April 5, 2021

TedX at Ohio State and the Global Water Institute organization collaborated for an event to discuss global access to water and proper sanitation. Specifically, they discussed how water access and sanitation is a women’s issue, with ties to education as well. Many women do not have access to water in their communities, which means that they have to travel long distances to get water, leaving less time for education. Within our discussion after watching the Ted Talks, one participant mentioned how important it is to frame this topic as a global public health issue considering that many children are becoming sick from parasites or dying from diarrhea. In fact, half a million people die every year from diarrhea. Additionally, we discussed how an ongoing issue is that organizations will enter communities, add sanitation infrastructure, but fail to ensure that this infrastructure is sustainable in the long term. I think that these issues are incredibly important when it comes to International Affairs and Political Science. Much of our discussions include how to provide for communities in need or account for existing inequalities, but it is crucial to frame these discussions in terms of long term development, instead of short term solutions. The event also talked about how students can relate their career aspirations to sustainability, environmental, and developmental issues, which is something that I am becoming increasingly interested in as I specialize my studies.

March 13, 2021

The past weekend, I attended TedX at Ohio State’s annual speaker event, Horizons. Featuring 13 speakers and performers from a variety of backgrounds, this virtual event touched upon many topics relevant to culture and current events. Jesse Walker, an assistant professor of marketing at the Fisher College of Business, spoke about how people are more likely to root for the success of an individual more so than a group. His study on supporting the success of sports teams versus specific athletics- and how they extrapolated that to support of wealth or inheritance taxes on the top 1%- was very interesting.. Overall, people looked more favorably upon a single billionaire than they did on a group of billionaires. The idea that the increasing rhetoric of referring to the richest among us as the “top one percent” frames them as an inherent group, makes people more likely to support wealth taxes to combat inequality. Additionally, Briana Brownlow, a PhD candidate in clinical psychology, spoke about how structural racism impacts the physiological reactions to stress for the Black community. Lastly, Lonnie Thompson spoke about his glacier research and drilling for ice cores. This organization also has a community outreach program, “Adapters”, where they visit local schools and talk to them about ted talks, leading to interesting discussions on salient social topics. I thought this event was both captivating and informative. The organization did a great job at transforming the event onto a virtual platform, with impressive animations to boot.

February 2, 2021

For the interviewing workshop, IA scholars got to hear from Ryan Wilhelm, a career counselor with Career Counseling and Support Services. From mock interviews to reviewing resumes, this is a service that helps students and hopeful professionals of all levels. I found it interesting that most of the workers in the office are also licensed therapists, which I think is really important in terms of supporting the emotional pressures that come with entering the professional world. One thing that was mentioned in regards to this was the idea of imposter syndrome. Furthermore, these services are designed to work with your personality and goals. I find this important because a large part of interviewing in today’s world comes down to showing personality and adequately communicating your goals. In terms of preparing for an interview, Wilhelm stressed that it is imperative to a do a little research beforehand. This can include finding out who will be conducting the interview as well as some of the company values and ongoing projects. Aside from a career application, this even was also helpful in terms of my goals as a student. All of the advice I received, such as creating my ‘bank’ of skills, could easily be applied to applying for an internship, grant, or other university program. Furthermore, these skills can be specific, transferrable, or even completely relative to the other applicants. In an increasingly globalized world, it is important to know how to advertise all of your qualities as strengths and to be prepared for common interview questions. 

October 29, 2020

Leading up to Halloween, UNICEF hosted a virtual game night as a part of our donation war with Penn State University. I have been a part of UNICEF at OSU since my freshman year, and I am currently serving as the secretary. Every other week, we meet to discuss world events as well as the UN’s current efforts to mitigate suffering around the globe, primarily in developing nations. Most recently, we have discussed UNICEF’s efforts to disperse vaccinations for polio and their clean water initiatives. My involvement in this organization is really beneficial because it keeps me aware of global issues and allows me to help fundraise for mitigation. The virtual game night offered multiple choices for attendees, including pumpkin “carving”, Kahoot, and more. Although online pumpkin carving is not exactly linked to International Affairs, this event does coincide with some of my academic and career goals. In this new age of virtual learning, not to mention virtual everything, knowing how to operate Zoom and other online meeting formats is a skill of its own. Leading up to this event, I worked collaboratively with other members of our executive board. We learned how to set up breakout rooms and discussed ways to keep this event engaging to our audience. Regardless of how quickly the COVID-19 pandemic is remedied, I think that it will have lasting effects on the format all many events going forward. Virtual has become the new normal, and this may persist for years to come. As such, it has become necessary to adapt to these changing formats in both the academic and professional world. 

October 5, 2020

Presented by the Undergraduate Student Government’s Sustainability Committee, Dr. Darryl B. Hood spoke at the Environmental Justice Dinner and Dialogue. Dr. Hood is an associate professor in the division of Environmental Health Sciences in the College of Public Health. The event began with Dr. Hood reflecting on his research on “disparate health outcomes in vulnerable census tracts with COVID-19 related health outcomes in Columbus.” His presentation covered a variety of topics from environmentally-related health disparities in utero, to life expectancies in general. Something interesting to note is that, when looking at a 14-year study from Brookings Institution that compared life expectancies at birth in the richest/poorest neighborhoods of metro areas, Columbus actually has the second-worst disparity in life expectancy at 26 years behind. I can automatically apply this event academically, as I am currently taking a class on International Environmental Politics. In this class, we discuss many similar issues such as sustainable development and negative externalities. In terms of career goals, even if I don’t go into an area of politics that deals with environmental justice, I believe that these are issues that must be considered in every area of policy. For example, the issue of food desserts, which we discussed in breakout rooms, can be greatly linked to environmental justice while being heavily impacted by everyday political decisions. Overall, I thought this event did a great job of addressing the complex global issue of environmental justice, bringing it down to a local, and more personal, scale.

