Year in Review Essay

Everyone tells you that your first year after high school is the year where you will change the most and you will have to adjust to so many new things. However, my personal favorite was “everything changes after high school,”with the all-knowing head nod. Looking back I realize that no one can really prepare you for your first year out of college because everyone has to overcome.

My first semester at OSU was pretty rough. But I think that every student has to go through a rough semester it’s like a rule of initiation into college life. During your first semester you have to be friends with everybody because you have no one at your new school but as you go into second semester and more towards the end of the year you really get to see who is still around and who you actually want to have in your life. I also think that many people go through a phase where they contemplate transferring to a different school or changing their major because they feel they don’t belong or are not worthy or good enough. I was no excuse to this and I looked at many other schools for education majors until I realized how well I was actually doing and my confidence level rose and I realized I deserved to here as much as any other student.

Also during my first semester I was still lost as to what grade level I wanted to teach in the future until I was assigned to volunteer at CPA and I fell in love with working with middle schoolers. This really made me realize the whole “you’ll start to find yourself/understand yourself” aspect of college and how sometimes the opportunities you are given will open your eyes to things you never thought you’d like.

I also feel like being in college and away from the expectations from my hometown and people from my hometown has allowed me to really be who I want to be and start fresh and not do what everyone expects out of me which I find to be really freeing and something I wasn’t expecting when I moved away. However, even though I feel like I have grown and become a much more educated and more rounded person after having a year of college under my belt I still see areas where I would like to improve in my following years. I now better understand my goals for my future and the person I want to be and the things I want to pursue which gives me a better idea of how I want my second year and the rest of my college experience to go.

With all the knowledge that I have now as well as all of the awkwardness from learning from mistakes I feel like I will be successful at being a mentor next semester and really understand how valuable the advice my mentors gave me really was (even if I didn’t use it, leading to the aforementioned mistakes).

G.O.A.L.S. Essay

Throughout my first year as a STEM EE Scholar I have learned and begun to have a deeper understanding of each of the different aspects of G.O.A.L.S. Since they are such a large part of any scholars program I have even started noticing bits and pieces of G.O.A.L.S. in my classes. I think this shows how G.O.A.L.S. is one of those things that actually relates to your life and will be important in life as well.However, as a future educator, I see the “G” and the “A” of G.O.A.L.S. as relating the most to my future career.

I see the Global Awareness facet of G.O.A.L.S. to be so relevant in my life now and in my future as a teacher mainly because of cultural awareness. Even now as a college student I have become more aware of the different cultures that all come together at The Ohio State. And with that comes learning about how much bigger the world is than what I have seen of it. I’ve become very interested in learning about the potential differences in culture and background amongst my future students and even between me and my students. I have also considered picking up a Spanish minor to accompany my degree in Middle Childhood Education and potentially studying abroad if my schedule allows it in the future. I think it would be profoundly rewarding and eye-opening to work with students in a Spanish speaking country. I have also considered fulfilling the requirements for an English as a Second Language endorsement in the future so that I will be able to teach immigrant students who do not have english as their primary language but also deserve the level of quality education that we have in the United States. However, I do understand that with this would come some difficulties but I think that a career working with students who need access to quality education more than most would be quite a learning experience for both me and my students.

Along with Global Awareness, Academic Enrichment is extremely important in the classroom since it is the main reason children go to school. Because of this, I strive to absorb as much information now so that I can teach my students as accurately as possible and if I do not have the knowledge or resources they require, hopefully I will know someone who does so that I can give them all the knowledge they want. Through STEM I have access to many resources and events that lead to academic enrichment and dig deeper into concepts that I learn in my classes.

For my future profession I think that Global Awareness and Academic Enrichment will be the most applicable facets of G.O.A.L.S. With that, I would also like to mention that Leadership Development will also be very useful in the future when I have to lead my own classroom, collaborate with other teachers, staff, and faculty, as well as be involved with a teacher’s union.

Throughout my next year in the STEM EE Scholars program I hope to gain even more insight into G.O.A.L.S. and the different ways they are incorporated into my life and future career.

Artifact1 – COSI

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Towards the beginning of my first semester at OSU, the STEM EE scholars were invited to a night at COSI. I decided to go along with my roommates and a few other friends I had made within my scholars group. Throughout the night I got to see a lot of the new exhibits that COSI has now since I had not been there for several years. It really reminded me how learning can be fun and interactive as well as the opportunities COSI provides for kids. As a future educator, I found this very enlightening and interesting. Of course, I also had fun with the exhibits even as a college student. This was also my first time off of OSU’s campus and the first time I conquered public transportation.

Strengths

      I recently took the Strength Finders 2.0 test and discovered that my top five strengths in order are Empathy, Consistency, Harmony, Intellection, and Input. I thought that learning my strengths was both interesting and useful. After reading about my strengths and what they mean, I see how they are a part of my daily life. With Empathy I can sense how people feel in certain situations and I definitely see that in social interactions throughout the day. I also see a lot of Harmony in my social interactions as well. For example, if politics are brought up and an argument starts I always tend to remind people what they agree on instead of their differences to try to bring peace to the situation. And I also see my strengths come out in my academics because my Intellection and Input strengths constantly keep me thirsting for knowledge.

     In the future my career goal is to be a science teacher. After learning my strengths, I now feel even better about that choice. I think that my top strength, Harmony, would be extremely helpful in certain scenarios in the classroom. If I continue to work on my strengths I believe that it will help me become a teacher who understands when a student is struggling and is frustrated or discouraged and being able to understand that opens so many doors and will allow me to help the student so much more. I also think that my Intellection and Input will keep me on my toes to always learn more information while I’m teaching and Harmony could also be helpful in reminding a student about what they’re good at and their past successes when they are feeling down.

    I feel like my career choice is backed-up strongly by my strengths and if I continue to work on my strengths I can utilize them in many ways and they can really help me in my career pursuit and in the classroom also.

Welcome to my Honors & Scholars e-Portfolio

I am a first year student at The Ohio State University. In the future I would like to be a high school science teacher hopefully in the life sciences. Throughout high school I was very active in various clubs including being president of the spanish club, and a member of the environmental club. I was also an active member in my high school concert, pep, and marching band. I also plan to be just as active in clubs at The Ohio State University and I am excited to see how the skills I learn in STEM EE Scholars help me in my future.

Year in Review

[ “Year in Review”  is where you should reflect on the past year and show how you have evolved as a person and as a student.  You may want to focus on your growth in a particular area (as a leader, scholar, researcher, etc.) or you may want to talk about your overall experience over the past year.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

G.O.A.L.S.

[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.

Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc .
Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]

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 information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

Artifacts

[Artifacts are the items you consider to be representative of your academic interests and achievements. For each entry, include both an artifact and a detailed annotation.  An annotation is a reflective description of the artifact that attempts to communicate its significance.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]