Mentor Interview

For my mentor interview, I interviewed Tom Collins, a second year student majoring in civil engineering and minoring in survey. During this interview I asked him five questions meant to reveal his personal experiences at The Ohio State University and his advice on how to deal with certain things that I may run into during my time in college.

The first question I asked Tom was, “What has been your most challenging major class? What advice do you have to get through it successfully?”. Tom said that his most challenging class has been Calculus 2. He says the work load is strenuous and the only way to excel in the class is to “knuckle down” and do the work. If the class proves to be too much of an issue, he recommended to not be afraid to ask for help and to go to Cockins for Calculus 2 tutoring. Lastly, he stressed how important it was to actually do the homework and practice along with attending lecture. This advice will be extremely helpful to me in the near future because I will also be taking calculus 2 either next semester or the beginning of next year. Currently, calculus is one of my best classes, however, I do occasionally skip lecture. With Tom’s advice, I now know that I must approach Calculus 2 differently and I know where I can go if I ever need assistance with it.

Secondly, I asked Tom, “How have you chosen to get involved on campus?”. Tom said that he is a member of Arouse Student Radio and Environmental and Natural Resources Scholars on campus. Through the former program, he hosts an hour long radio show that broadcasts out of Buckeye Doughnuts on High Street. He stressed the importance of getting involved and balancing studying and school work with social activities. This is helpful because, since I missed the deadline for intramural soccer enrollment this semester, I am now more motivated to enroll in intramurals in the future with friends in order to take a break from studying and get some physical activity into my routine.

Later, I asked him, “What advice do you have for making the most out of the ENR program?”. Tom said that ENR is similar to most things in life and that you get out of it what you put into it. He said that his favorite part of ENR is getting to hang out with his friends and make new friends. He also enjoys how understanding Esther is and stresses that members should participate in the offered activities because ENR is a social group. This helps me because I plan to make the most out of ENR activities and hopefully make new friends while participating in them.

Next, I asked Tom, “What is your dream job?”. Tom said that he would love to be a deep woods park ranger out west. He said this because the idea of being out in nature with no other obligations is attractive to him. This was an interesting answer because his dream job is also something that I have always wanted to do. This inspires me to find something that I am passionate about and pursue it when I get out of college.

Lastly, I asked him, “What advice do you wish someone gave you your freshman year?”. Tom said that he wished someone had told him that you shouldn’t keep doing things you don’t want to do just because you “have to”. He said that you should try to experience college and do things that you want to do. Also, he says you should try to factor in physical activity and go to the RPAC. Furthermore, he said that classes aren’t so important that you can’t take time to take care of yourself. This is probably the most helpful thing that Tom said that will play a large part in my college career. This information will help me when making decisions on how I should spend my time. Between physics, calculus, and engineering 1181, I have little time to do things not related to class work. Tom’s advice will help remind me to take a break occasionally and participate in social events.