In terms of lessons I learned in class, calculus 1 was a large undertaking for me this year. My difficulty with understanding the principles of calculus compounded with the course’s hands-off approach really made me struggle. I was so used to having teachers that I knew personally and could talk to very easily in high school, but I realized college was different. The professor seemed unreachable to me and I felt lost in understanding how to tackle all of the content. I received a 45% on the first exam after using the same study habits I used in high school and realized how much I need to adjust my college academic approach. After this exam, I had to accept the increased responsibility college required and developed better notetaking and studying habits. Outside of the classroom, I learned the importance of reaching out to others and being proactive. I quickly understood that this social environment was completely different from anything I had experienced before, and to meet knew people I had to be more outgoing than I had ever previously been comfortable with. I considered myself a fairly social person in high school, but college required me to come further out of my comfort zone and be outgoing in my interactions with others. Scholars gave me the opportunity to kickstart getting to know others and make friends with an awesome group of people that all happened to live on my floor. Over this past year, I have really grown to appreciate myself and be comfortable with who I am. Being in an environment surrounded by kids the same age as I is very stressful at points because I feel the need to project myself a certain way. The longer I have been here, the more I have realized that I do not need to act a certain way around people; I can be myself without being afraid with what others think. My favorite memory from this past year would have to be the Scholars Hocking Hills trip. I have always enjoyed being outdoors and the fact that I could do this for two nights with a really fun group of people was awesome. I had never been to hocking hills prior to this trip and thoroughly enjoyed the natural wonders such as the rock features that Hocking Hills had to offer. Probably the greatest part of this trip was seeing the stars at night; I remember Chris, who is from New York, being in awe because he had never seen a star lit sky as vibrant as the one in Hocking Hills. Next year, I just look forward to the new memories I will experience and the new relationships I will form. This year has been packed with so many good times and I just know next year will be full of more.
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Spring Break Review
To kick off my Spring Break, my father took my sister and I skiing on Blackcomb Mountain in Whistler, Canada. I have always wanted to see Vancouver and I got to catch a glimpse of it while we drove through it from the airport. It is my dream to live in the Pacific Northwest and I view Vancouver as a quintessential Pacific Northwest city, so this experience was quite exciting for me. On our drive to Whistler, it was wild viewing the foggy mountainous landscape border the ocean. Once at our hotel in Whistler, we immediately hit the slopes of Blackcomb and got to enjoy two perfect days of skiing: 40˚F, no wind, sunny, and not too icy. The runs on Blackcomb were extremely fun especially the ones up by the peaks in particular. The peaks of Blackcomb were unlike any mountains I had ever seen in Colorado and Utah; the rock formations and the slopes that cut into them at the peaks were so unique. On the last day, Blackcomb received close to a foot of snow, so it was more or less a hectic day of skiing with the limited visibility. I watched by dad bail twice because he could not see the depth of the ground in front of him; it was hilarious. I got to enjoy some great food and drink in between my time on the slopes which was a wonderful break from university living. It was a short but magnificent three full days of skiing. The for the rest of Spring Break I got to hang back at home and catch up with old friends. This Spring Break made further demonstrated to me the importance of being with your family and maintaining relationships. I realized that spending time with my family and friends was healing; I forgot about all the worries of college when I was with them.
Final Columbus To-Do List
Nida’s Thai on High: So I decided to check out Nida’s fairly late on a Wednesday night so I had the restaurant all to myself and one other friend. I did not anticipate it to be as fancy as it was so that aspect was surprising; the restaurant had a low-light ambiance and cloth-set tables. Aside from me mistaking this restaurant as being more casual, the experience was fantastic. I am an absolute freak for curry so I, of course, ordered the Gang Dang Chicken Curry, their specialty. The curry was delicious, probably one of the most fresh tasting curries I have ever eaten and the service was extremely polite. I will be coming back here, but more nicely dressed next time.
Eden Burger: I consider this place to be a complete hole-in-the-wall considering how small it is and how fast it creeps up on the searching pedestrian. I was amazed that the people at Eden Burger were able to make such a small little area so spacious. I was a bit skeptical of this restaurant initially because I am not, per-say, the biggest fan of vegan food. However, the specialty Eden Burger burger blew my mind with how flavorful it was. I would never have expected such flavor from a non-beef burger.