September 8, 2020

In early September, I attended an online resource night meant to illuminate the many different services that Ohio State has to offer for students. Within this presentation, we went over several different categories of resources, including anything from tutoring to electronic services or apps that are available for download. One of the facilities we went over that stuck with me was the Younkin Success Center. This center provides many different things geared towards student success such as career counseling, and although it wasn’t mentioned in the presentation, I believe that they are also one of the sites for CCS offices, where students can meet with a counselor. Other resources mentioned were the writing center for help with papers or English assignments and the Dennis learning center for graduate and professional students. I found the discussion on the Dennis learning center to be interesting because it could also be of use for undergraduate students who need assistance in learning to read academic journals or more scholarly articles. Overall, I found that this event was mostly geared towards first-year students, considering that there was a large focus on learning to navigate more elementary services such as Carmen or the Ohio State app. However, it was definitely beneficial for my academic goals because everyone can use a reminder of the most basic services that an institution has to offer, especially during such limited circumstances. 

February 26, 2020 

As a part of Internship Week mainly hosted by the Ohio Union, I had the pleasure of attending a Student Leadership Pancake Breakfast, featuring a variety of potential employers and career coaches. During this breakfast, the employers rotated throughout the room and offered themselves for further questions at the end. Students had the opportunity to meet each employer, have their resumés reviewed, as well as ask questions about internship and employee qualifications. I personally spoke with two representatives from the hotel lodging industry, a sector that I would have never considered looking into before this event. These conversations were good practice for having professional discussions and networking with real employers. By sharing information about my career interests and campus involvement, I became more accustomed to condensing these points and presenting myself succinctly. One aspect of this event that intersected with my academic goals as a Political Science student and interest in International Affairs was my discussion with representatives from the U.S. Census Bureau. We spoke about how 2020 is an influential year, not only because of the election, but due to the census as well. I was able to learn more about how the census is incredibly important to accurately represent the population of our country, especially minority groups. 

February 15, 2020

As a part of Sex Week, hosted in collaboration with SASHA, I attended a group discussion on sexual stigma in minority and LGBTQ+ communities. This event was small and intimate, allowing for a personal discussion on the experiences of different students at OSU, from a variety of ages. The majority of the discussion centered on early childhood upbringing as well as preteen and teenage experiences. This event relates to International Affairs because it focused on how people experience sexual stigmas differently depending on their culture, race, religion, or gender. Some students expressed how their religion or race impacted both the accessibility of information regarding sexuality and the extent to which they were able to discuss certain issues with their family members. Furthermore, some expressed how, even while living in the U.S., their heritage or traditions that stem from their country of origin influenced the type of medical care or advice they received growing up. I found this event to be impactful because I was able to hear personal stories first hand on how different cultures affect the perception of sexuality. As a woman, I am aware of how gender impacts this issue, but this event was very educational in regards to how minority communities experience sexual stigma differently.

January 11, 2020

Late Saturday night, I joined members of the learning community for a discussion on growth and failure. They graciously shared their own personal stories on their shortcomings or defeats, as well as how they overcame these issues. An important aspect of succeeding in college is recognizing that sometimes, you fail, and that this will not define an entire academic or social experience. Furthermore, one way to prevent failure or support yourself after experiencing failure is to utilize available resources, as we discussed at the event. These resources can be anything from counseling services, professors, or even friends. This event could directly translate to professional and academic goals, regardless of what those goals are. No matter what career path one may prefer, they will always encounter failure of some sort and it is important to have the skills to grow from those experiences. Failure today might translate into receiving a bad grade on an exam or not being selected for a certain program, whereas in the future it could mean being turned down for a promotion at work. In both scenarios, it is necessary to learn from the experience to decrease the likelihood of it happening again. Overall, this event was a fun way to both bond with other scholars and learn about ways in which to support myself.

January 23, 2020

Although this event did not directly relate to my professional or academic goals, sitting around a table with my fellow scholars making lanterns was definitely fun. While my friend seated next to me decorated her lantern with song lyrics in Hindi, others across the table adorned theirs with Chinese symbols. The Lunar New Year is a significant Chinese and Asian event meant to represent new beginnings and bringing family and friends together, much like any typical Western holiday. Even though the lantern I made might not be the most authentic, or structurally sound, my fellow scholars and I embodied the significance of the holiday by crafting and bonding together. Experiencing and learning about other cultures is not only the responsibility of an International Affairs scholar, but of anyone who intends to be a well-informed citizen of the world. Making these lanterns inspired me to learn more about the Lunar New Year and what it means to celebrate across the world. Aside from the Lunar New Year, many Chinese people also celebrate with an additional lantern festival. Similar to how some of the scholars were decorating, many lanterns include traditional Chinese phrases. However, some are also apparently adorned with political messages or slogans.