Now that I have become better adjusted to life on campus, I have gained a better understanding of who I am and what I want to during my time here. Academically, I hope to continue to hold myself to a high standard and remain on Dean’s List for the rest of my time at Ohio State, and to continue to take higher level courses that challenge my assumptions and skills. Furthermore, I want to incorporate more humanities courses into my schedule so that I can find a balance between the technical skills of STEM classes and the interpersonal skills that come through engaging with literature of philosophy first hand. It is my hope that when I graduate from Ohio State I will have the skills necessary both inside and out of the classroom to succeed in my desired field, and to do this I must be a well rounded student. This desire to be well rounded and connect with others is something I also plan to show in my extracurricular involvement at OSU, as I hope to continue being a guide for new members of my fraternity, and to take leadership in clubs that represent these values. Professionally, I hope to get into a research lab and put the technical skills I have been mastering into practice in my laboratory courses. Hopefully I will be able to do this in tandem with continuing to work in a clinical setting, getting me used to the setting of my future career. I also plan to continue to network with both other pre-medical students through Alpha Epsilon Delta and with connections I have made with students in medical school and doctors in the field to gain a better understanding of what I will need to do and the resources I can use to do it. Overall, if I can become a more well rounded student and allow my passion for helping others and forming connections to make a difference, I will be satisfied when I graduate.
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Narrative and Medicine
I took Narrative and Medicine in the spring semester of my freshman year in hopes that it would be an interesting literature GenEd, but the class ended up being much more influential than I originally thought. The course focused on how illness and our experience with failing health is not just a list of symptoms or a problem to solve, but instead is a story, and thinking of it as such can allow us to have agency over our experiences dealing with the medical field. Throughout the semester we read a series of narratives in different formats to show different choices and portrayals of illness, which helped to combat the idea of the experience of sickness as the same for everyone involved. Exposure to these different narratives taught me that everyone experiences illness differently, and being able to write about or express ones illness on their own terms may allow them the emotional processing or understanding they need to choose to stop or continue forward in their treatment. My professor was a graduate student himself, so he understood the rigors of life as a student and strove to make the class relatable and impactful for an undergraduate. Overall, I think the most important thing I came to understand through this class was the relationship between the sciences and the humanities, and how important it is that future STEM majors are not just learning all math and science in their undergraduate careers. Studies have shown that exposure to the humanities fosters skills that STEM classes do not always emphasize, so by implementing a curriculum that is comprehensive we are creating well rounded students who are more equipped to understand and take on the world around them.
Spring Semester 2021 and Sophomore Year
Though the biggest challenge of sophomore year was online courses and navigating a global pandemic, there were definitely quite a few smaller challenges that tested my resolve as well. I had finally made it to organic chemistry, something I had dreaded taking since I decided to pursue a career in medicine in high school. While the classes were hard, I think that organic chemistry has taught me lessons both inside and outside of the classroom. I learned this year that I did not have solid study skills or a good way to ask for help in making a study plan, forcing me to use OSU resources to rework my habits. This has been incredibly rewarding and important, as I feel that I have finally found a healthy way to study efficiently and avoid burnout, something that was a recurring problem in high school and freshman year of college. I am confident that I can use these newfound study skills to enhance my future learning and excel in my future courses. Outside of the classes I took this year, I also officially changed my major from biology to medical anthropology. While I still love learning about the natural sciences and their application, I felt drawn toward the humanistic views of the anthropology classes and was excited to learn more about how our biology has historically influenced our culture and what our place in the world looks like. Now that I have completed the introductory courses, I am excited to dive further into anthropology and learn about the theory behind the science and how I can further apply it as a physician.
Outside of the classroom I tried to stay as involved as possible, continuing my participation in Alpha Phi Omega and becoming a pledge guide to welcome new members to the fraternity. This was a rewarding experience as it allowed me to meet new people with similar values and feel like I was giving back to my fraternity after they helped me in many ways my freshman year. I also became a member of the newly formed Magazines for Literacy club at OSU, which allowed me to further my passion for literacy in a tangible way and help my community. Hopefully I can continue this passion next semester in an in person format and continue to make a difference through my involvements in the campus community. Overall I would say that this year was definitely challenging, but also showed me that I am resilient and can continue to succeed in adverse circumstances, giving me the confidence to continue to take on challenges in the future.
Merging Science with the Humanities
Ironically, I didn’t plan to take one of the most influential classes I have enrolled in at Ohio State. Somehow my scheduling appointment glitched and in addition to my science classes, I was enrolled in a History of Ancient Medicine course as well. As someone who has always had a strong interest in both history and science, I decided to not to drop the course and see what it was about, which turned out to be one of the best decisions I have made in college. This class was a breath of fresh air for me as it helped to break up all of the science classes I was taking, and gave me the opportunity to gain a better understanding of how the sciences and humanities can come together to make more competent and empathetic physicians. At the end of this class we were required to write an essay about how the inclusion of humanities and ancient thought can better the practice of medicine today, something I was very proud of and have attached below. I hope to continue this passion by taking more humanities courses both in and out of the classroom in the future.
LinkedIn and a New Job!
This semester I have focused a lot on building my network and making connections within the health field, which has lead me to make a LinkedIn page to better connect!
In addition, I have also gotten my first job in Columbus! I am excited to be working with Creative Living as a Residential Assistant in Columbus, and hope to use this opportunity further help those in my community.
Buckeyethon 2020
I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to complete my first Buckeyethon in the spring semester before 2020, and it was a great experience. As I am originally from Philadelphia, I grew up seeing Penn State students come to school events and stand on roadsides collecting money for Thon, so I was very excited to join the event once I came to campus. Together with other active brothers in my service fraternity, we completed fundraisers and held a bake sale to raise money for children fighting pediatric cancer. By the dance marathon, I was able to raise 275 dollars to go toward research at Nationwide Childrens Hospital.
