Mina Lee is a Biological Sciences Scholar currently attending The Ohio State University. She intends to major and test for certification in Medical Laboratory Science and continue her education into medicine and is interested in immunology. Asides from medicine and the sciences, her other interests lie in film and art.
Year in Review
This semester was my first months as a college student in OSU. Even before move-in day, I remember feeling a little overwhelmed, worried about my academic performance as well as how my new social life would be as I was new to OSU, as well as to the whole state of Ohio. The first few weeks at school was a period of adjustment, as I worked my way around campus to familiarize myself with the buildings and locations. Although I felt stressed to adapt quicker to a more independent, hands-off lifestyle, events and fairs took the stress off and made things easier and made a good balance between social and academic life seem more probable.
I was moderately active in volunteering services as a student throughout middle and high school, and I was able to continue volunteering through many events and opportunities such as “Pay it forward” and activities made known through the biological sciences scholar programs. I enjoyed the sense of community provided by this program as well as the focus on Global awareness, Original inquiry, Academic enrichment, Leadership development, and Service engagement. The Scholars program’s G.O.A.L.S. also helped me set specific milestones in my life, and I was able to picture my future more clearly.
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- The first volunteer service event I partook in was Pay it Forward, and I volunteered at a community service shop called “Dress For Success,” where it seeks to empower women to become financially independent by providing professional workplace clothing as well as some essential commodities.
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- One of the events was a music concert.
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- Although my intended major and field of career is in the science field, I still have interests in film and fine arts; this artist talk helped me understand the background behind some of the misunderstood, or unnoticed minimality of some modern arts
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- My first experience exercising my voting rights as a citizen was here in Ohio.
As the academic part of college life settled in and midterm exams neared, I realized that I had not improved my time management skills from high school, which often led me to resort to cramming test materials only a few nights before the day of the test. My Health and Rehabilitation Sciences survey class also helped me solve this problem, as a speaker from the Dennis Learning Center helped devise strategies to decrease procrastination and increase productivity. The Biological Sciences Scholars also held study sessions in the lobby of the Barret house often, so I came to see these programs not as just a program but also a source for guidance and resource.
Now, as I am close to finishing my first semester in college, I see that I still have a lot to learn and that my growth requires me to be attentive and willing. I used to think that I was “done growing” when I got to college, but I see now that there is more to just academic learning, and that increase in knowledge and experiences around attaining that knowledge changes learners not only in what or how they learn but also as a person with changing views and changing habits.
G.O.A.L.S.
Global Awareness: I am currently a member of GlobeMed, an organization that supports grassroots organization around the world to make positive impacts on specific issues. This chapter of GlobeMed is working with Komera to educate and empower young women in Rwanda to prevent the controversial issue of child marriage, as studies show that women with higher educations have a lower risk of being sold off into marriage as a child. The organizations will hold fundraisers and members may request to mentor some of the girls in the Komera-founded schools in Rwanda.
Original Inquiry: Next semester and on, I plan to involve myself in undergraduate research. This will not only help me apply my class knowledge in a real-world setting, it will also give me experience in a laboratory setting, which will help me familiarize myself with my pre-major, Medical Laboratory Science. Also, if I can, I plan to combine this with my work-study so that I can immerse myself in not just an academic setting, but also a professional one.
Academic Enrichment: Although my main academic interest is in medicine and the sciences, I’d like to broaden my experiences in academics by reaching out into different fields of study. I plan to minor in screenwriting and take additional classes to become more well-rounded.
Leadership Development: Although I missed my chance to involve myself more in the GlobeMed organization, I want to take responsibility and involve myself more deeply within this organization to bring new ideas for fundraising and personally connect with those who benefit from our efforts, so I plan on running for an officer position the next time it becomes available.
Service Engagement: During the first few weeks as a student, I was given the opportunity to give back to my new community by volunteering in a benefit boutique called “Dress for Success,” which helps women become financially independent by helping them pick professional clothes for interviews. This led me to realize how clothing is a commodity often taken granted and appreciate how the community can unite to better individual lives. Given that I have time, I want to go back to Dress for Success and become an official volunteer, as this volunteering also piques my interest in art and visual aesthetics.
Career
Although I am only in my Freshman year of college, I believe that I already have a lot to offer based on my skills–those that are preexisting and self-developed and those learned through experiences. I am organized and have a highly developed ability to adapt to new and changing information. I am also able to work very efficiently and as a very visual learner I can learn new skills quickly.
Artifacts
Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle discusses the history and thoughts behind his work “Phantom Truck”
On October 11, 2016, I had the chance of hearing an Artist Talk by Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, a respected Contemporary Artist and MacArther Fellow, through a beginning drawing class I’d been taking as an Art General Education credit. Though I’d initially taken this class for my Art credit because of my personal interest in visual art and drawing, I had never considered the less-discussed forms of art; one that functions simultaneously as a body of art and as the traditional role it takes superficially. This event helped me think more provocatively about the reasoning and thought process behind many modern works, and I believe it will help me think about myself and my goals in the future.
About Me
Hi, My name is Mina, and I’m from Gaithersburg, Maryland. I was originally born in Masan, South Korea, and was seven years old when my parents decided that the States would provide a better education for me and my sister. After having lived in Maryland for almost twelve years, I made the choice of attending The Ohio State University and my family moved again to Dublin, Ohio. Although I can’t say that I am a full Ohioan yet, I hope to immerse myself into the movement and many cultures of this state.
Since I was a child, I loved reading mysteries and would constantly try to solve the cases before the main detective did. So as I grew out of Nancy Drew and into Sherlock Holmes I came to a realization that helped me meld my interests in mysteries and medicine.
Currently, I’m studying to become a certified medical laboratory scientist and plan to involve myself in research to gain experience in the laboratory. I am also a current member of OSU’s first chapter of GlobeMed, a non-profit organization that collaborates with other grassroots organizations in the world to help their goals come to fruition. In our current chapter, we are working with a Rwandan group called Komera, which works to educate and unite young women through sports and studies in an effort to reduce child marriages.
After graduating, I plan to work in a hospital or any other laboratory setting for a few years. Later in the future I would like to specialize in immunology.