Month: November 2019

Campus Resource Post

For the campus resource assignment, I was not aware of all of the resources mentioned in the assignment, but I knew that I would like to go to the Office of International affairs. Education abroad is something that I have wanted to be a part of my undergraduate experience for several years. One of my sisters spent a semester in Vienna, Austria and one other spent a summer in Rome, Italy. After hearing about their experiences, I have wanted to study abroad as well. A minor in German is also something that I have been considering, and studying abroad in a German-speaking country would be a great way for me to get the credit needed for the minor as well as to practice using the language in the real world. I attended an education abroad getting started session at the Office of International Affairs. To do so, I simply showed up to one of the bi-weekly sessions and signed in. I think studying abroad would be an amazing experience that would broaden my horizons by immersing myself in a culture that is different than the one I live in. This would enhance my Ohio State experience. It would also be a great way to share experiences with new people from OSU and other places from around the world. I learned a lot at this session. I was not aware that some education abroad programs do not guarantee that other Ohio State students will be there. This would be intimidating, but also exciting because I would be able to meet a lot of people with different experiences than my own. At this session, I was introduced to the study abroad search tool. This tool is very helpful because you can customize the type of education abroad experience you are looking for, and see what programs are available based on your preferences. The presenter also mentioned that scholarship applications are often due before the applications for the education abroad programs themselves, which I found to be very helpful information because I could see how many people would miss scholarship deadlines. She also mentioned the importance of having a powerful personal statement established for the application process, which is something that I would ensure to work on in advance of applications. Going into this experience I was not expecting to learn as much as I did about education abroad and I am happy that I went. As an engineering major, I understand that studying abroad for a semester is difficult, so I went into this session hoping to learn about summer and winter programs. The session covered all the different types of programs that the Office of International affairs offers which I found very helpful. Some ways that this service could improve would be to provide more examples of the trips that are offered to students. The presenter briefly mentioned the countries that she studied abroad in, but she did not elaborate on her experience at all. I think that it would encourage more students to engage in education abroad if individuals who studied abroad through the Office of International Affairs shared their personal experiences in this session.   

Diversity

 

I attended a Society of Women Engineers (SWE) “Chop Shop Social.” At this event, there was free food provided in a closed-off section in the Chop Shop restaurant for club members. This event was my favorite because it was my first SWE event that I attended and I immediately felt better about being a minority in engineering. I had the opportunity to sit at a small table with the president of SWE and she was very friendly and happy to answer my questions about different courses and the process of applying to engineering majors. After everyone ate we got to ask questions as a group and had a casual group discussion about different topics brought up by the group leaders and members. I appreciated that the group members were incorporated into this event because it was helpful for me to have my specific concerns addressed, as well as to see that other members have similar concerns to my own. My decision to attend this event stemmed from being a part of the club SWE. My older sister is an engineer and leads a similar club at her university and through her, I have seen the opportunities that have aroused from networking with women in engineering. Also, I am aware that as an engineer I am in a predominantly male program. This is evident to me in my fundamentals of engineering course, which has a large difference in the amount of girl and boy students. I am happy that I joined SWE because it has shown me that there is a community of women who are in similar positions to myself who support one another in the field of engineering. One thing that I appreciated about this event was that when speaking with the president of SWE about engineering, she did not focus on comparing a woman’s situation to a man’s in engineering, but instead talked about specific resources and supports that are available to help me be as successful as I can be. Being in an environment that showed the strengths of being a woman engineer rather than focusing on the drawbacks was greatly supportive for me since I have worries about the engineering curriculum. I think that diversity and inclusion are very present on campus and especially in STEM. The Ohio State University has an extremely large community that contains students and faculty with different backgrounds from around the world. I think that the diversity of the community at The Ohio State strengthens it by compiling different experiences and knowledge that can be spread and shared to enrich others. I have personally experienced this when working with my engineering group for my fundamentals of engineering course. Working with a team has shown me different ways that people approach and solve problems based on their backgrounds, and I have found that I have been introduced to problem-solving methods that I may not have come across on my own. However, I am aware that The Ohio State University is not technically a diverse university by racial standpoints. I think that if the campus were to become more diverse racially it would enhance the idea I discussed earlier, by bringing more people from different backgrounds together to share their experiences. The environment of this event was very friendly when leaders of SWE were answering questions and discussing topics about women in engineering it was all discussed in a positive manner. Since everyone at this event was a female engineering major, I do not think that the leaders were afraid to offend anyone.