Semester in Review: Fall 2020
If I could pick one word to summarize this past semester, it would be routine. While the second semester online was not nearly as hectic as my first, I still had a long way to go before I could truly say I had mastered the art of zooming. This semester most of my classes were asynchronous, which meant that I was completely in charge of watching (or not watching) my lectures on time. As someone who has struggled with time management skills in the past, this was certainly a challenge for me, but one that I decided to meet head on. At the conclusion of this semester I can say that while I was not perfect, I am proud of the effort and self-discipline that I have shown in watching lectures and participating in class. This semester has also lead to a switch in my focus as a student and to greater understanding of the more complex topics of science. Midway through this semester I decided to switch my major from Biology to Medical Anthropology, which was nerve-wracking at first but will hopefully fit my goals better than my previous major. While I still enjoy biology immensely, I felt that Medical Anthropology also contained the more holistic and humanistic aspect that biology did not for me, so I hope to continue to focus more on understanding how humans work and how that influences health in the future.
This semester I also tried to focus more on maintaining my relationships with others and club status during the year, even if it was solely on zoom. I met with friends for socially distanced outdoor picnics, and attended virtual service events with the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity and worked on running blood drives with the Buckeye Blood Club. Hopefully as we continue into 2021 I am able to further those connections and get more involved with student organizations next semester.
Semester in Review: Spring 2020
After such a crazy semester, the biggest takeaway I can think of is to always be prepared for things to go wrong. It seems crazy to think that so much has changed over the course of just four months, but then again I don’t think anyone expected this semester to happen as it did. I have never learned online before, so logging into my first zoom class and taking an exam using lockdown browser was certainly an interesting experience. As much as I want to say I seamlessly transitioned from in person to online, there were plenty of bumps along the way. One thing I learned quickly is that sometimes failing, and failing on a grand scale at that, is a part of life and will often lead us to bigger and better successes. Switching from in person to online learning forced me to re-examine how I learned and studied, and has allowed me to form better study habits and appreciate office hours and lecture halls much more than before. On top of that, it has shown me that I am capable of rising to and meeting the challenges in front of me, whether they be academic, social, or mental. I hope to bring that mentality with me to future semesters, even when we are able to return to in person instruction.
Semester in Review: Fall 2019
Now that I am about three quarters of the way through the semester, I can honestly say that college has been very different from what I expected. As a highly motivated student, I was used to having a rigorous course load and moving quickly through material, but even with that experience I was still surprised by college classes. Taking a class that would have been a year long course in high school as a semester course in college meant that I was expected to learn and internalize a large amount of material at a much faster rate than I was used to, and the fact that there are only three midterms rather than a series of tests made exams a bigger event than they used to be. While I have slowly adjusted to the system and figured out how to manage my time and direct my energy towards effectively studying, there was a learning curve over the course of the semester. Despite the quick pace and the increased emphasis on tests, I have found that I have enjoyed what I am learning more than I did in high school as all of my classes are in a field of interest rather than a wide variety of subjects I may not have vested interest in.
Socially, my time at college has gone smoother than expected. The Biological Science Scholars has fostered a great sense of community and I have met many nice people in the program and in my residence hall, which is almost all other scholars. Going to a large school like Ohio State means that there is never a shortage of things to do and people to meet, so I have tried my best to take advantages of the programs offered by the clubs I am in and the Ohio Union Activities Board. Though I would not say my time at OSU has been smooth sailing so far, I have begun to forge my own path and identity at this university, and I hope to continue on that path as I continue in my time here.
G.O.A.L.S.
Global Awareness: One of my main goals in college is to study abroad somewhere to further my academic and cultural education. Recently I have been hoping to go to Scotland to study in Edinburgh, as the anatomical history and the medical schools that were once in the city have very interesting history, and could help me to see the field of medicine in a new and exciting way. This would allow me to broaden my cultural horizons and experience new and fun situations, making me more well rounded student and person.
Original Inquiry: I am currently taking Molecular Genetics 2220H, which is a class designed to expose underclassmen to research opportunities within the field of molecular genetics through laboratory tours and staff presentations. So far I have had the opportunity to head over five professors discuss their research, and have been able to engage with them and inquire about their findings. Through this I have gained connections with professors, and could possibly find an undergraduate research opportunity that will set me apart and give me more unique experiences and opportunities in the future.
Academic Enrichment: As a member of the biological science scholars program, I have a variety of new and different opportunities presented to me that other members of the university may not have access to at this time, such as tours of factories or panels with alumni for support. In addition, as a Pre-Med major who would like to go to medical school after I graduate from Ohio State University, so I have to take challenging courses such as organic chemistry and anatomy courses to appear competitive when applying for medical schools.
Leadership Development: This year I joined the Buckeye Blood Club which helps to organize and coordinate blood drives around campus for local hospitals, which is something I was heavily involved with in high school. If I continue to participate in that club, as an upperclassman I could run my own blood drives and deal directly with the red cross and other organizations. Furthermore, as a part of Alpha Phi Omega I am currently serving on the fellowship committee, and could have an opportunity to help in running multiple events this semester for both actives and pledges in the fraternity.
Service Engagement: My parents both went to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and met through the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega. The people they met and the activities they did left a lasting impact on their lives, and growing up I always heard about their Halloween parties with children at the local hospital or handing out letters of encouragement around finals season. Though my parents graduated, their love for service never left them, and as a result was imparted on me. When I got to Ohio State, one of the first clubs I looked to join was Alpha Phi Omega, and I am currently pledging the fraternity this semester. I hope to get to meet like minded people who are looking to give back to the community as I am, and make new connections with different groups of people around the city of Columbus and make campus feel more like home.
