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Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project. 

My STEP Signature Project was OIA’s Sustainability and Social Justice Trip in Ecuador. On this trip, I participated in a homestay in Cuenca, Ecuador, and I visited the indigenous community of Gullanzhapa, and spent time at Maria Amor shelter for women and children that have experienced domestic violence.

What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project? (1-2 paragraphs)

In regards to understanding myself, I was reminded that I thoroughly enjoy a lifestyle that involves heavy walking, whole food plant based eating, and meeting new people. Being in Ecuador allowed me to do the first and last things on that list, but not the middle. In absence of eating that way, I was reminded how critical it is to my happiness and well being.

My assumptions of what the word rural means, and what the word urban means were proved wrong. The city of Cuenca, while urban, still has beautiful trees, rivers, and color. This contradicts my belief that all cities are grey, concrete jungles. Likewise, the rural areas of Ecuador, such as the community of Gullanzhapa are certainly mostly large areas of land with residents that rely on what they grow/make to sustain them. However, the houses many of the people in Gullanzhapa lived in were large, new, and a lot more accommodating than I expected. This was a good reminder not to assume rural/urban lifestyles or settings are the same everywhere.

What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you? (3-4 paragraphs)

The events that led to the change/transformation that I discussed above were mostly related to group travel and planned itinerary items. However, my time at the homestay and walks around Cuenca on my own reminded me of the lifestyle that I enjoy, and the type of lifestyle that I do not enjoy. I encountered many issues with food while in Ecuador – not being able to order correctly at restaurants, not knowing how to politely ask for different food at my homestay, not feeling confident enough to stick with a WFPB eating style that is not commonly followed in Ecuador.

While I am pleased that I tried foods outside of my comfort zone (cuy, humitas, arepas), I would encourage myself to not feel pressured to try everything the next time I travel. I say this because this sudden and drastic change in eating habits led to many upset stomachs, fatigue, and discomforts throughout the trip. This all could have been avoided and possibly led to an even more enjoyable experience had I taken charge and spoke up about how I would like to eat.

In terms of relationships, I have more patience with those in my daily life because of the relationships I was involved in while in Ecuador. At my homestay, I had to communicate with my host mom through a very limited Spanish vocabulary. I never felt capable of giving her a heartfelt thank you, or compliments on her house, or compliments on the food she prepared us. These little things that I feel are so important to tell the ones you love/live with, were difficult with the language barrier. The patience I have learned is from simple miscommunication issues that me and the other undergraduate students in my homestay had with our host mom. Little issues turned into long discussions with difficult translating, simply because we could not express in more than basic terms what we really wanted/expected/appreciated from our host mom.

Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life? (1-2 paragraphs)

These changes/transformations mentioned above: clarification of ideal lifestyle, food preferences, and relationship lessons are all valuable to everything I do, every day of my life. I treat the people around me with patience and I value that I am able to speak to them in a very complicated way that both of us understand. I choose to walk places whenever possible, which keeps me feeling energized, and I choose food that makes me feel great as well. All of these things together are the core of my days and are very important to feeling my best. Going to Ecuador taught me a lot of new things, but it also highlighted old things for me that I once thought were important, and now do even more so.

Sharing lunch community-style in Gullanzhapa

Carrying the corn that we made into humitas

Cajas National Park

Street Art and Graffiti Walking Tour through Cuenca

The Dunn Scholars Program has opened doors for me both personally and professionally. Personally, Dunn Scholars has created group events that have been presented to me at discounted prices and have been very accessible. This semester, I travelled with other second years to Hocking Hills State Park for a weekend. Here, we were able to reflect on our experience in the program, and discuss how many opportunities the program has provided for us.

My involvement in the Dunn Scholars Program has taught me not only about wellness, but what resources I can utilize when trying to be more aware of the nine dimensions of wellness in my life. Many of our speakers highlight the importance of the mind-body connection, and how this can be beneficial in professional endeavors and the remainder of our time at Ohio State University.

When I entered the J. Michael Dunn Sports and Wellness Scholars Program I would say that my level of maturity is far below where it is at now at the end of my second year at The Ohio State University. The Leadership course we took during our first semester here prompted discussions and dialogue that encouraged me to re-evaluate where I stand on ethical and global issues. I was also given the chance and opportunity to defend my opinions, which is something I was never given the opportunity to do during high school. I think this scholars program has allowed me to become more open to the ideas of others because participating in a living community with peers who shared separate beliefs than my own taught me to be a good listener, and to be critical of my own beliefs. Ultimately, I am able to now consider what events in my life and in other people’s lives shape and form their opinions, behaviors, thoughts, and words. This mindset and mentality is important and a powerful one to have, especially as an Early Childhood Education student and someone obtaining a minor in Leadership Studies. If it was not for this program, I would not have had the confidence in myself and my amount of resources to have switched to this major and added this minor, both of which will fulfill my dream to lead youth in ways that promote critical thinking and inclusiveness.

I am eighteen years old and from Rocky River which is a suburb outside of Cleveland, Ohio. I have lived in Rocky River my whole life, and I loved growing up near a big city and two streets away from Lake Erie. I hope that after OSU I can find a job near Cleveland, whether it’s on the east side or west side. I love my city, and I can’t imagine permanently living anywhere else.

I am a pre-early childhood education major, so I won’t know if I’m officially in the program or not until SP18. I started off as an EEDS major which stands for Environment, Economy, Development, and Sustainability. I realized about two weeks into school that this was not the right fit for me, because the classes and my potential future job would not have been people focused, but science focused. I am a people person, and I’ve always loved working with children. I have been a babysitter since the sixth grade, and have now held two jobs at recreation center babysitting rooms. This, and the fact that I would love to impact the education system in some way, pushed me to choose early childhood education.

I would consider all of my greatest passions to be the things I think and talk about the most – food, exercise, and working with kids. I am always up for researching or trying a new diet and tasting new foods, and I love to write workouts and make workout plans for myself and others. As far as exercising goes, I will try almost anything as well. My passion about children is driven by the fact that I love knowing that whenever I work with a young child, I am being a part of their life-long development, and potentially influencing them in some way or another.

Growing up, I lived with my mom and dad and my brother who is two years younger than me. My brother and I are best friends, and hopefully he will be at OSU in two years. I was also very close with my extended family throughout my childhood, and now into my adulthood. I grew up down the street from a lot of my cousins, and when I am home, I typically have extended family dinners about 3 nights a week. In terms of friends, I have my very close ones from grade school and high school that I keep in touch with, but the Dunn Sports and Wellness Scholars Program has allowed me to make 50+ new best friends this year, and I am so thankful for that opportunity.

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