My First Semester In Review

Phew. Has it gone by already? It really doesn’t seem real. So much has happened in such a short period of time that it’s kind of overwhelming. Is it already December, right before finals week?

Well it sure doesn’t feel like it.

Honestly, I never thought I would come to really feel normal here. I thought I would always be in this weird state of “I don’t belong here” and “I don’t belong anywhere else.” I don’t know when it happened though; one morning I woke up in my bed and I realized it wasn’t unfamiliar anymore, that it was my bed. The classes I were taking weren’t just a summer program that I would soon be out of, they were real and their grades matter.

The beginning of this year was super hot. It felt like my skin would melt off for weeks, and Baker isn’t air conditioned.

At all.

This heat-hole was uncomfortable at best, but there was one good thing about it. It was the reason I even made friends. Because everywhere was so uncomfortable to be, people would go to the lobby, because at least there were more windows to open. Everyday, there was a group of us that would be in there suffering together. We started playing cards and talking, and on one very long night we all made a group-chat together and it was settled.  We were friends.

Well ain’t that something?

The rest of this time I’ve spent making memories and projects, because being a Motion Image Production major means that I don’t really get a break from filming. It also means that my friends are very well acquainted with my camera and the way the lens looks at them. I also have an internship with the MMC scholars, so I do more filming and editing there too.

The memories I make are wild, somethings I couldn’t even begin to explain to an outsider. We graffiti the white board in the lobby with our unique quotes and laugh as people try to make sense of them. The videos are wild too, but they taught me discipline and hard work. These things take time, patience, and ideas. A couple of times I ran into dry spells, but the next week when the next video was due. I’m excited to continue, and I hope I make it all the way into my major and beyond.

But I’ve noticed that I’ve changed as a person too. And I’m okay with that.

And if anyone ever somehow stumbles upon this, I say to you: keep going. It all gets better, and it can totally be worth it in the end.

My First Week

My first week at OSU was kinda weird. Like, it wasn’t bad (for the most part) but I was mostly just having a hard time adjusting to “city life”. My entire life, I’ve lived in one town, in the same house, so abruptly changing locations to somewhere where mountains aren’t a thing and cars must yield to pedestrians is kind of wild to me. My first week included me waking up at hours only God knows to trudge my way to a Spanish class that actually made me want to die (but that I was thankfully able to get out of and switch to a Spanish class that I love ), melting from the heat in Baker West, and trying to make friends. On top of this, over the summer I had gotten hired by the MMC scholars group and had the last of my background check. The email with the directions had been in my inbox for about a month when I had arrived at campus, so I thought I knew where it was.

It turns out I didn’t.

I had thought the place was on High Street, because everything seemed to be on High Street. A half hour to my appointment and one Google search later showed that it was not, in fact, on High Street, but a 17 minuet walk away in the Buckeye Link Building on Lane Avenue. So, obviously, I started fast walking because it was too hot to run, but the path that Google Maps showed me went to a fenced off part of the Oval so it took even longer to get to the Buckeye Link building.

When I get there, right on time might I add, I walk up to the front desk saying that I had an appointment. The woman working the desk looked at me confused and sent me to another department, where I was then told I was in the wrong building.

Ugh.

I, with as much grace as a dog with his tail tucked between his legs, walked out of the building. I then started to sob, called my boyfriend who lives over a hundred miles away and couldn’t possibly do anything to help. I was scared because I had missed an appointment that would have led me to a new job. I was scared because I didn’t know what would happen next. I was terrified because I didn’t know where on Earth I was. I was stranded in a strange city trying to make due on my own, and I finally understood how my older brother felt when he moved to Nashville by himself.

Quickly, or at least as quickly I could manage while trying to duck around people and hide the fact that I was an actual wreck in that moment, I found the email the OAA office had sent me originally, and the building was.
Another.

17.

Minuets.

Away.

I eventually got there and had everything smoothed out, but my nerves were shot in the end. Besides that fiasco, my first week was fine and filled of things like free things and playing a card game where I cannot tell you, the reader, the rules unless I wanna get kicked out and never play again, and experiencing the horror of not being able to cut my sausage.

Below I put some photos I took during my first week because I love pictures and I wanted to share them

Year in Review

[ “Year in Review”  is where you should reflect on the past year and show how you have evolved as a person and as a student.  You may want to focus on your growth in a particular area (as a leader, scholar, researcher, etc.) or you may want to talk about your overall experience over the past year.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

G.O.A.L.S.

[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.

  • Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc.
  • Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
  • Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
  • Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
  • Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]

Career

[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career.  Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

Artifacts

[Artifacts are the items you consider to be representative of your academic interests and achievements. For each entry, include both an artifact and a detailed annotation.  An annotation includes both a description of the artifact and a reflection on why it is important to you, what you learned, and what it means for your next steps.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

About Me

[Your “About Me” is a brief biographical statement that might include your intended major, your academic interests, your goals, as well as the things that make you unique.  Definitely include a picture! Also, remember that you can always update this post at any point. For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]