The North Market: I actually went here with the ENR scholars group fairly early in the semester this year (but did not think to get any pictures at the time). The market was awesome to me because it reminded me of a beloved destination of mine back home in Cincinnati, called Findlay Market. The North Market has some seriously great choices within it ranging from country homestyle cooking to Nepalese food. During my experience here, I chose to eat at a taco vendor within the market. The two chicken street tacos I got were fairly good but the pepper of unknown kind I had a long with them made this a painful experience.
Ultimately my favorite experience from this to-do list was the North Market because it was nostalgic of Cincinnati yet different enough for me to try new foods. I am a serious fan of all foods originating from the Mediterranean and eastward; such as, Greek, Iranian, Indian, Thai, etc. The North Market contains stands with several of these food types which was extremely exciting for me. I liked how I could get a little taste of everything in one spot at this place and also buy exotic ingredients to take home and spice up my dismal ramen noodle meals. From this experience as a whole, I learned the importance of trying new things and stepping out of your comfort zone. I would have never realized that I love Indian and Thai cuisine if I never gave myself the opportunity to try new things. There are so many ways to expand your knowledge of other cultures and food is a great way to do so. This to-do list has made me want to try more great food destinations around Columbus and back in my city of Cincinnati. I know there are so many more culinary opportunities waiting out there for me. To someone attempting this specific to do list, I recommend you ask your server what the signature dish is at each restaurant you go to in order to get the tastiest/most culturally representative item on the menu. Also make sure you have a good idea of the environment of each restaurant before you go as some are much fancier than others.
Career Exploration
Currently, I am pursuing the major Environmental Policy and Decision Making with the specialization in Communication and Behavior Change. My experience in college so far has taught me that I have a keen social ability that would work well in a public affairs field. I also have been coming to the realization that I am not gifted with data analysis, so a field focused on writing and communication sounded perfect for me. Ever since I took a psychology class my junior year of high school, I have been infatuated with behavioral science and discovering the drives behind human behaviors so Communication and Behavior Change sounded right up my alley. Looking at the CFAES website, I found that EPDM is associated with jobs such as international policy specialist, lobbyist, environmental lawyer, conservation officer, environmental program manager, and wastewater plant manager. Environmental lawyer is the only one out of these listed occupations that requires a graduate school degree. These jobs are somewhat vague in title, however, which leads me to believe that EPDM is a very flexible major. I believe the best way to prepare myself for this career is by working on my communication and networking skills. There are various workshops I can take to improve my writing and public speaking abilities. CFAES offers many networking events where I can meet some of the most highly distinguished people in the field I am pursuing. I am going to research the dates of these events and put the ones on my schedule and make them a priority to attend. I can also work on obtaining a summer internship that pertains to public policy. After viewing the jobs, I am still not totally set on pursuing this career path. I still do not fully understand what I am passionate about which makes me question if this is the route I want to take. All I know, as of now, is that I want to choose a path that deals with social sciences; I am the most intrigued by the interconnection among things. I have also considered career paths in psychology, sustainable development, and agribusiness. I have already used some resources such as the RAISEC test to determine what interests me. I plan on using some resources on the OSU website for exploration of other interesting fields. I learned from . my survey class that there are actually some tests like the RAISEC that are through OSU websites that can narrow down my selection of majors.
Columbus To-Do List
Going with my hungry intuition, I decided to do the “Local Favorites” Columbus to do list which boasts a list of fourteen signature food spots in the Columbus area. The place that I am the most excited to visit is “Da Levee”, a cajun restaurant in Short North. Looking back at my dining experiences, I find that cajun food has been the most neglected amongst by experiences, due to the lack of French-African cuisine in my hometown of Cincinnati. I am looking forward to widening my culinary experience with more cajun cooking, especially jambalaya. I anticipate to use this list as an opportunity to expand my knowledge of other cultures and encourage my willingness to try new things. But most of all I want to use this list to just try some great food. I have always had an interest in trying different foods. I had a particular interest in watching “Man vs. Food” when I was younger and determined to visit any destinations featured on the show. I remember visiting one of the places on the list called “Thurman’s”, a popular burger place, when I was 12 years old with my father after an Ohio State football game. I was so excited for this specific dining experience because “Thurman’s” had been featured on “Man vs. Food”. I got a gargantuan burger called “The Thurminator”, which well lived up to the hype behind it. I remember even coming somewhat close to finishing the mound of meat and bread but coming a little more than half way short.
