Artifact #1: People to People Ambassador Program

Sydney Opera House

Sydney Opera House

Before my first year of high school, I was offered the opportunity to go on a People to People Ambassador trip to Australia. This particular picture was taken by me and it shows the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge in front of a sunset. I selected this trip as a whole to be an artifact that represents me as a person because of how influential this event was in my life. The trip lasted three weeks but required months of preparation beforehand. I met dozens of new people and while being literally on the opposite side of the world with around 40 almost-strangers without my parents was just a bit daunting for younger me, it was one of the best experiences in my life.

This trip taught me more about the world than any classroom setting could have. I realized that this wasn’t going to be vacation when right after flying for around 25 hours we were immediately herded to a bus and set out for our first destination. This destination turned out to be a small zoo of sorts where we interacted with various animals and learned about the Australian culture.

The biggest takeaway I got from this trip was to be open to new things. I had never really been opposed to going outside my comfort zone, but neither did I go out of my way to try new and potentially unpleasant things. This event in my life really opened me up to new experiences and all the good things that can come out of trying new things, even if they don’t always turn out for the best. One part of the trip involved living with a native Australian for two days with a small group of other kids on the trip. Being already tepid towards the idea of sharing a hotel room with a few other participants of the program, living with a stranger seemed like something I did not want to do at all. Turns out, the family I stayed with was very nice and I got along just fine there, even being sad to leave. This really opened my eyes to see how other people in other parts of the world live.

I can bring all the skills I learned during my time in Australia forward with me throughout my entire entire life. The skills learned also apply to all aspects of my life because they didn’t consist of hands-on or mental skills (mostly), but rather were cultural and social skills that worked to make me a more well-rounded individual as well as a more cosmopolitan member of the world community.

Going to Australia for three weeks was certainly tough, but it was very rewarding and those three weeks gave me more world experience than any textbook could. I look back fondly on my memories of this trip and look forward to hopefully returning one day to further my development as a student of the world.

Me holding a baby alligator

Me holding a baby alligator

Critical Reflection

The Scholars Program has taught me many skills that can be transferred between all areas of my life. One such skill is the ability to adapt to new situations and become comfortable with what is available. The program has placed me in several situations that were alien to me, yet I was required to complete certain objectives. In order to complete whatever objective needed doing at the time, I had to learn to work well with what I had no matter the situation. In terms of other skills learned during my time in the Scholars Program, though not necessarily through the program, the most important one is quickly learning new things. Various clubs and classes have forced me to become accustomed to picking up and internalizing new information quickly. There is no time to waste repeatedly going over information when a goal must be accomplished within a time frame. The best example of this was during my time in the 2016 Global Game Jam. My group had only 48 hours to not only learn a new system, but create that system from scratch. In order to accomplish this, we had to learn and adapt quickly. There wasn’t time to go over why something wasn’t working when it would be faster to simply remake the same component in a different way. Another skill that has blossomed during my time in the Scholars Program is the ability to work through issues logically and with minimal help. Often there is no one there to help you, be they occupied or nonexistent, so being able to process problems on one’s own in a vital skill to have. During my time here, I have grown in many skills I will need to utilize throughout my life. I know that these skills will only grow in strength and number as I progress through my time here at OSU.

Benjamin Xavier Lee

4050 Legendary Ridge Ln.
Cleves, Ohio  45002
lee.7226@osu.edu

Summary

  1. Over 5 years of leadership experience
  2. Perfect attendance and honor roll throughout high school
  3. National Merit Commended Scholar

Work Experience

Jun 13 – Aug 14

Ride Associate

Mason, OH

Cedar Fair (Kings Island)
Seasonal ride associate responsible for operating roller coaster and ensuring the safety of park guests. Two consecutive summers.

Sep 10 – Aug 15

Instructor

Cincinnati, OH

Cincinnati Martial Arts Club
Taught Taekwondo to younger students.

