[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.

Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc .
Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]

Academic Enrichment:

I interviewed my Chemistry lab TA, Lyndsay Boyd. Lyndsay is a fourth year here at Ohio State and is planning on graduating in December of 2017. She is a neuroscience major and will be applying to medical school next year. She recently decided that she wants to specialize in Emergency Medicine. Her desire to specialize in this field came from being a lifeguard in high school. She believes that from being a lifeguard she got a feel for how it is to have someone’s life as your responsibility. There were numerous times where she had to jump in and help drowning children and she loved the adrenaline rush and the feeling of saving someone every time she did it. She shadowed different types of physicians starting her sophomore year but mainly through her Junior year. Starting her freshman year, she joined MedLife and became apart of the executive board later on which helped her receive and internship. Throughout the internship, she learned how to teach CPR and shadowed physicians who dealt with patients in cardiac arrest. Starting her sophomore year, she got involved with cancer research through the neuroscience department dealing with neuro-oncology. She later switch labs to a thyroid cancer lab that she stayed with for two years. She recommended that when making a schedule to have two days open back to back where you could go to the lab and work on your experiment. She recently became a chemistry TA which she plans on doing until she graduates. She will be taking the MCAT in May and prepared for it by taking a Princeton Review class that she attended almost everyday.

Lyndsay helped me realize the importance of doing research and volunteering throughout the next couple of years. She gave me advice on how to get research by reading different professors papers and emailing them in the summer when they do not have as many emails from students. She also recommended to take the Princeton Review course since she feels like it has really prepared her for the MCAT. Overall, it was nice to listen to all of the different volunteering and service she participated.

2017-2018 School Year

This year I’ve had the pleasure of being in contact with a good family friend who is just finishing up with her Residency in Cincinnati. Throughout the year, she’s helped advise me on what I should do volunteering and researching wise. She told me about her researching experiences at Miami University and her medical school experience at University of Cincinnati. Mostly, she has helped me by just telling me about how she doubted herself and doubted that she would get into medical school throughout her undergraduate degree. She has just been a huge support system for me and has helped me believe in myself. This summer she is going to help me prepare for the MCAT and help me get ready for medical school applications.

Service:

This year I have participated in a numerous of different service activities. The first service event I did was Community Commitment on August 27th, 2016 where I got to go around the Columbus area and pick up trash with fellow Health Science Scholar members for five hours. I also then volunteered at the Arts and Sciences Graduate Professional Fair for an hour on November 9th in the Ohio Union. This was an interesting experience where I got to welcome everyone walking into the fair but as I worked I also got to go around the every booth and see what professions seemed interesting to me. At this fair, I learned more about medical, dental, and optometry school. Earlier on in the year on February 10-11th, I participated in Buckeyethon. Buckeyethon is a yearly event held in the Union where students raise money for the cancer center at Nationwide Children’s. This experience was very impacting since we got to listen to different stories from the kids who personally beat cancer and what they experienced. We also got to interact with the children and learn about what Nationwide Children’s does for all of these children. The next service event I did was the Martin Luther King Jr. Day service where we went to COSI in downtown Columbus and helped them package learning kits for students across the nation for four hours. Another service event that was very moving was helping at the local St. Peters Food bank near my house in Dayton, Ohio for four hours. During this, I helped adults and families in need pick and sort out food for them to take back home. Interacting with all of these people made me realize how blessed I was and made me more appreciative for every meal I eat. The next service event I participated in is called Skate It Forward. This event is help by local skating clubs in Columbus. Throughout this event, I helped raise money and volunteered to participate in a figure skating show that raises money for the Ronald McDonald Houses in Central Ohio. We have practices for the show, volunteer events, and then on the day of the show we help the event run smoothly and skate in the show. All the proceeds from the event benefit the Ronald McDonald Houses directly.

The most memorable service experience was participating in Buckeyethon. In order to participate in Buckeyethon, each participant had to raise $250 dollars for Nationwide. On the day of the event, we then danced and participated in different events throughout the night for 12 hours. This event was so memorable since the opening ceremony started with a little girl named Ava and her story about her fight against cancer. Her story was about how much pain and suffering she went through to the point where she could not sleep at night due to the amount of pain she had and could barely eat. Hearing about what she went through just made me realize so much more why I want to go into the medical field and the passion I have to help kids, just like her. Throughout the night, I also learned about cancer and heard different stories of children while even interacting with some of the children from the hospital. At the end of the night, one lady came on the mic and said something that I always will remember. She said “Right now, theres about 23 children fighting for their life on the 10th floor of Nationwide Children’s.” This line made me realize how someone constantly needs help and someone is always suffering in the world. After this experience, I plan on participating in Buckeyethon every year till I graduate.