I have the pleasure of being a co-mentor with Mindy to Jillian Bettan. Jillian is a Speech and Hearing Science like Mindy and me. The first topic we discussed was how Jillian became interested in the major and why she chose it. Jillian shared how she has always known she wanted to work with kids in a school, however, did not want to be a teacher. One of Jillian’s moms’ friends offered for Jillian to shadow her to see what a typical day was like in the shoes of a speech therapist in a school building. Jillian felt an instant connection and fell in love with the profession. Jillian saw how much of an impact the speech therapist was able to have on the kids and knew it was the right career path for her. I related to Jillian because I also became interested in becoming a speech therapist due to wanting to be in a school and helping kids but did not want to be a teacher. I also was able to shadow a speech therapist because one of my mom’s friends is a speech therapist. I too instantly fell in love with the profession and field and knew that was what I wanted to go to school for.

We then talked about what organizations we are involved in on-campus and what we would like to join. Jillian has joined NSSHLA, the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association. I am also a part of this organization and we discussed how we enjoy the organization but find it hard to find time to watch/attend the meetings after we have done school work the whole day before the meeting. We also discussed how we all attempted to attend the virtual involvement fair however we were all unsuccessful at using the website and finding organizations we wanted to become a part of. We discussed how the website would not load and there was no easy way to find what we were interested in. Jillian did express that she wanted to join other organizations but does not know how. I hope to help Jillian find other organizations by sharing what organizations I am part of and helping her become a part of the organization if she is interested in joining it.

Next, we talked about why Jillian chose ACES. Jillian shared that when she was applying to college, she wanted to become involved in a community, meaning joining honors or scholars. Jillian read through what ACES scholars and was instantly drawn to the community service and working in schools. Jillian also learned about ACES by talking to Kim at Buckeye Bound. Jillian wanted to make friends and saw this as a great opportunity to do so. I can also relate to Jillian here because in high school I completed a lot of community service and wanted to continue to do this in college. I also saw this as a great way to make friends who already shared common interests with me. We asked Jillian what her favorite thing about ACES is so far and she shared that it has helped her make a great group of friends with whom she can talk and hang out, even though she lives on a different floor than them.

After discussing ACES, we talked about what Jillian’s dream job is and why. Jillian wants to work in an elementary school as a speech therapist. She wants to interact and help elementary school kids and provide them with the best speech therapy she can give to them. Jillian plans to go to graduate school after she graduates in New York. Jillian hopes to do this because she is from New York and does not want to pay out of state tuition for grad school.

We then discussed what has been Jillian’s favorite thing about this semester at Ohio State. Jillian shared that she enjoyed visiting the football stadium, touring it, taking pictures, walking on the field, etc. Jillian said that this allowed for college to feel normal for a second and like what the college experience was before Covid.

I plan on using the information that I have learned about Jillian from this interview to use our similarities to connect and help guide her through this weird time in our college careers. I also hope to use the information on classes and professors in the speech and hearing major to help guide and answer any questions Jillian has regarding the major.

Mindy and I chose to virtually explore North Market with our mentee, Jillian Bettan. Mindy and I chose to explore North Market because we felt it offered a lot of different options in one central place in short north. We also wanted to find a local business in the Columbus area that is fun and unique. We had planned on going to visit North Market in person, however due to COVID and Jillian going home for the holidays, we decided it would be in all of our best interests to do a virtual explore Columbus.

Mindy and I shared several pictures of what the North Market looks like. We also shared the layout and diagram of where all of the different independent businesses are located within the complex. We also shared some facts about the North Market. For example, there are over 30 independent small owned businesses. They also offer fresh produce, meat, poultry, seafood, flowers, specialty food items, and internationally prepared food.

When discussing and talking about all of the different shops and businesses, we talked about which ones we would like to visit and check out. We all love donuts and pasta, so we all wanted to visit Destination Donuts and Pastaria and Pastaria Seconds. Mindy has had Pastaria and Pataria Seconda before and raved about how amazing it was and that we should try it if we get the chance. Mindy also follows Destination Donuts on Instagram so we all looked it up and talked about all the different donuts we wanted to try.

Resources we used to show our mentee the experience included pictures from the website, and also own personal experience. The website for North Market is organized very well and also people to access the websites of the individual businesses. Once you click the link for the businesses in the North Market, you click on the individual vendors and there they have information about the vendors and a link to their website.

When talking about challenges Jillian has faced when trying to explore a new city/campus during the pandemic, I was able to relate to what she was saying. Jillian shared that due to the pandemic, it is hard to get out and explore Columbus and go to new places. I also have found it difficult to get out and visit all the things I would like to visit in Columbus. One way Jillian was kind of able to explore Short North is when her roommates and herself were contact traced, so they had to quarantine. Instead of going to the quarantine dorms on campus that are awful, Jillian and her roommates chose to rent an Air B n B. The Air B n B they chose to rent was located in Short North. However, it was not the pleasant experience they had hoped to have. The apartment was a one bedroom and had no doors except the door to the bathroom. Even though it was not the experience they had hoped for, Jillian shared how it brought them all closer together and how overall, she was happy they chose to stay there instead of the quarantine dorms on campus.

Challenges Jillian and I have experienced due to only being able to meet virtually is the lack of human interaction and also difficulty finding times where we can hang out in our schedules. Even though we are able to talk via facetime, zoom, text, etc. it is hard to get that human interaction that is missing due to being virtual. There is something about being in person and being able to sit next to someone or walk with someone that is comforting and rewarding. It has also been challenging to find time where all three of us can meet to hangout and talk. Mindy, Jillian and I all have a lot of schoolwork on top of work, and clubs/organizations we are a part of. If we would have been able to meet in person, we could have gone to a coffee house and worked on homework as we were talking. However, when we meet on zoom, we are strictly focused on talking and having a conversation. This results in the conversations being driven, and sometimes awkward. Even though we chose to do a virtual explore Columbus I feel like overall our relationship is still developing in a direction that is similar to if we would be meeting in person. All three of us are able to relate in regard to our classes because we are all Speech and Hearing Science majors, our Tik Tok addictions, and how we are ready for this semester to be over. Overall, I enjoyed the Virtual Explore Columbus event and I loved getting to know Jillian more. I cannot wait to see how what the future holds.