The STEP program at OSU took up more time and caused me more stress than I thought it would. Although going to meetings and attending co-curriculars was manageable, albeit tedious, the real meat of the program came when writing the proposal. Before getting into STEP, I had planned to use the money to either study abroad or maybe use it on a potential internship, ideally the former. When I found out that my study abroad program was not OIA approved, I ultimately had to write my proposal on a potential future internship. This proved problematic as the proposal is very structured and details are key. However, with the help of my STEP coordinator and some clever writing, I was able to successfully submit my proposal with confidence. Though it may only be a place holder, I wrote it in a way that I would approve of its review even if I had an internship secured. Additionally, at the time of this writing, my initially proposed study abroad program is being reviewed and might be approved for STEP funding. Fingers crossed.

Though these may just seem like a collection of groceries to some, to me they are a memento from my second trip to Toronto, Canada. My second time around, our group spent more time exploring what Toronto had to offer including the Royal Ontario Museum, the Islamic Aga Khan museum and Casa Loma, all sites that provided interesting historical, cultural, and artistic knowledge that would be hard to find anywhere else. One of the favorite parts of my trip was going to a Metro, a Canadian grocery store. As mundane as that sounds, it was interesting seeing what brands and types of foods Canadians were able to buy versus Americans. It’s interesting seeing well known American brands or companies selling certain foods to different areas, regardless of their proximity. In the picture, there is Kraft peanut butter, a company that is widely known in the United States but not for its peanut butter. It was also a learning experience purchasing the groceries as the Canadian currency system is similar yet also different from the US system. There, tax on certain foods is higher and they also round up to the nickel, a more intuitive and time conserving practice than fiddling around with pennies in the US. No matter how much flak I got from the group I was with, the Canadian grocery store experience was one of my favorites and the one I look forward to the most when in Canada.

This is screenshot of the letter of approval for a scholarship I applied for through the Mershon Security Center. The scholarship is for study abroad trips that further the understanding of national security in a broad context. I add this to my artifacts as this is the first supplementary scholarship I applied for in my lifetime and had the good fortune of receiving. These funds will go towards my study abroad trip to Korea during the summer of 2016. Throughout the application process, I met with different professors I have never spoken to learn about a relevant issue to both South and North Korea, the matter of North Korean defector refugees, the topic I will be researching during my time in Korea. I also hope to reconnect with my culture while learning the language of my people to a higher level than before. Though the scholarship process was relatively challenging and more than a little stressful, I am satisfied with the end result and with the effort that I put into the whole process. Hopefully this is not the first and only scholarship I will receive during my time at OSU.

This is a picture of one of the group projects that I completed for a WGSS class I took first semester. The end product of the project was a blog post created on WordPress. Each group had to take a topic and examine it both intersectionally and intertextually and present it to the class. I chose to use this project because even though it took an unnecessary amount of time to complete in a class that I thought would require little work, what I did to complete the project was admittedly quite relevant. To me, this artifact represents a sort of wake up call in that the media that we and other groups examined work to perpetuate typical gender, sexual, racial, and class norms in ways that no one would even think about questioning unless under such academic circumstances. Being able to look at media intersectionally and intertextually will be useful in the future so I don’t just mindlessly consume the products advertised to me by companies. This project and this class has ultimately taught me to be a smarter consumer of media in looking out for reinforced stereotypes and typical social roles portrayed by the media.

This is a picture of a loaf of bread that I made on a Sunday morning in the RPAC test kitchen (yes, that’s a thing). This loaf was made at the end of semester Bread Club meeting where members got to bake their own bread from start to finish. This loaf of bread was a delicious learning experience. Being an international studies major, I don’t get many opportunities to make things with my hands, let alone something that is fluffy and delicious, so I was both proud of and satisfied by the end product. What I found surprising was how long the rising and baking process was as the process took almost 2 hours from bowl to mouth. I guess the takeaway from this experience was patience and of course, the recipe that we used that I took so I can make some more bread later. I also learned that bread dough is rather hard to mix. And also that I need stronger forearms…

This is a tie from the store Tigertree, located in the Short North area of Columbus. Apparently it was made in the US (100% polyester) for the obvious reason to get bought and worn by the buyer. I chose this tie as an artifact because it is a, well, an artifact of my first real trip to the Short North. Last Saturday, me and one of my suitemates along with some other people on our floor in our residence hall went “gallery hopping” in the Short North. We went to a gallery or two, grabbed some food, and went to many different stores. Before then, I had only gone to the Short North for a happy hour or to go to one place, not multiple. From this experience, I learned that Columbus is a more interesting city than I gave it credit for, at least the immediate area around campus. I knew the Short North was already there but I had never taken the opportunity to explore it like I did. I also learned about the multiple bus routes that run from campus to the downtown, as I grabbed some bus maps.