I spoke with my mentor Marie McConnel who is a second year and is studying Environmental Science. I asked Marie these questions: what is your favorite study spot on campus, what type of volunteer hours have you done at OSU, what advice do you have for making the most of ENR, what is your dream job and why, and what advice do you wish someone gave you your freshman year.
I learned quite a few things while speaking with Marie, the first being about study spots. She said she really likes to study in Kottman and in the Agriculture Library because it is usually quiet there. I typically study in my room but have been looking for more places to go to. I think it sometimes helps me to focus if I change up the location of where I am doing homework, so I will definitely check these places out.
Marie told me about some of her volunteer experience at Ohio State. She said she has done a lot with ENR like the wetland cleanups. Along with this, she has done outside volunteer work that is similar to what she has done in ENR, some of this work being the removal of invasive species and tree planting. I have been looking for more volunteer work to get involved in so it was interesting to hear what Marie has done. It was also cool to hear about some of the different volunteer work I can do that relates to environmental majors.
As for advice about making the most of ENR scholars, Marie mentioned that it’s really important to meet as many people as you can at the beginning. She said that she did not do this right away and it made it more difficult to create good friendships in the group. While everyone is very open and accepting in ENR, if you wait long enough to make friends then people have already formed friend groups. It is harder to get into the groups then.
Marie said that she isn’t really sure what her dream job is because she changes her mind so often, but at the moment she would love to work in a national park and be a naturalist. She said it would be really cool to lead nature walks and work with kids in the parks teaching them about their surroundings. I love to hear what peoples’ dream jobs are because it tells you if they could do anything, with no consequences, this is what they would spend their life doing. I told Marie about my dream job of being a filmmaker who makes documentaries about the environment. I think that your dream job should tell you what you should aim for. So, even if I don’t become a filmmaker, maybe I should lean towards a job that incorporates more creative aspects. The same goes for Marie; maybe she won’t end up working in a national park but she recognizes that she wants to work outdoors and possibly with kids but not in a traditional classroom setting.
When I asked Marie what advice she wishes someone gave her freshman year, she said that she wishes someone had told her it’s okay to be a mess. You can miss homework assignments, fail classes, change your major and it will still turn out okay in the end. Right now I am trying to find out who I want to be and that is definitely a process of trial and error. I don’t need to know everything right at this moment. This was so important for me to hear because I was recently struggling with whether my major was right for me. I am allowed to explore other options and mess some things up on the way to finding the perfect fit for me. I also realized that there may not be a perfect fit. So many people work in careers that don’t directly use the degree they have. I can find comfort in the fact that I don’t need to always have a plan and I don’t always need to know the exact end goal of what I am doing. Marie also mentioned that experiences can end up being more important than what degree I get. So, I should take as many opportunities as I can and experience as much as I can in my time at Ohio State.