As a member of the Health Sciences Scholars Program at OSU, I am tasked with pursuing academic excellence to prepare me for success in a health-related career in the future.

Academically, this year has been very different than my freshman year as it relates to the classes that I took.  Last year, I was in a lot of “general education” classes that are prerequisites for higher level classes.  Having completed those GE courses, I was able to take classes that are more specific to my major and career path this year.  I was shocked by how much more interested I was in classes like Anatomy and Physiology than I was in General Chemistry and Biology.  This interest has made me very excited to pursue a career in a health field and also made me want to worker even harder to be successful in these challenging classes.

Although I am still unsure as to the exact career path that I would like to pursue, the things that I have experienced and the classes that I took this year helped me to narrow down my options.  I have a better understanding of what I am interested in and I am looking forward to continuing to learn about myself and possible career options in the years to come.

This school year, I worked hard to develop and enhance my leadership skills in a variety of ways.  I also gained new leadership skills that helped me to be successful in all areas of my life.

This past fall, I served as a Teaching Assistant in the Health Sciences Scholars Freshman Seminar class.  I was in charge of overseeing and leading a group of freshmen students during lectures and in-class activities.  I was also given the responsibility of grading and providing feedback on the students’ homework and projects.  During my time as a TA, I noticed that I became much more independent and comfortable completing tasks on my own.  I also gained a great deal of self-confidence and I learned how to always have a positive attitude even when things do not go as planned.

This was my second year on The Ohio State Cheerleading Team and at the beginning of the year, I was voted by my teammates to be a member of the Cheerleading Leadership Team.  The Leadership Team is a group of “captain-like” figures who serve as the communication bridge between the coaches and the other team members.  As a member of the LT, my communication skills strengthened tremendously and I noticed that the trust that my teammates have in me also increased a significant amount.  Knowing that I was voted onto the LT by my teammates gave me a great deal of self-confidence that I was then able to use in my role as a team leader.

I am eager to continue to strengthen and develop my leadership skills through things like the Health Sciences Scholars Program and the OSU Cheerleading Team.

For my interview with an upperclassman, I chose to meet with Kim Rolfe.  Kim is an undergraduate student at Ohio State who was recently accepted into the Physical Therapy School here.  I am very glad that I met with Kim; as someone who is considering physical therapy as a profession, Kim helped to point me in the right direction as to how to prepare for this career.

Kim was able to answer all of the questions that I had about the career of physical therapy and pursuing a graduate degree in this field.  For example, she showed me the website that contains the online application for physical therapy schools and she walked me through the steps of how to create a good application.  She explained that shadowing and volunteering are extremely important as well as a good GPA and involvement in extracurricular activities.  She encouraged me to apply to be an HSS TA during my sophomore year in order to start building my resume.  She was also able to give me some helpful pointers for classes that I will take in the future, like Anatomy and Physiology.

Kim also told me about the research job that she has had for the past couple of years and she explained what research is and why it is important.  After speaking with her, I plan on learning more about research and looking into research opportunities that I may be interested in.

I definitely learned a lot during my meeting with Kim Rolfe and I plan to use the tips that she gave me to help me be successful in the future.

This year, I participated in a total of 22 service hours. I am a member of The Ohio State University Cheerleading Team and these hours came from the four Coed College Prep Cheerleading Clinics that our team hosted throughout the year. These clinics were very rewarding and I have special memories from each one that I know I will never forget.

The purpose of the clinics is to introduce young cheerleaders to the world of college cheerleading. They are able to work on their tumbling and stunting skills as well as their crowd leading abilities with the assistance of our team. It was so much fun to work with these young athletes and see them progress and grow so much in just one day. It is extremely rewarding to know that you are making a positive difference in someone else’s life.

In the future, I plan on participating in more of these clinics with the OSU Cheerleading Team as well as getting involved with other service organizations on campus.