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Year in Review
[ “Year in Review” is where you should reflect on the past year and show how you have evolved as a person and as a student. You may want to focus on your growth in a particular area (as a leader, scholar, researcher, etc.) or you may want to talk about your overall experience over the past year. For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]
G.O.A.L.S.
[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.
Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc .
Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]
Career
As a first year, it’s difficult to know where I’ll be in a year, let alone five years. This is one of the reasons why we STEM EE Scholars had this assignment- to gain an understanding of the lives of an upperclassman, a graduate student, and a professor, to know where we could be standing in our futures. For this assignment, we were required to interview these three people of our choosing and get to know them. I personally interviewed Alyssa Malinowski, Allison Pullin, and Dr. Lyda Garcia.
Choosing the upperclassman and the graduate student were the easy parts. When thinking of an upperclassman, I immediately knew I wanted to talk to Alyssa Malinowski. Alyssa is a third year who is my peer mentor within the College of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences and also has the same major as I do- Animal Sciences. In order to find a graduate student, I first asked my STEM EE mentors if they had any suggestions. From their few suggestions, I happened to see a graduate student who seemed like a good fit. Her name is Allison Pullin, and this is her last year here at OSU.
Although choosing an upperclassman and a graduate student were easy, finding a professor, however, was not so simple. I started out by looking at the Department of Animal Sciences website, and I found the professor I wanted to interview, Dr. Pairis-Garcia. I figured out what I wanted to say to her, I wrote and sent the email, but unfortunately, I received a reply stating that she was on maternity leave. After receiving her reply, I went back to Department of Animal Sciences website to find another professor, which took me a while because I wasn’t sure which professor would be good. Eventually I found one, and oddly enough, her name is also Dr. Garcia.
Since Alyssa has the same major as I do, I thought she would be a great upperclassman to get to know even more than I previously had. Alyssa and I are both on the pre-vet track, which means we have quite a bit in common academically. When talking about classes, Alyssa said her favorites and most memorable ones would have to be Animal Health 1 and Animal Handling. She said she enjoyed them so much because there was quite a bit of hands-on work. I can’t wait until I have the opportunity to take these classes. I actually plan on taking Animal Handling next semester. In order to study for these classes and other harder ones, Alyssa gave me a few study tips. She told me making note cards works for her and to definitely study further in advance than what I think.
Although Alyssa said that she didn’t have too many difficulties with classes and studying during her first year, she did say she is severely directionally challenged, so that made getting lost all too easy. Before her first year, Alyssa was worried about making friends and connections with faculty and professors. She said the best ways to do this are to talk to them as much as possible and to ask questions. Even if it’s a small question, ask them because they will remember you.
After my interview with Alyssa, I had the opportunity to talk with graduate student Allison Pullin. Allison started out her OSU career wanting to become an equine vet, but that quickly changed once she got exposed to dairy cattle. Allison said she still isn’t exactly sure what she wants to do later in life, but she knows it will involve dairy cattle. After she receives her Master’s degree in May, she might want to go back to receive her Ph.D.
Before graduate school, Allison was involved with just about everything. She said this is the main thing she did to prepare for graduate school. Being involved with so many clubs and organizations, studying abroad, and doing research, this gave Allison countless opportunities to get to know faculty and professors very well. She said in order to build lasting relationships with faculty and professors, get involved and just make sure you show your face. She also said it’s great to talk to professors outside of the classroom; it will make you more easily memorable.
After getting to know Alyssa and Allison, I had the privilege to speak with Dr. Lyda Garcia. Dr. Garcia is a professor and academic advisor here at OSU who teaches several courses in Animal Sciences and Meat Sciences. She serves as the faculty advisor for the Meat Judging Team and the Meat Science Club. Although we both have a common interest in animals, her main focus is on the meat sciences, which is what she has done research on. One piece of advice Dr. Garcia gave me that I found amusing was that she said professors “gossip” too. If a student excels in the classroom and is always involved, all the professors will know. She did also mention that this does apply negatively though. She said to “use this to my advantage.”
