A Year In Review – A Reflection on the GOALS I Set for Myself
G-Global Awareness
I set out to educate myself on the diverse communities around me through joining a student organization and studying Spanish. Throughout the year, I stopped doing both of these things. The Alexander Hamilton Society was not the right fit for me, and I recognized that pretty quickly. I didn’t get the global engagement I desired. And Spanish wasn’t a great fit either, I unfortunately didn’t have a personal connection to drive me to continue studying. So, what have I done? I’ve been actively learning Swedish outside of classes and it has been great. I feel more connected to my Swedish family and am planning a visit after I graduate. And while I haven’t found a student org specific to global awareness, like I thought AHS would be, I am actively researching serving in the Peace Corps. I will have to reflect next year to see how far that interest takes me.
O-Original Inquiry
My ambitious first-year self was determined to join a research lab as quicky as possible to “prove” myself as a scientist and show my commitment to the STEM field. But after a few discussions with principal investigators about a place in their labs, I decided to wait until I had the correct motivations and time to commit to a lab. While it has certainly been disheartening to not be in a lab, I have found other ways to integrate myself into a laboratory setting. Through classes and through being a teaching assistant for the chemistry department. I am still deciding if participating in research is my end all be all goal for college, and if I can only secure validation through a position in a lab. Perhaps it is time to seek out other methods of inquiring about the world around me.
A-Academic Enrichment
When my parents told me about college, they told me about all of the friends I would make and all the amazing experiences I would get to have. What they failed to mention was how difficult the actual “college” part of college is. This past year I had to come to terms that academics would be incredibly challenging and I had to find a way to make things work. I struggled at the beginning and just when I was beginning to fully adjust, the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic threw a wrench in my system and caused me to have a really bad semester. I am not ashamed to say that I have not performed as well academically as I though I would. But I am proud to say that I put so much work into the things that I did achieve and have learned a lot and am ready to keep going.
L-Leadership
Leadership is where I think I have made the greatest advances in myself. I have to attribute most of this growth to my position as a teaching assistant for the department of chemistry and biochemistry. I became the person that an entire class looked to for advice, education, and lab safety. It was really difficult my first semester teaching due to the incredible nervousness I had. However, this semester, even with the unique challenges it provides, I found myself confident in my abilities to lead the lab and help bolster the education of my peers, and it is a good feeling. My next goal is transferring that confidence in my abilities to other aspects of my life.
S-Service Engagement
I feel very lucky that I found the student organization, Enlighten. It is comprised of a great group of people all working together to raise awareness and hold campaigns to stop the spread of human trafficking. I have gotten to participate in service activities, such as the S.O.A.P. project in the Columbus communities and even in Miami, Florida where we spent our time providing resources that have the potential to save the lives of victims of human trafficking. I felt so passionately that I secured a leadership position in the organization and hope I can help it grow.
My time spent so far at Ohio State has been nothing less than amazing. Despite the stress and worry, I have always found a community to support me in my goals. I hope that I can be part of that community for someone else.