On Monday, October 8th of 2018, I met with my Sampling Mentor, Sydney Stobart inside the library of the agriculture building. Sydney is a junior planning on graduating this year with a degree in Environmental Policy and Decision Making with a specialization in Communication and Behavior Change. I never knew this was Sndney’s intended major and found my discovery of her major eerily coincidental because earlier that day I had decided that I wanted to specialize in Communication and Behavior Change. Even more peculiar, I discovered Sydney was originally in Environmental Science before EPDM, which is a route I was about to take myself. With this all being learned within five minutes of starting the interview, I realized Sydney was the perfect person for me to talk to and receive advice from. The rest of the interview that Sydney and I shared covered the topics of academics, involvement, the Environment and Natural Resources Scholars Program, and careers. On the subject of academics, Sydney advised me to determine which classes that I am taking are hardest each semester. By determining this, she said, I can figure out which classes require the most time and effort from me and which require less. This method would allow me to allocate my time and effort to each class proportional to the rigorousness of each class. Next, we conversed on the matter of internships and volunteer hours within and outside of OSU. I learned that, over the summer, Sydney interned for Senator Sherrod Brown. When I asked her why she chose this internship, Sydney told me that she knew it was important to get involved in and get an idea of the political realm. Working on a US Senator’s campaign looks great on an application for any governmental job, Sydney told me and getting involved in the political world is essential for any EPDM major. She explained to me that she applied for the internship through an online application then followed up by calling the intern coordinator. I learned something very important in this moment: always follow up a week or so after applying with a call to the employer, it shows them you are determined to receive the job and enthusiastic to work. Next, we discussed the ENR scholars program and how it facilitates growth. Sydney told me that the ENR scholars program helped her meet tons of new people, gave her the strength to leave her comfort zone on a regular basis, and improved her skills with public speaking and leadership. I have already seen scholars help myself with meeting new people and leaving my comfort zone. We then moved to the topic of future career plans. Sydney revealed to me that she no longer plans on going to law school as she originally had but is now in contact with an oil company called Lyondell Basell. The director of the newly established department of sustainability within the company contacted Sydney over the summer, looking for someone with a degree and understanding in environmental policy. Sydney explained to me that she came into contact with this woman through professors and other faculty that she had formed relationships with at OSU. I learned in this moment of the importance of putting your name out there and making relationships with faculty members through proactive behavior. Lastly, Sydney gave me some advice to carry into the rest of my freshman year: Do not get terribly stressed about your grades/GPA, the bigger picture is using the knowledge from courses to apply to the real world and forming important relationships.
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 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.
- 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
[“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.]
Artifacts
[Artifacts are the items you consider to be representative of your academic interests and achievements. For each entry, include both an artifact and a detailed annotation. An annotation includes both a description of the artifact and a reflection on why it is important to you, what you learned, and what it means for your next steps. 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.]
About Me
My name is Mac McCloy and I’m from a small township called Liberty about thirty minutes north of Cincinnati. Liberty Township is the epitome of a commercialized suburb in most parts but it does retain some individuality with a few classic local restaurants such as Big Dog’s Pizza. Liberty Township has always offered wonderful parks where I spent my childhood; this aspect of Liberty Township is what made me want to interact with the environment. Especially in high school, I would find myself with friends at parks hiking or throwing frisbee. My major at the moment is undecided within the school of Environment and Natural Resources. I’m not sure what exactly what degree I want to pursue yet, but I am very interested in any occupation that has fieldwork. I see myself as very adaptive in terms of what community I’m in; I believe I can make my own and thrive within most communities I am placed into. I went to an all male, catholic high school called St. Xavier, where I was very committed to by studies. At my high school, I contributed humor and school spirit by being apart of a group of guys that led cheers for the student section and writing for the comedy section in the school newspaper. I plan on joining several clubs here at OSU such as the ski club. I strive to achieve a 3.6 GPA at the very least while attending this school and receiving a master’s degree. I am extremely excited for my experience at the Ohio State University.