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About Me

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ABOUT ME

I’m Brett LaBuhn, I’m from Upper Arlington Ohio, and I’ve only ever lived in Upper Arlington, so I’m a Columbus dweller through and through. Throughout my life, my family has had the opportunity to take care of many non-farm domestic animals. For example, we’ve in total had 7 cats, but only 5 at the same time, we’ve also had a dog, multiple rodents, and a plethora of fish. Animals have always meant a lot to me, mostly because I’m not the most social type, and making friends has always been a difficult aspect of my life, so the companionship I am able to obtain from my cats and dog is irreplaceable. 

I’m able to learn in many ways, while I prefer hands on activities, I am able to effectively learn through listening. Usually I’ve turned to listening rather than hands on because of personal preference. However, in college I’m going to try to build a newer perspective of myself, and try to become a more hands on and interactive learner and person in general, as I’ve spent a lot of my high school time watching events from the sidelines, and refusing to participate in fun stuff. I want to be able to effectively schedule my work time so that school work is done efficiently but not in an overwhelming fashion.

At the moment, my ultimate goal for all the work as an animal science major is to work at the Columbus Zoo. I have gone there a countless number of times in my life, and every time I love it to pieces. I want to be given the opportunity to walk alongside animals and have the ability to protect them and their species.

 

In terms of my views on the environment and sustainability, I want to push hard for heavier conservation in a more realistic way. Due to the current state of our lives, it is completely wrong to want to try and shift off of fossil fuels, but rather a slow transition is the ideal way. I want to be able to protect animals and environments that can’t protect themselves, but not through violent actions, but efficient solutions.

I love the outdoors, visiting metro parks and zoos is something I enjoy greatly, as there’s nothing quite like it. The ability to go out into the forest and walk through the trees without being able to see or hear cars and other human creations is bliss.

Year in Review

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[ “Year in Review”  is where you should reflect on the past year and show how you have evolved as a person and as a student.  You may want to focus on your growth in a particular area (as a leader, scholar, researcher, etc.) or you may want to talk about your overall experience over the past year.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

G.O.A.L.S.

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Columbus To Do List

Part One

For this assignment, I chose the nature and outdoor recreation list. I chose this list because not only do I enjoy going to outdoor metro and state parks, but the list also brings to light the parks around Columbus that I haven’t actually been to, considering I am from the area. This list will help me to explore the areas around Columbus that I’ve always known have existed but haven’t had the chance to go to up until this point. What I look forward to the most about following through with this list is that I’ll have an experience at one park that I’ve never had at any other, and maybe something will happen that will help me to decide where I really want to go in the future with my life.

The experience I chose for my first one was to visit the Columbus metro park Battelle Darby Creek. This wasn’t my first time having been to the park, but each time is a different experience. My favorite thing about this park was just the fall aesthetic it gave off, obviously it is October so one would expect that to be the case, but Darby Creek always seems a little different. It probably seems that way because of how open some parts of it are and how covered many other segments can be, and on days where the sky is clouded and grey, the vibe of fall is everywhere. From going here, I learned that a valuable experience doesn’t necessarily have to come from a long walk if you make the most of the steps you take. Also, I would absolutely go back to this park, and honestly I probably will, I am not exactly sure why I wouldn’t, and I’ve told people to go before, and I will continue telling friends and family to head outside and go to these parks, especially Battelle Darby Creek.

 

 

Part 2

For my second set of experiences, I wanted to choose a location that was fitting to an event or experience that I enjoy, that being sports and recreational activities, and one that isn’t exactly an activity I find myself participating in. So, to find experiences that fit those topics, I chose to go to a Columbus Blue Jackets game, and a local thrift store located on High Street called Rag-O-Rama. Honestly, the Rag-O-Rama experience was my favorite of the three documented on this page, solely because that was an entirely new experience for me.

The Jackets game wasn’t necessarily a new experience for me, like many of the things available on the list, but in my personal opinion, each game is an “experience” of it’s own devices. This particular game was special to me because it featured the hometown team and my personal favorite team, the Detroit Red Wings. As we don’t live in Detroit, I don’t often get to see the teams from there actually play games in person, so each chance I get is one I cherish. I play hockey, and I really believe it’s the best sport on Earth to both play and watch, so this experience is really hard to beat in terms of how fresh it feels no matter how many games I go to. I would tell anyone on Earth to go to a hockey game, but they certainly aren’t for everyone.

 

Rag-O-Rama is a thrift store on High street, about 2 miles from central campus areas. The church that I have been going to my entire life is right across the street, as is a small cafe I go to with my dad before church each week. However, until very recently, I had never actually been to the store, instead I have only seen it and talked about it. Now, I have been there twice, albeit I’ve only bought one thing and said item was only 12 dollars, so I can’t necessarily say that I’m some sort of king of thrifting, but I’d like to believe it. I thoroughly enjoyed Rag-O-Rama, though, and would go again and again to get relatively good deals on nice clothing if the store was a little close to home or to campus. Also, I would absolutely recommend going to Rag-O-Rama, as it’s got a wide variety of brands for relatively good prices, although it is a little more expensive than other more conventional thrift stores.

 

The entirety of the Columbus to do list assignment realistically didn’t teach me a whole lot about Columbus, primarily because I’ve lived here extremely close to the city and campus for 18 years, so I have had the opportunity to hear and do a lot of different things around the city over the years. However, I did learn how fun and useful thrift shopping is, and that might be something I would like to explore more, both for the fun that thrift shopping presents but also the practicality it provides. For those trying to get out and explore Columbus, or trying to complete this assignment in future, I’d just say to get out and do something they enjoy, because there’s a lot that Columbus has to offer in many different ways, everybody can find something they love.

Career

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For my ENR scholars alumni interview, I interviewed Connor Lemons, a graduate of Ohio State with a B.S in Environment and Natural Resources, specifically environmental policy and decision making.

 

What I learned: There will almost always be someone who has an answer for a question I have, so I definitely should not try to solve all my problems on my own. Also, in order to remain less stressed, make sure I schedule classes that interest me, especially when thinking about GE’s and elective courses, since those have more potential to be boring than major coursework. Also, taking interesting GE’s and electives can help be a stress reliever from taking so many major courses. 

In terms of clubs, I learned that it is very important to get involved in clubs, and not stay strictly tied to ENR or related clubs, just join one that I am interested in. Joining these clubs will work as a stress reliever of sorts and help keep me sane while here at Ohio State.

For interviewing and life in the professional world, Always do some background research before going into an interview on the company or person I am trying to work for, because they’ll probably assume I am knowledgeable on them beforehand. Avoid the “umms” and “uhhhs” in an interview. When having to think for a second, try saying “That’s a good question, let me think about that for a second”. It sounds more confident, and it buys a few seconds to think up an answer. 

While internships and lots of positions on your resume look great, jobs are also looking for someone who’s very passionate about the topic at hand and someone with a wide range of skills.

 

How I will apply this to my time at Ohio State: The most important thing to me is the way to handle interviews and the professional world. I don’t particularly have a lot of experience with any kind of “real’ work that required applying and going in for an interview, so the information given there is definitely very important for me. I will most likely take the strategies Connor gave into consideration when I find myself in an interview, and also the general idea that not every job I apply to is a job I am going to get.

Artifacts

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[Artifacts are the items you consider to be representative of your academic interests and achievements. For each entry, include both an artifact and a detailed annotation.  An annotation includes both a description of the artifact and a reflection on why it is important to you, what you learned, and what it means for your next steps.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]