Month: November 2016

Columbus To-Do Part 2

My second restaurant I visited was Melt Bar and Grill. I went with my family on a Saturday night after the Ohio State and Northwestern game. It was busy and we had to wait for half an hour to be sat but it was worth it. While we waited, there was a cool mural in the front that has 105 famous people from Ohio and it had hidden objects in it for a scavenger hunt. There was also an arcade game table that you can play for free. The menus were on the back of album covers which was very cool. The dinner menu was completely grilled sandwiches from the classic grilled cheese to a banana and chocolate grilled sandwich. I had the Parma Italy which was breaded chicken, marinara, mozzarella, and Romano. The food was very delicious and it filled me up.  My favorite part besides the food was probably the décor because of how unique I was.

My brother and I at Melt Bar and Grill

My brother and I at Melt Bar and Grill

The Melt mural

The Melt mural

My sandwich

My sandwich

My third restaurant was Da Levee which is a Cajun food restaurant located on high street. I went to this restaurant with Kandace Glanville, a second-year ENR member and my mentor. We took a COTA to Da Levee on a Sunday around noon which made traffic very manageable. When we arrived, we ran into some more ENR members having lunch there and we sat and ate with them. Da Levee is a counter service restaurant where you go up to the cashier and order your food and pay right away. It was not very busy at all on Sunday so our food came out in about five minutes. The restaurant was kind of small and was decorated like a modern New Orleans restaurant with art that references jazz, alligators, Mardi Gras, and so on. I really loved the food. I got Jambalaya which also came with some slices of a toasted baguette. The food wasn’t very spicy which for me was a good thing. Da Levee also has some nice vegetarian options which the others enjoyed. I would recommend Da Levee to anyone who enjoys Cajun food. It is very affordable and delicious.

Jambalaya

Jambalaya

Kandace and I at Da Levee

Kandace and I at Da Levee

The fourth restaurant I visited was Schmidt’s which is a German restaurant located in German Village. I went with Valerie Blubaugh, a first-year ENR Scholar member. Valerie and I took a COTA bus down to German Village on Veteran’s Day around one in the afternoon. The wait for us to be seated was about an hour but thankfully the street that Schmidt’s is located on also has a few cute shops that we spent time exploring while we waited. The first store we went to was the Schmidt’s Fudge Shop. Inside there is not only freshly made fudge but also an assortment of candies and fun souvenirs. I bought some caramels and chocolate and they were delicious. Next, we went to a cute store called The Red Stable which is right next to Schmidt’s. The Red Stable is a cute gift shop that has lots of handmade, locally made, and unique gifts like license plate signs that say “Columbus”, jewelry, knit hats, and so on. I bought some homemade dog treats for my doggie that were peanut butter flavored. Lastly, we went to another gift shop called Helen Winnemore’s. This gift shop was more modern with unique kitchen utensils, decorations like dog clocks, candles, blankets, jewelry, and so on. The store was very cheery and the owners mingled with the customers like neighbors. Valerie and I got a warm welcome when we came back to eat at Schmidt’s despite the very busy atmosphere. We ordered some pretzel bites for an appetizer which were very good. I got a Reuben Sandwich which filled me up but it was delicious. We split one of Schmidt’s famous Cream Puffs and it was so good that I didn’t want to waste any of the cream that fell out of it. The cream puff was my favorite part of the meal. I highly recommend Schmidt’s to everyone, but allot time for a long wait and visit some of the shops in the area.