Education

Aug 11 – May 15

Elder High School

Cincinnati, OH

12th grade
Scored a cumulative GPA of 3.7 and a weighted rank of 28/231

Extracurricular Activities

Sep 06 – Aug 15

Taekwondo
Achieved the rank of Second Degree Black Belt

Sep 16 – Present

Game Creation Club
This club is dedicated to learning about and engaging in the process of making video game

Sep 16 – Present

Open Source Club
Club centered around open source software, including its use and its benefits

Sep 16 – Present

Collegiate Web Development Club
This club’s focus is developing webpages and applications

Aug 15 – May 16

Engineering Club
In this club, a small group of students worked with various basic engineering concepts such as electrical engineering and Arduino programming

Awards/Certificates

Oct 14

National Merit Commended Scholar Award

May 15

Certificate of Merit
A certificate of merit for outstanding achievement in database application development

Skills/Academic Achievement

Honors Program
Selected as a Father Gruber Scholar for academic achievment. Awarded corresponding scholarship all years of High School.

Honor Role
Achieved First Honors 15 of 16 quarters in high school

Aug 15

Scholars Program
I was accepted as part of the Ohio State University’s Scholars Program

Leadership

A member of the Cincinnati Martial Arts Club Leadership Team. 2010-2015.

Additional Information

Certified SCUBA diver.

Participated in the People-to-People Ambassador Program which involved being immersed in the Australian culture for three weeks. An additional 9 months of preparatory activities leading up to the trip.

Perfect attendance throughout my High School career.

Participated in the Global Game Jam of 2016.

Scored a 33 on the ACT.

 

Landing Page

My Name is Benjamin Xavier Lee. I am a first-year Computer Science and Engineering pre-major at Ohio State University. I have been taking some form of a computer science-related course for the past two years so I have some experience in the field. There is still a lot to learn and I plan to learn as much as I can while here at school as well as later in my life and career. As for future career goals, I’m not sure yet exactly sure which aspect of computer science I want to go into professionally. I will use my time here at Ohio State to scour the field and determine what specific branch of computer science catches my fancy. My story is just beginning and I plan to fill these early chapters of my life with as much as I possibly can.

Year in Review

Over the past year, I have certainly learned a lot about myself as well as grown as a person. I expected college to be different but I was not quite prepared for all the ways in which my life changed.

To begin with perhaps the greatest life change, I was excited to live on my own separate from my parents. I was less excited to be living with 3 other guys in a space about the size of my room at home. I worried that this would impede my ability to function optimally and I couldn’t have been more right. I am an introvert. I “recharge my mental batteries,” as it were, by being alone. Turns out, being alone to recharge is quite difficult in a campus as populated as this and having a crowded room to return to. This easily constitutes the worst aspect of my first year of my college experience. If there was any good at all to come out of my situation, it is that I am motivated to work harder so that I never have to be in similar circumstances again (though I may be next year due to not having any control over my housing assignment).

The second biggest life change was being free to do things the way I wanted to. No parents or teachers nagging me to get work down, but also no parents or teachers reminding me that I needed to get the work done. Learning how to properly manage my time is a skill I’m still working on mastering. I never had any issues in high school getting things done on time and I could usually wait until the last minute and still ace assignments. I found out that this was not the case in college and I needed to schedule my time wisely if I wanted to stay on top of all my schoolwork. While I never needed to pull an all-nighter in order to get all of my work done, I have seen my fair share of hyper-busy Sundays after overly lazy Saturdays. This is something I still need to work on, but I hope that by the end of my next year I will have conquered this flaw.

My participation in the STEM Scholars program over the past year has been… interesting. I haven’t been very involved in the Scholars program and I mostly feel like its requirements are a chore that distract me from my schoolwork. Mostly I feel that the Scholars program isn’t what I was looking for when I joined it. I joined the Scholars program with the intent to improve my scholastic life through academic enrichment. What I’ve found, however, is that the Scholars program is a more social program that encompasses a little bit of everything. I want to spend my time in college focusing on learning, growing, and evolving my knowledge in my specific field. All of the activities required by the Scholars program, while occasionally enriching, seem less important to me than had I spent the time working on more academic endeavors.

