Graham Primary School

During my first semester, I started volunteering with the Adopt-A-School program. Their goal is to help balance the teacher to student ratio by providing classroom aides, or tutors. I first started volunteering one hour a week in Mr. Kaveti’s third grade classroom at Graham Primary School. Soon enough after spending some time with the kids, I found I loved being there. Although third graders aren’t renowned for their ability to focus, the students were excited about the new information they were learning or the activities they were doing. They were happy to see me every time I walked through that door and they quickly nudged their way into my heart. Some of the students just needed a little extra help every now and then, and if I could aid their learning in any way by reading, counting, writing, or just talking to them, then that was all I could ask for. I soon increased my hours to two hours, two times a week: four hours a week in total. I learn new things every time I’m with them, from learning how to handle schoolyard squabbles to learning just how much to help a child while still letting them come to conclusions on their own. It is an invaluable experience and I plan on volunteering next semester and in the coming years as well.

ACES Pillars Film Project – Homestretch 

I learned a lot through this documentary and presentation about the lives of homeless teens and some of the programs designed to help them. In this project, I watched the film Homestretch and created a power point with four other group members. The project contained many slides analyzing the movie, such as examples of positive social change, advocacy, community, service, current day events and topics, connections, critiques, suggested audience, and the ultimate call to action. Although the movie primarily focused on the stories of three teens, they represent the stories of many today. Many people believe that to be homeless implies laziness or lack of motivation. However from watching this documentary, it shows how flawed that idea is. The teens started out with little to no privileges, who ended up on the streets through no fault of their own. They jump at the chance for a better education and work very hard to achieve it. These teens took advantage of the social programs they sorely needed. Especially in Columbus, just walking down high street you can see this is still a very prevalent problem today. I connected a lot with this project and hope to do more volunteering with the homeless or other disadvantaged people.

Homestretch Power Point

Mentor/Mentee Interview

During the mentor/mentee interview I got to know my two wonderful mentees better and learned a lot of interesting information about Abeeha Shamshad and Nina Shamansky.

Abeeha is majoring in public affairs and is taking many different classes this semester such as science fiction writing and children in war. She was considering joining Politics, Society, and Law Scholars but chose to join Advocates for Community and Education Scholars because she wanted to concentrate on her love for people and community (and she also loves the free pizza at community meetings). Abeeha is considering going to law school in the future, but admits that things might change as she is just starting undergrad. She is not sure what her dream job would be, maybe a job where she could teach about the history of rock music, but for now is not too worried about knowing exactly what she plans to do in the future. She is involved with various extra curriculars as well such as API cohort, equality Ohio, and intends to join community outreach. This summer Abeeha took an active role in her local government, by canvasing around Columbus and was also involved in student government in high school. She also is very interested in immigration studies, considering going to Oxford through an OSU program and studying there. Abeeha has found that in college, it’s a lot harder to be average. Students need to be much more self-directing, often doing work and studying material that has not been mentioned in class. She often studies with a group in one of the Smith-Steeb study rooms. She also noted that surprisingly it can be difficult to meet people, as many of her clubs are off-campus. As her mentor, I want to be able to show her some possible internships or studies abroad she could apply for, for some of her various interests. I would also want to introduce her to some more clubs on campus that would interest her and could help her meet new people.

Nina is a public health major who is taking the pre-med track and plans to go to medical school after undergrad. Along with her many very challenging courses she is taking (such as the dreaded chem 1210), she volunteers at the free clinic helping with medical registration (similar to her volunteerism at the free clinic which she did throughout high school), and also recently interviewed to volunteer with compass: an organization that works with homeless or underprivileged people to help them get the resources they need. Although Nina was considering other scholars’ groups, she chose to join Advocates for Community and Education Scholars because she wanted to focus on the public aspect of helping people since the majority of her classes are already pre-med. Nina has dreamt of becoming a doctor, specifically a pediatric cardiologist, for a long time, only reinforced by the internship she had in high school where she shadowed a doctor at the children’s hospital. In college, Nina is learning how to maintain all aspects of life, taking care of both her physical and mental health, while balancing studying and extra curriculars. She finds many of her classes challenging and is learning how much she can study and how hard she can work while still being able to live her daily life. Nina often studies in the Smith-Steeb common room because it’s close to her room and is usually fairly quiet. As a mentor, I hope to be able to help point her in the direction of different tutoring options on campus so that some of her more challenging classes won’t be too difficult throughout the year. I also intend to recommend some different clubs on campus that go well with a pre-med track, such as Med life and other organizations where she can volunteer, get good experiences, and meet new people.

