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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 guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]
G.O.A.L.S.
- Global Awareness: Going into college, one of the most important factors to me was the availability of study abroad programs. It is my hope to not just visit the major places of the world but immerse myself fully into the culture. It is my hope that spending time in other places around the world will open my eyes and help me to understand other perspectives.
- Original Inquiry: In terms of original inquiry, I have and will continue to seek out classes and other opportunities that allow me to participate in research. In my current Comparative Humanities 1100, I am conducting my own research on the process of reading. My plan is to pursue classes that offer such opportunities to prepare me for future research on optional healthcare avenues.
- Academic Enrichment: For my academic enrichment, it is my intention to pursue a more rigorous course load through an additional minor in history. As a passion of mine, I believe this supplement will not only push me academically but help contextualize my major and specialization.
- Leadership Development: While I am just starting involvement in my extra-curricular activities at Ohio State, I do plan on pursuing leadership positions in organizations that I feel incredibly passionate about. Outside of this, I believe leadership can also be developed through listening and learning from those that came before us. The keynote speakers will be especially instrumental in this and I hope to gather as much perspective and skill from speakers as I can.
- Service Engagement: For service engagement, I am planning to get involved with organizations that encourage civic engagement and education. I hope to spread as much awareness about the political atmosphere and political issues as I can in order to help people create understanding between political alignments.
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 guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]
Peer Mentor Interview
Several weeks before arriving at Ohio State, I sat down at my makeshift desk to attend a zoom with my peer group. Already worried about the uncertainty of moving five hours away from home and living in a completely separate dorm from that of my peers, entering the Politics, Law and Society program was daunting, not to mention Ohio State as a whole. However, that zoom offered some much needed solace in the form of familiar faces and such faces continued to offer advice, wisdom and know-how about the ways of the Ohio State Campus.
Having grown up in Columbus, Amanda Mixter is no stranger to the hustle and bustle of Ohio State’s campus. Among her chief reasons for attending OSU was a deep familiar connection, as her grandfather served as a professor and her mother frequently worked on campus, as well. In addition to influencing her choice in university, Amanda also recalls that her family inspired her to go into law as she was surrounded by lawyers as a kid. Majoring in Political Science and Philosophy, minoring in French and being a part of the Politics, Law and Society Scholars, Student Government and College Democrats, she has been preparing for her post-college goal of attending law school since day one. Her ultimate goal is to help climate change by advocating for a change in our lifestyles. She enjoys learning, stating that Political Identities has become a favorite class this semester and hopes to travel abroad, stating that one of the most exciting things about the prospect of law school is getting to attend a new school in a different part of the country. Additionally, she hopes to participate in university-offered study abroad programs, such as one offered at the Canadian Parliament or a pre-law course at the University of Oxford.
When asked about what made her consider PSL, Amanda stated that she hadn’t thought about it until she was able to talk to Kevin at a college fair. However, she states that it has been an interesting learning experience. She favorite speaker came was the President of the Legal Aide Society for Columbus. The first guest during her first year, Amanda described how impressive and eye-opening it was to hear someone speak candidly about going from an engineering major to law school. The ups and downs and turns of finding what you want to do with your life do not happen automatically and Amanda greatly appreciated the speaker’s honesty. However, the most valuable lesson she’s learned from PSL has been to listen to people she disagrees with and learn to respect them despite their differences.
As for what she’s learned from The Ohio State University, Amanda says that the university has taught her how to be independent. Going from a very tight-knit high school with people helping every step of the way, she believes that Ohio State offers students a chance to prepare themselves for the professional world and whatever else may be ahead of them.
Reflecting on our conversation, I believe it was not only important for me to get away from the zooms and see the campus, but make a connection. Besides the interview part of our conversation, Amanda offered me places to study, facts about the campus and honest advice about being on campus. As I go through my first semester at Ohio State, I have learned to listen to others (especially when its easier to block their opinions out), to get involved and that there is always something to look forward to. I don’t know what will happen in the next few years–this year has brought a level of uncertainty that has changed how all of us live. However, despite the ups and downs of our education, our career trajectory and our personal lives, there is always something on the other side.
About Me
Hello! My name is Maya Maurer and I am currently pursuing a degree in Public Management, Leadership and Policy at the John Glenn College with a specialization in health policy. I am a member of the Politics, Law and Society Scholars and hope to add an additional minor in history to my degree.
This past spring, I graduated from Lake Orion High School in Lake Orion, Michigan, where I was an active member of the theater troupe, choir and Social Studies National Honors Society. At Ohio State, I’m hoping to keep up with extracurriculars through involvement in the Biden Campaign and the College Democrats. Outside of this, I can usually be found writing, reading, listening to music, analyzing films and hanging out with my family.
In the future, it is my hope to reform our country’s healthcare system. Coming from a family that has dealt with both mental health issues and more severe physical ailments such as lupus, I’ve become aware of the stigmas and issues that come with ill-health. The financial strain alone is something alarming and while it has affected my middle class family to an extent, those without the resources to deal with these issues have no where to turn to. In the future, I hope to address this and hopefully be part of the solution.