State, life outside was full of good news and vibrancy as well. My older brother Michael, landed his first actuarial job in Greensboro North Carolina, and to the sound of things, he’ll be moving up the ranks at a rapid pace. In addition, I’m willing to bet that I’ll have a sister in law by the end of summer. My sister Mary, who’s a senior at Upper Arlington, has wound down her college search to OSU, Miami, and Ohio Wesleyan, and has the potential to play field hockey competitively. Additionally, my father is still doing great after suffering an ischemic stroke in the MCA 2 autumns ago. Also, It’s always great to stop in and say hi to my mom at the Student Health Center, where she’s always making sure people leave her office with a pearly white smile. Finally, I look forward to interacting with my new cousin expected to drop foot on this earth later in April.

Towards the end of the autumn semester, I was very honored and thankful for being delegated as leader of the Neuroscience I-CAN program through the Neuroscience Ambassadors. Handed one of the largest leadership positions I’ve ever held has truly been a blessing. With this position has come great improvements in my ability to not only understand what it means to be a leader, but to actually carry out that role, and make a group that’s enjoyable for every member. This spring semester has consisted of non-stop coordination with high school teachers from schools around Ohio and surrounding states. Having completed two trips already, one to Walnut Hills High School and Indian Hill High School, we hope to get one more in before the semester comes to a close. The outlook of this program is especially exciting as we hope to begin to bring in more money via grants/external sources and hopefully expand this program. Next semester, we’re hoping to visit high schools in Washington DC. This program is truly embodying our focus to motivate high school students to partake in STEM fields, with an emphasis on advancing the constantly evolving field of neuroscience. In the process, we hope to draw in the best students from high schools around the Midwest.

This year’s spring break in Tampa was especially eventful with my family and Club Baseball team (also family). From speedboat dolphin watching and deep sea fishing, to football on the beach and taking in rays while playing the best game ever created on the diamond, my spring break proved to be one of the best. BUT, you can never let the Florida sun catch you off guard. Staying back an extra day with family, I decided to spend my last day relaxing on the beach. Two and a half hours was all it took–that is, two and a half hours, no sunscreen, and a UV index of 10. When my family and I headed up from Clearwater Beach to make it back for dinner and the UMBC vs. Virginia game, it was then when I began going through extreme, uncontrolled shivering. Fast forward through a miserable night having to get my tomato red body up for constant bathroom breaks (due to the sheer amount of fluid my dad was making me drink), I woke up in the morning in a new world of hurt. Taking a glance into the mirror, I leered at the most repulsive view I had ever laid my eyes on. Driving home 15 hours in the car, we arrived at Upper Arlington Urgent Care. To my luck, the doctor had never see sun blisters as bad or as large as what was all over my stomach and chest. Being referred to the OSU burn clinic for a literal “skinning” of my chest and stomach proved to be the most painful day of my life. Need I say, sunscreen is a must.

Anyway, as I finish up this Spring semester’s lineup of Biochemistry, Physics, and Physiology, I’m finalizing my final Neuro I-CAN trip of the semester, pitching pretty much every weekend for Club Baseball, and am enjoying getting together with my Bible Study group each week. I await a summer of Organic Chemistry 2 and lab 2,  volunteering, and studying for the MCAT. Regardless of where I am and what I’m doing, I try to enjoy life to its fullest; I couldn’t ask for a better university, for better friends, or for a better family, and I can’t wait to witness God’s plan play out for me and for those around me in these upcoming years.