This image is of me and some of my friends who participated in Buckeyethon this past semester. This year was my first year participating in Buckeyethon and it was an incredible experience. I was able to see first hand the impact that our charitable fundraising makes on the young children of Nationwide children’s Hospital. I heard some pretty impactful speeches from some of the kids and it definitely makes me consider participating in the event another year. The event made me proud of my commitment to service and even more proud to attend a university which is so deeply committed to service.

This image is of me and my International Affairs symposium poster. Since symposium was the culminating event for I.A. scholars, the image makes me reflect a little on my journey through the program. I have been awarded some incredible opportunities such as the study abroad experience which I took advantage of (and used as part of my I.A. project). I also met some very quality people who appear in some of the images on my poster. International Affairs scholars has granted me both opportunities for life long learning as well as life long friendships.

This photo is of the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State where I spent most of my semester. In my second year I have begun my journey into my core required business classes and it has posed many opportunities as well as difficulties.

Beginning my core classes has allowed me to get a better view of the world of business through some of my required core classes. I have started to find my interests as well as identify fields which I dislike. My start in Fisher classes has challenged me to manage my time efficiently and increase my academic work efforts compared to those of my general education classes.

This photo is a picture of me and a few other International Affairs students on a study abroad trip this past summer. This was my first official study abroad which introduced me to a whole new world of culture and scholastics. Going to a foreign country with my domestic friends was a great experience because we all began to integrate into this new culture while maintaining our common thread of being American students.

This trip allowed me to step outside of my comfort zone and explore a world of different cultural customs as well as new sights and experiences. Being forced to adopt the language of the host country grew my confidence with my spanish and furthered my ability to speak the language. In addition, the trip offered entirely new global perspectives which I would have not had the opportunity to learn about had I remained in the United States.

This is a photo taken from when my family moved me into Smith Steeb at the beginning of the year. It was a weird transition leaving my family for such an extended period of time. My friends on my floor in Smith Steeb however, supplemented the lack of immediate family members.

My friends on my floor in Smith Steeb created a community which I could surround myself with. Living in Smith Steeb has comprised the vast majority of my year and granted me friendships which I will keep throughout the duration of my college experience.

This is a photo of a few of my fraternity brothers outside of our chapter house. Becoming a member of Ohio State greek life has been a huge part of my semester. Throughout the semester I got to know members of my new class very well and began building friendships to last me throughout my collegiate experience.

Joining the fraternity helped me learn to budget my time better and interact with a variety of people. I share a lot of my memories from freshman year with my brothers and joining OSU greek life has allowed me to expand my list of extracurricular activities.

This is a photo I took at one of my first OSU football games. Football games were a large part of my first year experience and helped foster my appreciation for OSU. For me, this artifact represents my becoming a part of the buckeye family and the community which Ohio State manifests.

This artifact also embodies several past times outside of the classrooms and enjoying one of the many extracurricular activities which the OSU campus offers. I was swept up in the atmosphere of game day and the commitment with which the OSU student body shows toward the team. I look forward to many more years of Buckeye games.