Overall, my first year has had its ups and downs. I’ve learned a lot, not just academically, but about myself as well as how the world works. While it has been very difficult for me, I am trying to withhold judgment until all the pieces come together. All I hope for now, is that my time here adequately prepares me for truly moving on into the real world.

G.O.A.L.S.

The two most important aspects of the G.O.A.L.S for me are Original Inquiry and Academic Enrichment. Starting with Academic Enrichment, this is my main focus for pursuing the G.O.A.L.S. Everything else I encounter during my time in the Scholars program revolves around my own personal academic enrichment. Every other aspect of the G.O.A.L.S uses Academic Enrichment as a base in some way. I view Academic Enrichment as the most important aspect of G.O.A.L.S because it does apply to everything. Being a learned individual allows for the freedom to do expand into whatever facet of life you choose. The gathering of knowledge has been the most important aspect of humanity throughout its history. This is no different today and it is our duty to learn as much as we can during our time in this world and to use that information to improve the world in which we live.

I believe that Academic Enrichment is the most important to my career in college and beyond. Going into the field of computer science requires one to be academically proficient in order to be successful. I plan to use my time here in college to learn as much as I can, mainly focusing on my major but also giving attention to various other subjects I encounter as part of the general education curriculum. One of the reasons that this aspect of the G.O.A.L.S is so important to me is that for my major is that I will need to continue learning if I want to keep up. There is no way that college can teach me everything there is to know about computer science, there is simply too much out there. This makes it very important for me to focus on my own personal academic enrichment because of how necessary it will be in my future career. My academic enrichment will continue to be an important aspect of my life long after I get my degree. One step I can take to improve my academic enrichment right now is to work on personal projects outside of schoolwork . While I have done a few small projects outside of school, I do plan to take on larger personal projects as time goes on and my skill increases. I must make sure, however, to make sure that I don’t let personal projects interfere with my school-related academic enrichment.

Another aspect of the G.O.A.L.S that is very important for me is Original Inquiry. Going hand-in-hand with Academic Enrichment, I believe that it is our duty to learn new things. It is very important for us to always be pushing the bounds of what can be done and this is especially important in the world of technology. Every day there are new technologies being developed, this is due to all of the original inquiry being done in the field. There is always a need to make machines faster, to make programs more efficient, to make AI smarter. All of these topics are being pushed by members of the computer science community doing important research into new and exciting aspects of the field. While I am unsure of whether or not I want to pursue research during my time in college or just focus on more common applications, I am fairly certain that I want to take part in some sort of research at some point during my career.

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.]

Career

[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career.  Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated.   For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

Artifacts

[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 is a reflective description of the artifact that attempts to communicate its significance.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

About Me

BenLeePhotoMy name is Benjamin Xavier Lee. I am a first-year Computer Science and Engineering Pre-major. I come from Cincinnati, Ohio where I attended Elder High School. My interest in STEM did not begin in high school, but it was cemented there. I always figured I would go into some field relating to technology or engineering. In high school I took an interest in programming and took my first programming course in Java my Junior year. I did very well in this course, but I wasn’t learning as much as I hoped. This was because the teacher, while knowledgeable in the field, followed a strict curriculum to the point of docking points if a student found a solution that didn’t match how he wanted us to solve it. The following year I took a class called Database Applications which was much better. The teacher gave us a crash course on Visual Basic, HTML, CSS, and mySQL all in the span of a few weeks. He then gave of the project of creating a game for the entire school to play. This was a project with spanned the rest of the school year. I excelled because we were free to have our own ideas, make our own decisions, and (most importantly) make our own mistakes. We were left to our own devices and as the weeks and months passed, our paper drafts and simulations evolved into an online game that was vaguely playable. I learned much more during this time than in the entire class the previous year. This is in part by the fact that I wasn’t being forced down a corridor of what I was and wasn’t allowed to learn. This is also because the majority of the responsibility fell on me. The class was only 6 students and we were divided into unspoken groups: the artists, the web designers, the ones who didn’t contribute much and spent the class doing work for other classes, and the programmer. I was responsible for nearly all of the coding the game required. This was a self-imposed burden, and one that I relished. I got to watch as a few short snippets of code here and there turn into a multitude of pages containing thousands of lines of code. This also meant that I was responsible for any bugs and glitches, of which there were many. When we finally released the game to the school it was a fairly broken game, but it was playable. As the school year neared its close, I released several patches fixing most of the bugs for the benefit of the few people still playing it. Overall, it was not a very good game that not a lot of people played, but it achieved its purpose. It taught me more about programming that my first class could because I completed a project, not a series of  predetermined exercises. It also confirmed in my mind that I wanted to be a programmer, which set me on the path I am on now.

