Junior Year, 2021-2022

I have made great strides professionally in gaining research, internship, and leadership experience this academic year to broaden my perspective while balancing my coursework, and I was glad to return to campus! I started undergraduate research both in Dr. Risa Pesapane’s Parasite and Pathogen Ecology Lab in the Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine and with my honors advisor Dr. Pasha Lyvers Peffer in the data analytics and teaching/learning in animal sciences. Both types of research, while very different, have given me a deeper understanding of scientific inquiry. My lab-based disease ecology experience has strengthened my laboratory procedure skills (conventional and RT-PCR, DNA extraction, gel electrophoresis, tick identification). I completed an internship in animal care in the Columbus Zoo’s Australia and The Islands Department during the spring semester. I took on zookeeping duties by preparing animal diets, cleaning and maintaining animal exhibits, developing enrichment activities, and learning basic training skills in a mostly marsupial and avian collection. For my intern project I designed and built new enrichment items for white-handed gibbons and siamangs in my department, which were a success and loved by the animals. This internship provided valuable deeper insight into the zookeeping profession and animal-related careers that are based on husbandry and training, and I will pursue more internships in zoological facilities this summer. In OSU-affiliated organizations this year I grew in my ability to lead, as I served as the Treasurer and Interim President for the OSU Student Chapter of the Fish and Wildlife Society, a mentor for a high school parent aspiring toward a college education under the CHAMPS program of the ACCESS Collaborative, and an Eminence Faculty Network Lead for the environmental and agricultural cohort. The leadership skills I have gained this year are crucial for my future career as a veterinarian, and I am grateful for the opportunities to grow personally in many aspects of my life.

Looking forward, this summer I will continue exploring zoo-related careers to ensure that I still want to pursue veterinary medicine. I believe in being very thorough and exploring all options that could possibly fulfill someone before making the significant decision to pursue further education, and I know that my experiences outside of the veterinary field will give me valuable perspective. Next school year, I will dedicate more time toward clinical veterinary experience through shadowing or a veterinary assistant position, will finish my undergraduate thesis (completing my requirements to gain Honors Research Distinction), and I will pursue further leadership development in OSU organizations.

Sophomore Year, 2020-2021

I typically have a hard time praising myself, but I am truly proud of how I handled this past academic year. Due to personal circumstances that certainly could have had the opportunity to set me back in my academics, I handled these life changes and adapted to still complete my full-time course load with semester GPAs of 3.9 (autumn) and 4.0 (spring), and for that I am proud. More importantly than GPAs, I finally learned how to take a step back and not place as many responsibilities on my plate when I need to take care of myself; this is something I have struggled with for years, as most Honors students do, and I find this so important for my personal development.

While I wish some things had been different, I made the most of my situation for the year and pursued some opportunities, both associated and unassociated with OSU, to keep myself busy. I stayed in my hometown of Pittsburgh for the year, took online courses, and will return to Columbus next autumn. I started as a regular volunteer at Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and recently became a Foster for baby mammals (rabbits, squirrels, and opossums). Additionally, I participated in research through the OSU College of Public Health and collaborating with the Ohio Department of Health, in which I conducted and submitted literature reviews on topics pertaining to COVID-19 to aide in the state of Ohio’s response efforts. For extracurriculars, I am excited to serve on the executive board for the OSU Student Chapter of the Fish and Wildlife Society during the upcoming academic year.

Looking ahead, I am looking forward to (finally) participating in student org events in-person next academic year. I did feel very distant from the OSU community this year, but at the same time, I grew such stronger bonds with my immediate family during this time I have been at home, for which I am grateful. I am very excited to return to Columbus to Irish dance again, start work toward my thesis, begin research on wildlife disease, and learn in-person again. I am feeling truly blessed to be an Eminence Fellow.

Freshman Year, 2019-2020

Overall, I am happy with how my first year at Ohio State progressed, despite the challenges faced during the second semester. Since I was able to dive into some of my Animal Sciences Major coursework my first year, I got a taste for animal handling and welfare, which makes me extremely excited to continue with my major. Starting courses in my minor of Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife also made me very enthusiastic about the future and the many ways I could blend my major and minor together to reach my desired career. This year, especially while being at home during the second semester due to coronavirus with ample time on my hands, taught me how to pull myself together and focus more on time management and my mental health.

When I came to Ohio State, I knew nobody, but now I have strong friendships and wonderful peers to help me navigate college. I was worried about over-extending myself in terms of clubs/orgs and was nervous to join anything that I was trying “just for fun,” but my involvement thus far has pushed me outside my comfort zone and has made me feel at home at tOSU. For example, I was extremely nervous about joining Buckeye Dairy Club (because I have no livestock experience whatsoever) and Ohio State Irish Dance Team (because I had not danced in 7 years and was not competitive with my dancing), but joining both of these tOSU groups has been wonderful for learning and having outlets for the stress that classes bring. I plan in the future to become more deeply involved in my current memberships and maybe pursue new ones, such as Fish and Wildlife Society. I did not want to over schedule myself my first year, but now that I know how much I can handle, I am more ready to pursue additional student orgs.

I have thought over the past 7-8 years that I was definitely going to become a veterinarian. While I have not completely moved on from that possibility, I am much more open now to the many different careers that I can pursue with my major and minor combination. Considering the current circumstances amidst the pandemic, I am blessed to still have a position as a Wildlife Center Intern this summer at Humane Animal Rescue Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. Thinking about working with endangered wildlife species excites my soul, so I am looking forward to finding more opportunities working with wildlife or exotic species, in a different approach than the veterinary mindset I arrived with at tOSU.