Before I decided to meet with Dr. Garcia, I researched her on the Web of Science and Scopus. There I found just a couple of her many published works. Once I found the ones I wanted to read, I downloaded them from the “Find It!” button through OSU Libraries. While the idea of the articles was intriguing, they were slightly difficult to read. She and her colleagues wrote several articles about E. coli and Salmonella in bovine and cattle hides and carcasses. I understood the main ideas of the articles, but the details were more difficult to grasp. Although these articles may have been slightly difficult to read, they are a great way to communicate ideas and findings through this field, which is why research and scholarly articles are a crucial part of science.
Throughout my three interviews with Alyssa Malinowski, Allison Pullin, and Dr. Lyda Garcia, I learned a great deal of information. Whether it was study tips, how to connect with professors, or getting involved in research, these words of advice will definitely help me from my first year to my future careers. All three are such great women who I am extremely grateful that I had the opportunity to get to know. Although I dreaded this assignment in the beginning, I am very glad that Jorge Eduardo did assign it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have made these connections with people that could, and are willing to, help me in my undergraduate career and possibly my future career.
Artifacts
Through STEM EE Scholars, I have had the opportunity to become part of the Wonders of Our World (WOW) program. Almost every Wednesday, my group and I go to different schools to perform various experiments and teach different topics to younger students. I have interacted with students of all ages and grades, including 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and my personal favorite, kindergarten. Thus far, we have done experiments relating to water displacement, making graphs, building a boat out of a clay to be able to float, and discussing different types of leaves and seeds.
Being able to teach the younger students about the awesomeness of science is an eye-opening experience. During our visit with the kindergarten class, we taught them about different kinds of leaves and the basic differences between fruits and vegetables. After the in-class portion, we were able to go outside in order for the students to hunt for leaves of their own. My favorite part was seeing them extremely overjoyed at the simplest adventure of collecting leaves. It is a great opportunity to show students that science can be fun!
About Me
Hi, my name is Bailey Mason. I am a first-year from Salem, which is a small city in southern Illinois, where the only things to see are corn fields and deer. I live there with my dad and my wonderful cat, Oliver. Yes, I’m an only child! Being an only child can get lonely and quiet sometimes, which is why I have such great friends; they’re all like sisters to me. I can’t wait to make many more here at OSU.
Even though OSU is about a 5-hour drive from Salem, I still chose to come here because I knew I would have infinite opportunities to grow as a successful student and as a successful person in general. When I was choosing universities to apply to, I had a few in mind, but after visiting OSU my junior year in high school, I knew this is where I wanted to be. In Salem, we don’t have much diversity or opportunities to grow and learn. We learn material in the classroom, but here at OSU, you get experience. It allows you to get hands-on experience, and it really immerses you into diversity and different ways of life. This is one of the many opportunities I’m most excited about.
I am majoring in Animal Science with a Pre-vet interest. Ever since I can remember I have wanted to become a veterinarian. When I was younger, my mom always said she knew I would grow up to be a vet because I couldn’t walk down the street without stopping to pet every animal I saw. For me, choosing a favorite animal would be like asking a mother to pick her favorite child. I love them all. If I absolutely had to choose, though, I would have to say the big cats. They have such power and grace.
I chose STEM because I’ve always been interested in science, specifically biology and animal life. My freshman year in high school is when biology really became interesting to me. My biology teacher, Mr. Phillips, was one of the best teachers I’ve ever had. He made it so interesting and actually fun to learn, so I thought being a part of the STEM Scholars would be a great opportunity to explore the field of science in ways that I probably never knew existed. As of right now, I am a part of the Shades of Animal Sciences and Pre-vet organizations. I think these two and STEM EE Scholars will be great opportunities for me to get involved. People might say I’m a little reserved and keep to myself mostly, so I hope all my OSU experiences and involvements will help me open up to the ever-changing, exciting world around me!