My First Semester at OSU

Emily Livshits

My first semester at OSU has been well for the most part. Being in college is a totally different experience from what I’m used to, but it is also totally different from what I expected as well. I didn’t really expect it to be as difficult as everyone was telling me—I thought my old study habits would work in helping me succeed, but that was clearly not the case after I had suffered from my first midterm grade. I was in so much shock that I had cleaned up my study habits to make it more efficient and have been able to ace my other two midterms in that class. Still, I struggle, but it’s all a part of adjusting. 

While that was the caes, I did have a fear of failing my classes, which is why the first midterm had really instilled that fear in me. However, like I said, after cleaning up my study habits and being able to be more efficient with time, that fear had left. I am still nervous about classes and even though I am doing well, I am still worried that I won’t be doing well. I know it will go away eventually, but it is only my first semester and almost kind of expected.

I had a small fear of making friends before college. I didn’t think it would be too hard for me, but I was nervous about it anyways. That fear has completely diminished. It was much easier for me to make friends here than I ever expected. It is easier to see people and meet up with people since not only are we in the same classes, but we are all mostly within a max of a fifteen minute walk from each other. 

My experience in Humanities Scholars has been amazing. I have loved every event, every meeting, and every class. I do wish I had taken advantage of more events however, so I am making that my goal for next semester. I attended events that were community building within our scholars group, such as movie night, and a few that were community building within Columbus, such as collecting food donations around the neighborhood through the church, but I would definitely like to do events that are more like the latter to gain that enriching experience. I also want to do some events that are more Humanities based than just the ones I’ve done, such as attending a Broadway show. I’ve done things outside of Humanities Scholars that involved the Humanities, such as attended a dance show, a musical, and work at the Special Collections department at Thompson Library doing metadata on different photo collections from the late 1800s. While these are Humanities based and involve Humanities concepts, I would like to attend more events within the actual program. Overall, a good first semester and an amazing semester as a Humanities Scholar!

From every fun fact about myself, to every “Tell us something no one knows about you,” to every college conversation starter of “Where are you from?” I always respond that I was born in Israel. To me, being from a different country is something unique and something not many people can say, so I take pride and advantage of it. But Israel is not just my place of birth, or the dirt in the cracks of my shoes, or “just another country,” To me, Israel is what I’ve known for one of the most critical parts of my life and a key factor in making me who I am today. But I tend to forget the part that also shaped me into who I am— growing up in America and the morals and values that have been passed on in my family that have really shaped who I am. 

I was born in Israel and had lived there for six years before my family and I moved to the United States. Growing up in Israel already makes you from a tight knit community just because Israel is such a small country. To give perspective, Israel, in whole, is about five times smaller than the state of Ohio. To add on to that, I grew up in a small town, so everyone knew everyone extremely well. I remember constantly being with my cousins, friends, or neighbors from how tight-knit the community was. Going to other people’s houses for lunch or dinner wasn’t a rare occasion, it was natural. I grew up with a lot of family that I did not share blood with in Israel. When we moved to America, the culture shock at first was extreme. We weren’t used to not having people over or going to other people’s houses. We weren’t used to not talking to strangers. We especially weren’t used to the cold of October. So even though we didn’t find exactly what we had in Israel, I know that that will always remain a core part of me since it is a key aspect from where I am from.

While I was born in Israel and lived there for a while, I was raised and given great opportunities here in America, and am proud to call it my home. Living in America has also shaped me into who I am today. While I couldn’t exactly find the tight-knit community from where I grew up, I found other things, such as empowerment, opportunities, and diversity. The empowerment of many things such as being independent, being your own person, being confident, really also defines me into who I am today. Opportunities that are endless in a country like here allowed me to keep shaping myself as I grew up, whether that be different types of pre-college programs, jobs, or volunteer experiences where I would meet some of the best people who had key roles in shaping me into the person I am today. While I was young in Israel, I know that the diversity here is far more than it is in Israel. Diversity is really key to making me who I am since I am diverse myself, and being able to find that easily here in America made it really easy to mold this aspect into my morals and values, which define me as a person. 

But apart from the physical locations, my own family’s values and morals shaped me as a person as well. Growing up in a giving and kind family, I tend to do the same, caring for others and realizing that being kind is one of the most important aspects to making me, me. I can also see how my values of things such as education, kindness, and hardwork align with my parents’ values and their parents’ values as it they are passed on from generation to generation. Without this upbringing and these values and morals, I would be a totally different person that who I am today.

Whether it is my two different homes, the people I met there, or the people who I share blood with, they are the key things that make me into the person I am today. Without being born in Israel, I may have never wanted a tight-knit community. Without moving to America, I would’ve never built the same types of morals and met the same type of people who have shaped me into the person I am, and without my family and bloodline, I would be totally different. Location, people, or genetics— these are key things into making a person who they are, and are key things that made me into who I am.

My first week at OSU has been exciting, new, yet like home all at the same time. Even though there are things I’m nervous about, I look forward to the upcoming weeks, mostly due to the inclusive environment I felt at OSU, Baker, and being in the Humanities Scholars Program.

 For the past week and the upcoming weeks, I was and am most excited about making new friends, going to classes, and being independent. However, I was nervous about classes too, because the rhythm is different from what I experienced in highschool. While it’s exciting to be taking classes I’m enjoying that will lead me to my degree, it’s faster paced, and the material is more difficult from what I’m used to. I’m also a bit nervous about finding my way around campus without a GPS.

Even though I am a bit nervous for the change in lifestyle here, my first week has been amazing in meeting and making new friends. Something that made this easy is being involved in Humanities Scholars. So far, it is exactly what and how I thought it would go. I expected to have a tight-knit community within my scholars group, and I can surely say that has already happened through things like our barbecue and community meetings. I can also say that the bulk of my friendships came from being a Humanities Scholar because of our community and the common ground that we share by being in this program. I am extremely looking forward to experiencing more things within the program, such as art, whether that be theatre, museums, or music. I am looking forward to learning more about different communities within groups and seeing how people interact with each other, forming our own community, and attending events we have coming up. 

Overall, I am looking forward to my next three and a half years here at OSU, where I will conquer what I’m nervous about, and grow as a person, a student, and a scholar.

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