My name is Raven and I am from a small town called Toledo, Ohio. I am majoring in psychology and minoring in judicial politics on the pre-law track. I love working with children and I am very passionate about spreading mental health awareness! In my free time I like to listen to music, read a book, or hang out with friends! I love being a buckeye and I can’t wait to get more involved next semester! 
The two artifacts pictured above are projects that I, along with one other person, created for The National History Day Competition while I was in high school. I made it to the state level competition and I created the exhibit on the left for that competition. I worked on these projects from September all the way to March. I worked alongside my Social Studies and Science teacher for guidance. The topic for the competition was Revolution, Reaction, Reform, and, in brief, Jomo Kenyatta led a rebellion against the British colonization to help the Kenyan’s gain their independence. Through this project, I learned to do extensive research and I also learned how to search through national databases for primary sources. I still use some of the research portals for research projects and papers in college. I decided to include this artifact for multiple reasons. First, it is my biggest academic accomplishment and it is the one that I am most proud of because it showcases my creativity and it helped me to learn to collaborate with others. Also, it taught me a lot of valuable skills that are necessary for me to be academically successful in college. This project was extremely time consuming and challenging, but I definitely learned to have patience and that learning is so much more fun when you are creative with it!
Sounding the Alarm-Battling the Autism Epidemic
The link above is my ACES pillars project. I collaborated with four other girls on this project which talks about Autism. We watched a documentary on Netflix about the growing Autism epidemic and then we tied several parts of the documentary to the different ACES Pillars. This artifact has taught me what people who have autism face on an everyday basis and it also taught me to appreciate the little things in my life such as being able to walk and talk that much more. We worked on this project for about two weeks and we all had different emotional connections to the film. Seeing those families struggle and having to relocate simply because they couldn’t afford treatment for their loved ones was really frustrating. I decided to include this artifact not only because it was a requirement for an assignment but because it made me so much more passionate about advocating on the behalf of people with mental disabilities. Before I watched this film, I had no idea that this problem even existed and I’m sure many others can say the same. This project taught me that if we come together as a community and make ourselves more aware of these issues then they will be addressed!
ObservationPaper_RavenNeal-Jackson (Autosaved)-26oz2br
This is a link to a paper I wrote for my child development class on the formation of children’s gender roles. This topic is especially important in today’s society with all of the debates and reforms surrounding the transgender community and their access to equality. This was not only my favorite paper that I have done in college so far, but it was also the most interesting topic to cover. It was cool to learn how children can influence other children’s gender roles. It was also interesting to see how something as small as a pink baby hat given to newborns at the hospital can hold such a symbolic meaning in our society! This topic fits in into the ACES pillar of both global inquiry and academic enrichment because I definitely learned how different races police their children’s gender roles in different ways and I observed first hand how children can be individually unique!
https://oia.osu.edu/grants-and-scholarships/undergraduates/4453-o-h-i-o-education-abroad-scholarship.html
The link above is a link to a scholarship I received. The scholarship is an education abroad scholarship for $2,000. I anticipate on going to Nicaragua for the nursing experience and to see how the healthcare system differs in an underdeveloped country. I chose to incorporate this as an artifact because I was one of the members of the first cohort for this scholarship and also because it has always been a dream to study abroad and these funds make that reality more possible for me! This artifact fits into the ACES pillars because this will involve me studying abroad, providing community service to the population I will be living amongst, I will be taking classes learning about the culture in Nicaragua, and I will be conducting research. This fits perfectly into my future goals because I aspire to be a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner and this will give me great exposure to the nursing field and to some basic nursing skills!
Below is a copy of my resume. I am a very fast learner and am excellent at multitasking. I have superior social skills and I enjoy working with others!
Although I have not had much experience on this campus yet, I have been exposed to many different opportunities and experiences that can relate to the Honors and Scholars Goals.
Global Awareness
I have attended several study abroad sessions and hope to attend a Study Abroad trip before I graduate. These trips allow students to gain a better understanding of other cultures and countries and it allows us to broaden our definition of diversity. I love learning about new cultures and visiting new places as well as tasting new cuisine! I also like to make myself aware of some of the issues that other countries face on an everyday basis. I believe that studying abroad is very academically stimulating!
Original Inquiry
I have also attended sessions on research opportunities and I plan to take the psychology research class in the future. I hope to conduct research in the clinical psychology field if possible! I also thought about possibly graduating with research distinction in psychology! I really wish to take advantage of all of the research opportunities possible at OSU! Conducting research and engaging in academically rich experiences is something that I feel every student could benefit from!
Academic Enrichment
My academic plan for the next few years was originally relatively easy due to the fact that I came in with so many credits. However, I chose to add some challenging analytical and writing courses in order to better prepare me for Law School! While planning my psychology major courses, I chose to take a more difficult brain course because I know that it will require a lot of reading and analyzing and those are just the skills I need for my future career!
Service Engagement
Furthermore, I recently have been accepted into the Semester of Service for Mental Health Awareness. I have not received my assignment yet, but I am beyond excited to participate in this service engagement opportunity! I love giving back to the community in any way possible. As i mentioned earlier, I also have a passion for spreading awareness for people who suffer from mental health disabilities and i hope that this project can shed some light on the issues they face and ways the community can help them!
Goal #2: This goal goes off of the one up above. I have now begun to apply for scholarships for study abroad, my next goal is to apply and be accepted into the Nicaragua Nursing Experience study abroad trip. This trip will allow me to explore basic nursing practices in a different country and it will allow me to see how the healthcare system can differ from country to country. In addition to this when it comes original inquiry, although I have switched my major from the post above, I still plan to obtain research experience in nursing. This research will come from my study abroad trip should I be accepted. I also plan on applying for research internships at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. As far as academic enrichment, even though I switched majors my new goal for this section is to continue to excel in my prerequisite courses for graduate school. Next semester I have to take microbiology and I hope that I can obtain an A in that course. In terms of service engagement, my goal for the next school year is to be a Sexual Civility and Empowerment Ambassador on campus to hopefully reduce the amount of sexual assaults on campuses!
Goal #3: My new goal is to obtain a high score on my GRE. In terms of global awareness the GRE definitely helps a student to become more knowledgeable on certain literature and language and this can possibly come in handy when studying abroad. In terms of the original inquiry category, I have been talking to a few faculty member here and they have been proving me with tips. I have taken practice online tests and attended boot camps on how to prepare for the GRE. I also anticipate maybe paying for a GRE class to strengthen my skills. this related to my academic plan of attending graduate school to obtain my Master of Science in nursing after I graduate from OSU, in order to be considered more competitive and to obtain more funding I need a very high GRE score.
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