Month: August 2015

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.]

Current Career Goals and Their Origins

In eighth grade, I wanted to be a lawyer. I thought I was good at arguing (I wasn’t) and I had always been really interested in my social studies classes. Why not, right? Lawyers are smart, productive members of society, and they make pretty good money. Unfortunately though, I realized the following year that I wasn’t even remotely interested in law. I found politics annoying and tedious, so I drifted away from that idea.

Junior year rolled around, and I was a little distressed because I still had nothing that really interested me. I had been getting pretty comfortable with languages, having taken both Spanish and German the last two years, but that wasn’t something I thought I’d want to make a career out of. So when I scheduled my classes, I took an array of everything. I took AP Spanish, AP Psychology, Engineering, and Anatomy & Physiology (we’ll call it A&P), along with my regular classes. That’s where it sparked. I very quickly found out that I do not want to be an engineer. The class itself was enjoyable and interesting, but it wasn’t for me. Psychology and A&P however were for me. I had never been so intrigued by any subject as I was by those two. Weighing options and thinking about the implications, I decided by the end of the year that I wanted to be a doctor. I originally thought I should be a psychiatrist, but just like my JD, I drifted away from that idea too.

I got into the idea of surgery my senior year. From November to February, I got to shadow two bariatric surgeons at West Chester Hospital, which is a branch of UC Health. I got to go in two or three times each month and watch them work in the operating room. The administrators at my high school thought it was so cool that they actually let me skip a few days to go to the hospital. I got to see several gastric sleeve procedures, cholecystectomies, various hernia repairs, and a couple lipoma excisions, to name a few. And with that experience, I decided I want to be a surgeon.

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.]

About Me

Hi, my name is Daniel Naughton, and welcome to my e-Portfolio. I’m from Maineville, Ohio, which is near Cincinnati. I graduated from Kings High School, which is so close to Cedar Fair’s Kings Island that I could park there and still get to class on time.

At Kings, I was a student-athlete. I devoted time after school to studying and completing assignments, and then went to practice. My school schedule was dense and rigorous, and I made every effort to earn the grades I needed to earn. At the same time I participated in competitive sports all across the board, from football and cross country to wrestling and academic quiz team. I also played rugby and ultimate Frisbee with friends in my free time.

Out of all my sports experiences though, the one I’m most attached to is my six year experience with the Creator’s game. To me, lacrosse is the ultimate culmination of athletic ability. It often draws speed, strength, accuracy, precision, finesse, wit, and intelligence all into a single motion. To be a [very] successful player, you must think, and then move, faster than your opponent can. You must decide what you’re going to do, and then do it in a fraction of a second. It’s an exhilaratingly beautiful game. That being said, you’ll be able to find me out on the turf fields shooting around. I plan on trying out (walking-on) for the varsity team. If that works out, great; if not, I’ll play club ball or with a few friends.

Now, I’m a freshman at the greatest school in the world, THE Ohio State University. I am a neuroscience (pre-) major. I need to pass Psych 3313 and Neuro 3000 (which I certainly will) before I’m actually in the major. As you can tell, I’m part of Health Sciences Scholars, which means I get to meet, work and live with people who have similar goals to my own. This excites me. It feels good to automatically be associated with like-minded students, like a network of support and good connections.

Along with the scholars program, I’m also on a pre-med course of study. In eight years, I will be a certified, licensed physician. After that, I am not sure what I’ll specialize in. Right now I want to be a surgeon, and if my major proves to be as fascinating as I am sure it will be (the brain is the most intriguing part of the human body), I hope one day I’ll combine the two!

I got into the idea of surgery my senior year. From November to February, I got to shadow two bariatric surgeons at West Chester Hospital, which is a branch of UC Health. I got to go in two or three times each month and watch them work in the OR. The administrators at my high school thought it was so cool that they actually let me skip a few days to go to the hospital. I got to see several gastric sleeve procedures, several laparoscopic cholecystectomies, three robotic cholecystectomies, various hernia repairs, and a couple lipoma excisions. It is literally the coolest thing I’ve ever gotten to see or do, and I realize just how lucky I am to have had that opportunity. Most students seem to only get to go in once. The surgeons were great guys with some fun stories, the residents were welcoming and inclusive, and the med students even spared some time to talk to me. And during the surgeries, the doctors would stop on occasion to explain what they were doing, why, and how.

I’m extremely excited to get back into that. I’ve already applied to volunteer at the Wexner Medical Center. In time, I hope I’ll make some good connections with the physicians there and be able to shadow them. Perhaps I’ll forge a few strong relationships I could get LoRs and internships from.

Thank you for reading my About Me section. I’ll be updating this as I do more things that become “about me”, so stay tuned for more!