Year in Review

This past year, I have grown a lot as an individual. I am so lucky I am able to attend a university that cares so much for its students. Starting with classes themselves, I have expanded my knowledge immensely. I have learned how to study and use the tutoring centers to help me. I have been able to decide what I would like to do with my career and feel confident about it. To expand with confidence, I have become more confident in myself. Whether it be of my abilities or of myself in general, I have grown into a better adult. Finally, I have met so many wonderful people. From my life long friends and amazing teachers, I wouldn’t have met anyone like them anywhere else.

This year has helped me discover who I am and who I want to be. My goals have shifted for the better and I am excited for the future. I can not wait for next semester to start and see what sophomore has to offer.

G.O.A.L.S.

The honors & scholars G.O.A.L.S. serve as a guideline. I feel it is a great way to organize thoughts and review past, current, and future plans. I want to use this guideline to see how my plans fit with the honors & scholars ideals.

G: I have always had an appreciation for diversity. As a Spanish major, that is a part of what I am studying. I have traveled to Spain, and most recently to London, England. I feel that these experiences have given me the confidence and courage to be myself and has only made my want to learn grow. Knowing that I was not going to get much work with my Spanish at home this summer, I have gotten a job at the local Mexican restaurant to be around Spanish as much as possible. I also have a plan to spend a significant amount of time in the summer of 2017 in a foreign Hispanic country. I want to learn the culture and immerse myself in the language.

O: As a freshman, I began in high level Spanish courses. Because of this, I did struggle but because it is something I love, I put all my efforts into it. I spent a lot of time studying and in the tutoring center, along with time at Spanish club meetings to get more experience. I am expanding my knowledge outside of the classroom as well as in.

A: As a prospective teacher, I love kids and I love helping. With the Pen Pal program that honors & scholars began, I was able to write with two students of a local elementary school. It made the students so happy and they were able to practice their writing skills as well. Outside of OSU, I have helped my high school Spanish teacher for years. I love returning to the school and helping her with her classes.

L: Since my first day at OSU, I have gained so much confidence in myself. I am learning what I am capable of and starting towards my goals. I have been able to meet so many different people from down my dorm hall to workers in Columbus. i have been able to reach out and take the advantages that are offered such as attending sporting events and joining clubs. With confidence comes leadership. One is not afraid of their own ideas to make a difference. This, I have gained within the last year and will be able to apply it for the rest of my life.

S: Service is more than just going out and volunteering. Service can be done in everyday life. Just being kind and considerate helps the community. I always do my best to be that person. I try my best to help when I can and to make the people around me happy. A good morning to someone can make their day. One shouldn’t only provide service in one Saturday for a few hours. One should always be willing to help the people and things around them.

Honors & scholars is a great opportunity for students to be more than students. It’s a way to get them out there into the community while expanding their abilities. I enjoy being a part of honors & scholars and love all the opportunities that come with it.

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

At the beginning of Spring semester of 2016, my second semester at Ohio State, I was taking a Spanish composition course. Going in, I knew I wasn’t terrible at reading or writing in Spanish. I had always been ahead of everyone else in my past classes. However, when I started this course, I discovered quickly that I was going to have to do a lot of work. It was quite a challenge. I would spend hours reading compositions to make sure I understood them and spent plenty of time in the tutoring center with each one of my compositions.

I was very hard on myself and would get very down when I felt I wasn’t doing as well as I wanted. That only made me study more because it is something I am so passionate about and want to do well in. As the semester went on, my work began to improve. I became more confident in my writing. Proof of my improvement was shown in the course’s final project. All of our compositions are put together into a portfolio and as the file progresses, one is able to see the improvement throughout.

Therefore, this is why I have chosen my final portfolio as my artifact. It shows my progression through the beginning of my time here at OSU and determination I have for something I am passionate about.

Final portfolio 1

About Me

My name is Vanessa Lonigro. I am a student at The Ohio State University studying Spanish. I’m apart of the Architecture scholars because I have always had an interest in architecture and wanted to take part in activities across the campus and the city. I have a passion for what I am learning, therefore, I am deeply involved with my major. I am able to find ways to incorporate my Spanish major into the activities we do in our scholars group. While others may be looking at only the architecture aspect of it, I look at the cultural aspects within the architecture. Being apart of scholars opens new opportunities with volunteering as well. The services I take part in help the community through being better overall such as weeding community parks or making creations to raise money. My favorite volunteer activity I have been apart of has been writing to a pen-pal in a local elementary school. Overall, I plan to make the most of my time here at OSU to accomplish my future goals.