The Ohio State University has helped me grow in many ways since my arrival, just over a short year ago. The Mount Leadership Society has been a large part of my growth in the areas of interest of the University Honors & Scholars Center. These categories along with a description of how they have been encapsulated through involvement in the first years of the program are listed below.
Global Awareness: From Welcome Week, to service, to topics of our scholars group’s meetings, a focal point has been becoming more aware of the diverse lives of people in our own country and around the globe, and working toward becoming a better global citizen. We have learned about the nations poor, the statistics of the state of global poverty and equality, and both what we can do to help those around us, and how to stay informed and engaged; this has been a central part of the Scholars experience, as goes the motto of The Ohio State University, “education for citizenship.”
Original Inquiry: A large part of the second year of the Mount Leadership Society Scholars Program is designing and implementing a service program to carryout throughout sophomore year. It takes a lot of preparation, dedication, communication, reflection, and persistence to follow carry out the year of service.
Academic Enrichment: The Mount Scholars Program offers many events, workshops, conferences, and discussions outside the classroom, in addition to the one credit hour Scholars class freshman year, and the required service learning course sophomore year. Leadership, personal and social discovery, and personal growth are key points of these opportunities. A trip to Washington, D.C. over spring break was also made possible by the Mount Leadership Society.
Leadership Development: The Mount Scholars Program is centered around leadership and community service. Classes and meetings are scheduled around leadership topics, and opportunities within the organization are present. Opportunities include committee positions, planning events, scheduling and carrying out a trip to Washington, D.C., planning and enacting the year of service during sophomore year, and mentoring a freshman “mini” throughout their transition to college. Students also spend months planning a series of group service projects during freshman year dealing with a choice of social justice issues. This project goes through an approval process and the outcomes of the projects are reported to the class at the conclusion of the projects.
Service Engagement: As evident, service is a central building block of the Mount Leadership Society. Freshman in the program are required to participate in a service project once a month, each dealing with a variety of social justice issues, along with planning a series of group service projects. Second year, students help with move-in and welcome week, enroll in a three credit hour service learning course, and complete their self-run year of service.