Schmidt's Sausage Haus

Schmidt’s Sausage Haus

Valarie and me in front of Schmidt's

Valarie and me in front of Schmidt’s

My sandwich

My sandwich

Our creampuff

Our creampuff

The last restaurant I visited was an Indian restaurant called Aab India located on Grandview Avenue. I went with Olivia Minnie who is a first-year ENR Scholar and one of my suitemates. Olivia and I took an Uber to Aab India for dinner on a Sunday. To our surprise, even though the outside of the restaurant looks like any old casual restaurant in the area, the inside looked like a restaurant you would take someone on a nice date to. The interior was decorated in elegant Indian style, there was soft Indian music playing, and the tables were covered in white table cloths complete with white napkins. We ordered our food soon after we were settled. I ordered a dish called Saag. I got the variety that I ordered had Spinach and Shrimp. We got white rice and Naan bread with our Saag. What was nice is they have options for vegetarians and vegans on the menu. They also have the option of how spicy you want your meal. The food was very good and it was a nice new experience. I would recommend Aab India to everyone because there are so many options for people

Our Meal

Our Meal

Olivia at Aab India with me

Olivia at Aab India with me

My favorite part of this project was going out with friends to new restaurants and trying new foods. I learned that Columbus has so many restaurants with different types of new food to experience. I really hope to go to more restaurants to try new foods around the city. I suggest to others who want to experience these wonderful restaurants to take advantage of the COTA buses. They made going to places like Schmidt’s in German Village very easy.

 

 

 

 

Career Exploration

My current stage in my career exploration process is just exploration. I have a good idea what field I want to have a career in and what job I want but I’m keeping an open mind to other options. I decided to work for a career in environmental sciences because I love animals and I want to help protect them. My parents are scientists and my aunt is as well and I’ve always wanted to be one as well. At the beginning of the year I was a Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife major but I switched to Natural Resources Management recently. I made the change because I wanted to work more in education that research. The curriculum for Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife is more heavy in mathematics than I would like. Natural Resources Management has more classes with identification, education, and policies which I enjoy more than math. I’m planning on doing some job shadowing or volunteering with organizations that align with my career interest. When we completed this workshop, a lot of what I thought previously about myself were reinforced but in some ways, it made me see some of my traits as strengths that I thought were weaknesses.

My first letter in the RIASEC test results was the letter “A”. I knew I was very emotive, sensitive, and expressive. I knew this was true before because I like to express my thoughts and feelings to others and I’m usually very sensitive to other people’s feelings and opinions. For a while I thought that being sensitive and emotive weren’t good traits for jobs but the RIASEC test showed me that it can be a good characteristic of a worker especially one who works with the public. My second letter in my results was “S”. I’ve known that I’m a very social person but I learned that people who have the letter “S” in their code are often suited for occupations that teach, interact and help people which sounds very appealing to me. I remember that used to want to be an actress when I was younger because I loved to entertain people and make them laugh. I was very outgoing and I loved interacting with people and it is still true. My last letter was “R”. I thought that I was only somewhat realistic in the conventional meaning. I often thought I was more imaginative but I learned that isn’t necessarily what “realistic” meant. I do think that I love to do hands on work and I would love to work with animals for a living. After taking the RIASEC test I now feel like I fit in the “realistic” category well.

O*Net gave me one result for my code which was “Park Naturalist” and that is exactly what I want to do after college. I want to work in the park system teaching the public about the importance of animal and environmental conservancy to hopefully inspire others to do their part to help save wild animals and their environment and protect them in the future. I am passionate about providing and protecting the creatures I’ve deeply loved my whole life and it excites me to work with animals. O*Net says that I need a four-year Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science which is exactly my plan for college. I do not wish to attend graduate school. It also said that I need experience working in the field to make my chances of being hired more likely, which is something I plan to gain over the summers during college.

I have a few ideas for what I can do next to help gain some experience. Over the summer next year, I hope to get an internship with ODNR or at least volunteer for the organization. Another option would be to volunteer with an animal shelter, namely the Union County Humane Society near my home town. I hope by working at an animal shelter I could gain valuable experience working with animals which would look good on a resume. My last option for gaining work experience would be to volunteer my time to help with a project with ODNR surveying bats.

The RIASEC test showed me that I have chosen a career path that fits my skills and strengths well and should bring success in the future. It is very encouraging that the test said I should be a park naturalist because I’m very passionate about animals and I love being outside so being a naturalist would be a perfect fit for me.