Explore Columbus Part 1

My two mentees, Abeeha Shamshad and Nina Shamansky, and I decided to try out the D’licious Café at 2060 North High Street. We were all in the mood for something small and sweet to distract from the stress of exams, but nothing too far away or hard on our pockets; not to mention we all shared a love of bubble tea with Abeeha being an expert after trying a variety of bubble teas in California. We rode the COTA bus from Smith-Steeb to escape from the harsh evening chill, only a short 7-minute ride, and arrived at a small plaza-type area. The D’licious Café was slightly underground, clustered with several other authentic-looking Asian restaurants. When we walked in, we noticed many things. The décor had a hipster kind of feeling with graffiti covering every inch of the white walls and a TV was mounted on the wall playing a variety of music videos. There was a white shelf dividing the restaurant with different types of plants all over it. The whole restaurant smelled delicious. Suddenly we found ourselves all wishing we had brought more money to order some of the many mouth-watering appetizers or entrées, ranging from fried chicken wings to ma la sliced beef noodles.

Abeeha, Nina, and I poured over the menu, noting the aromatic bubble teas. We each got a different one: me getting taro milk tea, Nina ordering passion fruit milk tea, and Abeeha getting rose black milk tea. We waited 5 minutes and our teas came out. We picked one of the many funky-colored straws, pierced the plastic stretched taut over the plastic cup, and sat down at a table. Each tea was delicious, living up to the name of the restaurant. They had a unique flavor, sweet and creamy, but not overly so. The chewy tapioca bubbles complimented the flavor of the tea and made it that much more fun to eat, it was surprisingly filling for just a drink. We sipped our teas, talking about subjects ranging from the recent results of the election to what our plans were for winter break. We watched the music videos playing on the screen, seeing Mariah Carey and Justin Beiber sing “All I Want for Christmas is You.” I loved the relaxed atmosphere of the D’licious Café, not too empty that it felt uncomfortable, but by no means crowded, letting us stay for as long as we wanted. Finally after about an hour, we decided to go back to studying and rode the COTA back to the dorms.

I would definitely recommend the D’licious Café to a friend, in fact, I plan to visit it again myself. They had so many different types and flavors of bubble tea for whatever mood any person could possibly be in: fruity, classic, sweet, etc., and I am eager to try some of the other flavors. Also, seeing as the tea was so good, I’m very curious to see what the food would be like, especially because I love Asian food. The restaurant seemed authentic and the people around us who had ordered food seemed to be really enjoying it. The whole area surrounding the D’licious Café was very interesting as well, with many other Asian restaurants around it. Both Abeeha and Nina also enjoyed the D’licious Café and seemed to want to go again. None of us had had bubble tea since we left our hometowns and we were glad to find a place that serviced it in Columbus at a decent price. Overall, I would give the D’licious Café a 8/10 and I am very excited to explore Columbus once again with my lovely mentees!!

Second Semester Check-In Assignment

A couple days ago, I met up with my two lovely mentees, Abeeha Shamshad and Nina Shamansky, to see how second semester was going.

Abeeha is a public affairs major. So far, she likes the overall major and came into it knowing that the classes might be a bit tedious at times. A goal she has is to get to know the others in her major a bit better. For study habits, Abeeha likes study guides and worksheets as it gives her some structure and something tangibly for her to work on, instead of just general studying. For her sorority, the members have a required study hour, usually early in the week, where Abeeha likes to get some of the smaller assignments out of the way with. She is involved with several organizations on campus, such as Pride, where she is running for candidacy as a inclusion officer. Abeeha has also received a bid for a sorority and is very excited. In terms of ACES, she was surprised that without the first semester class, she often forgets to keep up with the website and keep an eye out for events to take part in. She described it as “great for people who like to participate,” however Abeeha regrets that she has a short attention span and often forgets to participate. I plan to send her some texts about future ACES events that she might be interested in to try and keep her updated and thinking of ACES. She would also recommend to ACES that they change the GPA requirement to something more easily attainable by those in more difficult majors and have more mandatory events, like community meetings, that count towards the 4 ACES events required by the program. Her career goals have changed a bit since first semester, as she had been planning to work in the federal levels of government, but now decides she likes local government after volunteering. Abeeha had also been considering law school, but decided not to because it costs a lot of time and money, and is not generally sought out at the local government levels. Her favorite memory from last year was when Abeeha and her friend Debbie dressed up as characters from Arthur for Halloween and went dancing. Overall, for this semester and the coming years, Abeeha wants to maintain a higher GPA and get better at time management, along with learning to work better with others in student organizations.

