Year in Review

With 2018 coming to a close, I believe it is important to walk through the steps of this dynamic year. I started 2018 off still in high school, not having a clue as to which college I would be attending. With college acceptances rolling in, I was overwhelmed, nervous and confused. Would I pick the right college? Would I be happy? Did I pick the right major? As all these questions crossed my mind, I decided to make a list of pros and cons of my possible choices. This list, and a handful of college visits, ultimately led me to pick The Ohio State as my university. Although I had made my decision, I was still scared for that huge transition. Moving 7 hours away from home, family, friends and all I have ever known was, as most can imagine, slightly concerning. When graduation rolled around, I was both filled with joy and fear, knowing that high school was over. It was at this point that many people gave me various pieces of advise for the coming years, as a college student. These ranged from “College will be easy” to “These will be the best four years of your life” to “You will only be doing schoolwork from here on out”.  I had no idea what to expect. Throughout the summer, I worked with children and had an internship at State Farm. I have been working with kids for a long time, but that summer’s batch was particularly rowdy. They were rising kindergarteners and could not quite get it together, always fumbling around and not listening to instruction. I wondered if this is how I would seem to my professors in the coming fall. This was probably true at first. As I moved in to Ohio State on August 17th (yes, I remember the exact date), I met my roommates and adjusted to my new lifestyle. The first month was hard. I had to meet new friends, find new activities, get acclimated to my new and insane workload. The workload! My gosh! I have never had to do so much work and studying in four months in my life! The homework, the quizzes, the midterms, the assignments, the reports, the memos, the labs! At times it seemed like too much for me to handle, but with ever assignment I completed I took a breath of fresh air. A feeling of accomplishment flooded through me. And with this, my “fumbling around and not listening to instruction” kindergarten-esque behavior quickly transformed into strict routine and diligence. The semester of coursework, football games, new friendships, and new living arrangements quickly flew by, and before I knew it, finals were over (which was a whole beast in and of itself). At this point in time, I can confidently say that I DID pick the right college, I WOULD be happy and I POSSIBLY picked the right major, I’m still figuring that out. Overall, this year started off with unimaginable uncertainty and ended on the best of notes.

Thank you.

Welcome to my Honors & Scholars e-Portfolio

I am excited to be able to show my work and accomplishments on this website. The journey of an engineering major is not easy, but looking back on my progress will be well worth the effort. This website houses my coursework, future goals, particularly interesting experiments and struggles. Thank you for checking in on my journey!

G.O.A.L.S.

  • Global Awareness: In high school, I took Spanish 1 through AP Spanish. During my 5 years learning Spanish, I became fascinated with hispanic culture and tradition. Because of this, I am very interested in studying abroad on the Engineering Service-Learning project at Montana de Luz in Honduras. I believe this would open my eyes to the culture in Honduras, and it would teach me about what I, as an engineer, can do to help countries like this.
  • Original Inquiry: Currently, I am deciding between five majors. However, I know that for any major I choose, I will want to be involved in faculty led research. I feel lucky that The Ohio State University offers so many research opportunities, not to mention being able to work alongside prestigious researchers and professors. I believe that by participating in faculty led research, I will learn so much about research in the real world and responsibilities that come with it.
  • Academic Enrichment: No matter what major I choose, I want to have a strong foundation in these first crucial courses. Because of this, I am making it my goal to achieve above a 3.0 GPA during my first semester in college. It is also my goal to work diligently in any research projects I choose, and to contribute to the research community.
  • Leadership Development: During my Strength’s Finder assessment, I learned that many of my top strengths are in the influencer category. With this knowledge, I am confident that I will be able to hold leadership positions, in and out of the classroom. I will utilize this knowledge to become the best leader I can be, whether this be with peers, research projects, classes and beyond. I hope to gain leadership experience in all of these categories.
  • Service Engagement: Being a Green Engineering Scholar, I have countless opportunities to serve the community. Particularly, I want to promote women in STEM, and engage in community service activities focused towards this. I believe that having women in STEM is extremely critical to the wellbeing of our society. This is a very important cause to me, and it is my goal to make an impact in this field.

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 guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

Artifact 1

Earlier in the year, during my Fundamentals of Engineering class, we completed the Buckeye Challenge. For this challenge, we were assigned to work in teams to build the tallest tower using spaghetti, tape and lastly, we had to place a light marble on the top of the tower. My team started by sketching a design of our tower. We all decided that in order to have the tallest tower, we must have a strong base and a very tall antenna-like structure, for height. We then began helping each other build the base. We has one person hold the spaghetti together and one person tightly tape the spaghetti together. We used this strategy throughout the entire process. Also during this process, team members would make suggestions on what they thought would work best or what would not work. By the time we finished the structure, we realized that we needed a secure place to hold the marble. One team member suggested using three spaghetti pieces to hold it in a tripod structure. We all agreed this would work. After completing our tower, we felt accomplished. We named our tower, and although we did not win, we were proud of the work we had accomplished. Overall, this challenge was very impactful on me. I learned the importance of good communication and teamwork. Because of this experience, our group learned how to work as a unit and we have been using this strategy in labs and assignments ever since. Because I know the importance of a productive team, in the future, I will work hard to ensure all team members can give input and ideas in a friendly setting. For this challenge, it was also imperative that all team members contributed to the effort, and I hope in future groups the determination of all members will be as high as this group’s was. I also learned that winning is not always the ultimate goal. Sometimes to goal is to do the best work you can, so you will be proud of your achievements. I will remember this lesson as I move on in my academics.

Image result for spaghetti tower

About Me

My name is Sophie Mills and I plan to major in mechanical engineering. To me, mechanical engineering holds a world of possibility. I like the logical, mathematical aspects of the major and the creative ties it can have to the real world. Mechanical engineering will forever be relevant to bettering the realm of technology, machinery, cars and more. It has many possibilities, which is what entices me so much. Recently, I have branched out into the STEM community. I took a STEM engineering class junior year, and took Advanced STEM senior year. I had the opportunity to explore and make a variety of inventions. I learned how to operate 3D printers, woodworking machinery, electrical wires and circuits, and helicopter drones. I also conducted science experiments, including building my own self-sufficient ecosystem, and read a weekly article on STEM related topics ranging anywhere from self driving cars to the latest scientific discovery. In the topic of math, I have enrolled in both AP Calculus AB and AP Calculus BC. These challenging math classes have prepared me for the math classes associated with mechanical engineering. In the future, I plan on being an engineer. I am excited to go wherever this job takes me, may it be to the US Patent and Trademark Office or behind the scenes of Google’s elaborate network. This major has thousands of career options, and I would consider myself lucky to participate in any one of them.