Throughout the year, I volunteered at a variety of places both on campus and off of campus. During first semester, I attended the HSS event at the center for around 3 hours, volunteered at St. Al’s food drive in Cleveland for 6 hours during the Christmas season, and helped coach my high school basketball team over Christmas break for 4 hours. In the second semester, I wrote letters to children at the Nationwide Children’s hospital for 2 hours as a part of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. Again with SigEp, I made birdhouses for parks in the surrounding area for 2 hours again. Lastly, I participated in A Day in the Life of a Buckeye for 7 hours through Ohio State.

A Day in the Life of a Buckeye was definitely the most memorable experience from my freshman year. On one day a year, OSU busses students from all around the state to the campus for students to show them that college is a realistic goal and opportunity, and for them to see what a typical day was like. Because I was paired up with only one student, it was really rewarding for me to get to know him throughout the day. I felt that I really made an impact on his life and showed him all that Ohio State has to offer.

For my upperclassman interview, I spoke with both Aaron and Ren, my two RA’s about their college experience thus far. I particularly identified with Aaron because he was exploration during his first semester, and then switched from pre-optometry to pre-med. Also, I love Spanish, and I am thinking about a potential major or minor in it. They advised me that the best way to get in touch with professors about potential research or career opportunities is to email them. Ren is about to take the MCAT in June in Chicago, which is helpful in seeing the timeline of her undergraduate studies. Calc 3 was the hardest class for Ren, which I really struggled with first semester. Overall, talking with Aaron and Ren was a good exercise, which helped me learn more about the academics and future of someone with a career in the health sciences.

In the past year, a lot has changed. I am no longer considering a pre-health career, and I’m instead pursuing data analytics. One reason that I switched to this major was because of talking to some upperclassmen in the major. A couple older kids in SigEp are in the major, and they had nothing but good things to say about the teachers, coursework, and future options that the major offered them. I’m looking for a career that is challenging, yet rewarding and that I can do anywhere in the world — the data analytics major offers me all of this. Thanks to the upperclassmen I talked to, I’m confident that I’m in the right major for me.