Month: April 2020

My First Year

My first year at Ohio State has been a crazy one. It has taught me so many things about myself and the world around me. It has taught me how to handle situations that I would otherwise not know how to handle. Over the past year living on campus, I have made friends that will last a lifetime and experienced things that I will hold onto forever. There have been countless fun adventures so far and so many more to come.

One of my favorite memories is my birthday. I was out for the day with my aunt and when I came back my roommate had a surprise for me. She printed out a ton of pictures of us and our friends and got everyone to write me a little note. She hung them on the wall next to my desk. It doens’t seem like much, but it meant so much to me that they all cared that much. It has been really hard being away from everyone after we moved out of the dorms. The thing I’m looking forward to moat next year is being back on campus with them. Campus is its own little world and it’s weird not being there everyday with all of my friends.

I have grown so much as a person by being at OSU. I had to learn how to live far from my family and friends. I would say before my freshman year, I was a quiet and reserved person. Going to college flipped that so fast. On the drop of a dime I had to be able to communiate with advisors, professors, and everyone else around me. Being on my own has allowed me to become my own person and discover who I really am. I know more about what I want in life and what I don’t, I know what kind of person I want to be, and I know what I need to accomplish my goals.

I think I learned the most about life in ENR. This class has taught me life lessons and shown me things that I didn’t know before. We had extensive discussions and debates about anything I could possibly think of. These exeriences have opened my eyes to things that I was not completely aware of going on around me. I feel that I have a better knowledge of everything we talked about in class, whether it’s politics, mental health, finances, or how to survive in the wild.

The past few weeks of class have been very trying to say the least. No one has known how to handle moving everything online. It has been a crazy experience that has shown me what I can handle and how I approach problems. I think that I was able to accomodate and adjust so well because I knew everyone else is going through the same thing. All of the faculty at OSU have been so patient and willing to help with everything they can which has made the transition so much less stressful.

 

My Leadership Style

After taking the Enneagram Personality Test, I discovered I was Type 2: The Caregiver/The Helper. A brief description of this is being empathetic, sincere, and warm-hearted. Being Type 2 is very much being close to others and caring about everyone else’s feelings. It is the feeling of being wanted and accepted by those around them. I feel like this describes me perfectly. I feel as though I am someone who constantly wants to help my close friends and family as much as I can. Being there for the people I care about is something that I take very seriously. In order to improve myself, I need to reasses my priorities and learn to do what is best for me. Right now, I prioritize the well-being of the people closest to me. I need to learn how to take care of myself first. I have to focus on growing myself and discovering who I am as a person. In the in-depth description of Type 2, it describes how they can jump in-between the traits of other types. One jump that we can make is to Type 8, which is stress. When I get stressed, I tend to get upset and don’t know how to properly handle myself. If I improve my control over my emotions, I feel that I can truly be myself and do what I love. Being a college student at Ohio State has made me realize a lot about myself. It’s made me realize that I’m allowed to put my own needs above other people’s happiness. I was so reliant on my friends and family back home, but leaving for college has made me into someone who knows how to find a balance between the care for myself and others. Hanging out with friends is something that I did a lot on campus, but I have come to realize that having some me-time does wonders for the mind. I believe if I continue to balance caring for myself and caring for my family and friends, I can be my best self.