Nina is a public health major who is planning on medical school in the future. Overall Nina likes her major, however many of the classes that she has to take as prerequisites for medical school are very challenging, such as the Chemistry track. She has gotten fairly involved on campus, joining a group called ENCompass, who’s mission is to “empower individuals by connecting them with resources that address social determinants of health.” Nina also volunteers every week at the free clinic downtown and likes to do extra curriculars regarding a health profession. Her study habits include going to Thompson library a couple times a week, getting a cup of coffee, and studying at the large tables. In terms of ACES, Nina finds it hard to make the time to go to all the events and isn’t very familiar with all the different people in ACES. For recommendations to the program, Nina would suggest cutting down on events such as social events or offering a better variety of times for different events, such as events in the afternoon instead of just events in the evenings. As a mentor, I will do my best to keep her updated on the different events and the variety of times that those can include. Nina’s career plans of going to medical school are still the same and is very happy that she can be making actual progress on goals that once seemed so far away, and is happy to take classes that are relevant to that goal. Her favorite memory from last year was when she made cheesecake in the Smith-Steeb kitchen. For future goals, Nina wants to keep her grades up and do her best to find research opportunities to do over the summer and later on in her academic career.

Explore Columbus Part 2

On Tuesday, April 25^th, my mentee Nina Shamansky and I decided to try out the Tasi Café on 680 North Pearl Street. We left at about 11am, very hungry and seeking some good brunch food, as well as a nice way to start a day of studying for finals. From Smith-Steeb, we rode the COTA to the Short North and walked about five minutes to get to the Tasi Café. Once we got inside, I soon saw it had a very homey feel to it. The café isn’t huge, but feels somewhat stylish. It has red brick walls and brown tables with colorful chairs that made the restaurant seem cute and festive. There weren’t a ton of people there, most likely because we went on a Tuesday, but I appreciated that it wasn’t packed. We walked up to the front to take a look at the menu written on large blackboards mounted on the wall above the kitchen. Many of their dishes sounded pretty tasty, but soon I decided on a croissant and fried egg sandwich with Canadian bacon and swiss cheese and also a latté with an extra shot of espresso to get me through my upcoming day of studying. Nina ordered a salmon eggs benedict. We paid up front and were given a number and picked a two person table near the front of the café. They had pitchers of water close by with mason jars for the customers to use as cups, which Nina thought was a funny and cute touch that suited the restaurant. After only about 10 minutes of waiting, we got our food.

It smelled delicious and looked even better, however for the price of the meals (in total, mine was about $13), the portion size was fairly small. Both dishes came with a small bowl of fruit on the side. I really enjoyed my meal, as the croissant was flaky and warm and the Canadian bacon tasted thick and juicy. The freshness of the fruit also helped round out the meal and my latté was pipping hot and strong, just how I prefer my coffee. However I finished feeling not hungry anymore, but not necessarily full either. Nina liked her food a lot as well, saying that the salmon tasted fresh and the dish itself was delicious and rich with the poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. She’s always been a fan of breakfast foods with salmon in them, but she was a bit disappointed with the portion size because she was extremely hungry that day and had been looking forward to smashing a large amount of food. We wolfed down the food in about 15 minutes after chatting about many different topics such as our summer plans, housing for next year, internship opportunities, and our finals schedule, with neither of us being overly stressed for finals this semester. Once we were done, we caught the COTA back to campus and said our goodbyes for the rest of the semester.

Overall, I would give the Tasi Café a 7/10. The décor was very cute and homey, and I liked that it wasn’t very crowded, giving an intimate feel to the restaurant. The food was also tasty and looked pretty in how it was plated. Looking around at the other dishes people had ordered, that remained true for the other food that the café had to offer as well (like the French toast with bananas, yum!). However despite all its good points, it gets a 7/10 because for the price of the food, the portion size is pretty small. I’d recommend it to a friend if we were just looking for a small bite of food and some really good coffee, maybe a place to hang out for a bit and talk, however if you’re looking for a big and hearty breakfast that’s filling and going to last you for a while, this probably isn’t the place for you. A big selling point of the restaurant is the atmosphere, and I feel like I could probably go there, order a coffee, and get a good amount of homework done, so I will probably come back in the future. However, the short north is renowned for all the delicious brunch places it has to offer so I’m probably going to test some more of those out before I return to the Tasi Café.