Sophomore Year in Review

Sophomore Year was definitely a great year in many ways! I grew a lot in my leadership throughout the year.

  1. Global Awareness

I am doing a Spanish minor during my time here at Ohio State. I had always loved the language throughout high school and wanted to pursue it at OSU. I have taken the prerequisite classes so far and this semester I have finally taken my first minor class and definitely like it! Getting more into simply learning the language, but learning how the language works and how to use it in everyday life as a native speaker is very interesting. I can’t wait to take more interesting and diverse classes through my minor. I would love to become fluent in the language and be able to talk to other Spanish speakers. Also, I have more recently been interested in studying abroad. I have not made any set plans yet, but I would love to travel to Spain for a Maymester or a couple weeks over the summer to experience the country and try to better my Spanish skills. It would be a great experience for me and would open my eyes to a whole different world that I have never experienced before.

  1. Original Inquiry

I have gotten involved in research at the College of Optometry here at Ohio State. Last semester I worked with Dr. Marjean Kulp at the College by helping her find subjects for her studies. I would accompany Dr. Kulp to local elementary schools in the area to give vision screenings, which would help out the school, and while we were doing the screenings we would look for students that would possibly qualify for her two studies. This semester I am working with a student at the College on her studies. She is doing the OD-MS program at the College of Optometry where you can get both at the same time. I go with her on the weekends to COSI to get data for her study, whether people can voluntarily cross their eyes. We try to attract people to the room where she does the tests and I help her with the tests and scribe for her. I have learned a lot about the scientific process and what it takes to do real research in scholarly studies. I would love to continue working with Dr. Kulp and Natalie, the student that I work with, to keep gaining insight and experience that will be useful when I go to Optometry school upon graduation.

  1. Academic Enrichment

I chose the major that I chose because I have always loved science. I think that it is always changing and tells us so much about the world around us. I specifically chose Biology because I think that it is the most interesting of the sciences. I think that subject like Microbiology and even introductory Biology courses can show you how much Biology affects the world we live in and even ourselves. Both subjects are the so important to our health and to our world. I have chosen to go to Optometry school once I graduate and I think the Biology major also is very helpful in that it gets all my prerequisite courses done just by taking the classes I need for my major. I have the Spanish minor because I think that it can be very useful to know Spanish once working a full time job. I work at an Optometric office over the summer in my home town of South Bend, Indiana as an optometric technician and I have gained great experiences there. A community about 30 minutes away from my own has a larger Hispanic population and one day, a patient called in and wanted to pay their bill through the phone. Nobody knew how to speak Spanish to communicate with them except one of the technicians who fluently knew Spanish. That tech was able to help the patient and communicate with them. This is why I think it is so important to know another language, because I want to be able to communicate with others in my community someday when I am a practicing doctor! Most of my GE courses are those that relate to my future profession in some way. The sociology course can help me relate to different people from different background and understand the differences society has placed on different groups of people and how that affects those specific groups. The social work course is important because being a health care provider means I have to look out for different things that could be going wrong with my patients, such as domestic abuse and violence. My Microbiology of HIV course is interesting and helpful because I can understand more about the disease and it can help me be more aware of situations in our world today.

  1. Leadership Development

I have grown a lot in my leadership development this past year. I have never thought before that I would take on higher leadership roles in my sorority, but I am starting out smaller and took a position as the Community Service Director for the Spring semester of this year and Fall 2018. I have created various service events for my chapter of over 200 women and they have been very successful this far. I love being able to do something productive in my sorority and for my community at the same time. I have also accepted a role as the Vice President of Eyes on Health, a service, eye-related club that I am involved in. I love the club because it combines two things that I love, service and Optometry! We do events with Real Eyes, an organization that aims to educate children on the importance of eye care and on the eyes in general. We work with College Mentors for Kids and other local elementary schools in the process. We also go on Remote Area Medical, or RAM, trips throughout the school year. We go to remote areas, usually throughout the Midwest, such as Ohio and West Virginia, and we set up a clinic and help give vision exams for people in that area that are in need of eye care. It is a great experience and I love being a part of it and that I am able to make more of an impact as Vice President this upcoming year!

  1. Service Engagement

I have been actively involved in service since I have been at Ohio State. Most recently, I am the Community Service Director for my sorority and I plan service events for over 200 women in my chapter. We have done multiple events such as making care packages for troops in Afghanistan with a social fraternity, Beta Theta Pi, gone to a local nursing home to play games with and interact with the residents, and also helped at the Red Cross Blood Drive as volunteers! I am also the VP of Eyes on Health, a service organization on campus. I am also in a gender-inclusive, honor fraternity, Phi Sigma Pi. We have to do a certain amount of service events throughout the year, which I really enjoy doing. We have made “plarn”, which is yarn out of plastic bags, that we sent to an organization that turns the yarn into mats for homeless people to lay on, we have volunteered at multiple races in the area, and numerous other events. Finally, one of my favorite “service” events is Buckeyethon. I have done Buckeyethon the past two years and absolutely love it. It is not even really service to me, it’s a duty, because I love the feeling when they hold up the amount of money that we have made at closing ceremony and I know how much of a difference every student that participated has made in the lives of children at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

I have definitely grown as a person my second year here at Ohio State. I love everything about the school and have become a leader in many ways! I can say with complete confidence that I have found my home here at Ohio State.

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 information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. 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 information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]