This semester I am paired with a little buddy for College Mentors For Kids. My little buddy is named Alex and is a forth-grader at West Franklin Elementary School. We meet each week and focus on a specific topic and participate in certain activities while learning together. This has been great for me as I miss working with the kids back in my hometown while I was in high school. I believe I am learning just as much from my little body as he is from me. This relationship is great and I am looking forward to the rest of the year together. Additionally, it gives me something unique and different to do during the week other school.

On Sunday, October 22, Cal Nagusky participated in a 30 minute conversation with a student from Chile named Camilo through Talk Abroad. This was an extraordinary experience as Cal was able to practice his Spanish, but also learn about a different culture. In high school, Cal interacted with many people different than himself. However, he has been unable to do that so far in his classes at Ohio State. This is what made this experience wonderful. Cal learned about the different music taste in Chile. Cal learned about the interests and hobbies of his talking partner as well. He also learned all of this while speaking a different language. Moving forward, Cal will be able to fully understand that everyone was raised different and has different interests largely because of their culture. I was able to learn this despite having to communicate in my second language.

Cal Nagusky applied for his first club at The Ohio State University. He went through an application process containing essays and an in-person interview. This artifact was selected because it was the first time Cal went through an interview process while at The Ohio State University. Cal learned that in an interview it is best to just be open. The more personal someone is, the better the interview turns out. This process forced Cal to open up to strangers early on and make it easy for others to understand. Cal learned the importance of being brief when in an interview because there is limited time to get your point across. Cal will use the skills from the interview throughout his entire college and professional career. This interview was just the first of many for Cal while at school. In the end, Cal was accepted to the organization and is looking forward to the work he is going to do for them.

[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 includes both a description of the artifact and a reflection on why it is important to you, what you learned, and what it means for your next steps.  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.]