I wanted to be a programmer, but I didn’t know what kind yet. This is one of my primary reasons for choosing Ohio State for my education. The University of Cincinnati has a good information systems program that focuses on business. Rose-Hulman University has a great engineering computer science program. I looked at both of the universities but found them too restricting in their focus for computer science. Ohio State is a huge school and it has just about every focus for education imaginable. So I came here with the knowledge that I wanted to go into computer science, but almost no idea of what I wanted to do with this background in terms of a career. I plan to use my time here to learn as much as I can in as many aspects of computer science as I can so that I can enter the world outside of school with confidence in my abilities and a clear focus on what my future will be.

The reason I chose to join the STEM EE Scholars program is not a tale of excitement or adversity. I had heard of Ohio State’s Honors and Scholars program and decided that I wanted to be a part of it. While I was filling out my application I was asked what sort of program I wanted to join, I didn’t even know that this was an option prior to that moment. I looked through the choices and narrowed it down to a few choices. STEM EE seemed like the best fit considering my intended major, Computer (Technology) Science and Engineering, directly contained three of the four aspects of STEM in its title. My epic journey of nail-biting choices and conundrums leading up to the thrilling climax of my finally settling on the STEM EE never really happened. It was the best choice available for a decision I didn’t even know I had to make. Now that I’m here I do plan to take advantage of all that STEM EE has to offer.

Relating to STEM, there’s not much more I can say other than that I’ve got a bit of  experience and I’m ready for a whole lot more. I can’t wait to get into the more advanced courses that will inevitably come further into my college career. I’m excited about all of the opportunities that are provided for me and I’m ready for any and all challenges that come my way. My name is Benjamin Xavier Lee, and I am ready for everything the Ohio State University can throw at me.

My top 5 strengths according to the StrengthsFinder test are: Deliberative, Input, Intellection, Analytical, and Restorative. These play a huge role in my life both inside and out of the classroom. They are major characteristics of who I am and what I’m good at. Even though I may not have known it, these strengths have influenced how I have lived my life, through my decisions, actions, and choices. Knowing my strengths doesn’t necessarily make me change my thoughts about the future as I plan my future based on what I think I am good at. This test just confirmed what I had already sort of known about myself all along.

Achieving my future goals will be greatly aided if I use my strengths effectively and appropriately. However, I will not make my goals solely centered around my strengths. While it is important to improve one’s strengths, I believe that it is equally important to put effort into one’s weaknesses. Our strengths merely help us to know what we are good at and what we might not be naturally inclined towards. However, it is still important to set goals to in areas where you may not be the best at because it helps us improve. That is why my strengths will certainly help me achieve many of my goals, but other goals involve skills that are far from my area of talent. Most of the goals where my strengths will certainly come in handy involve academic or professional goals. I want the most out of my education and I want a happy, successful career. Both of these goals can benefit from my strengths.

My strengths certainly play a large part of my life, but they do not define it. No matter how good a test such as this is, it cannot fully sum up a person. My strengths indeed describe some areas that I excel in, but they do not define me as a person. The only person who can accurately define me, is me.