Global awareness is one of the most important aspects of pursuing an education at a higher institution. Whether it be by doing volunteering at homeless shelters, food banks, being a part of a club, or embarking on a study abroad, global awareness helps one grow as an individual, and prepares them for the real world. Currently, I’m part of Global Health Initiative, which has four different committees. I participate in local volunteering (like working at homeless shelters and doing “Clean Up Columbus”), and hope to one day go on a service trip to India, Malawi, or Guatemala, with the international volunteering committee. I also plan to go on a German study abroad trip the summer after my sophomore year, and hope to gain a greater perspective and appreciation of different cultures from that.

Another skill I hope to gain here at The Ohio State University is one of original inquiry. I hope to get involved in some type of research by Spring semester of freshman year, perhaps in a lab that investigates the extent of brain and spine trauma. I also hope to, at some point, pose my own burning question to be investigated, whether it be in the restoration of movement (in relation to the spine), or in developmental Neuroscience. I hope that future classes I take will spark further questions in me, and that I will have the opportunity and ability to pursue these questions.

Part of being in the Honors College at Ohio State means that academic enrichment is one of my core values. Even though I came in with [comparatively] a lot of credits, the requirements of the Honors College forces me to challenge myself to become, and ask more of myself. The Honors College will help my stay on track with my career goals, whatever I may want to be. With a major in Neuroscience and a minor in German, I get to pursue an endless variety of career options, and the Honors College sets me up well for that. By putting myself in a more challenging and competitive atmosphere, I broaden my college experience and learn more about myself, whether it be in the classes I choose to fulfill my GE requirements, or the specialization courses  I choose for my major.

Something that I was a part of during high school, and would love to continue in college, is leadership development. As a member of student council, National Honor Society, and a captain of the swim team, I was definitely a leader to my peers. I hope to become another kind of leader in college- one that freshman can look up to and hope to become. I want to volunteer at the Grant Medical Center and become an active member of USG. I hope to gain more insight on what it means to become a leader for one of the four committees of Global Health Initiative, and one day, develop new research in my own lab. Being a leader always comes more naturally when pursuing something you really care about, and so I hope to become a leader in the field of Neuroscience, and in participating in various community events and research.

Aforementioned in the previous paragraphs, community service and engagement is at the top of my priorities. I truly believe it makes someone a more well-rounded person to be able to give back to their community, and put themselves in another person’s shoes. One of the clubs that I’m in (Global Health Initiative) combines the love of public health with the passion for service engagement. Already, we have volunteered at various events, one of which we served food to families at a homeless shelter. This was a particularly eye-opening event for me, and it only fuels my passion for community involvement. In the future, I might like to create a club of my own that, like Global Health Initiative, combines two major aspects of life that we might not always consider.