My First Semester at OSU

Wow. 15 weeks–gone in a flash; It would seem that my first semester at OSU is slowly coming to a close–but ironically, it went by a lot faster than I thought it would have. Going into college, a completely new environment with a whole new dynamic of people, one of my main fears was not being able to find a group of people that I would fit in with, so within the first couple of weeks, I tried making a good first impression of myself on others, often through music and my sense of humor. While it was a bit harder to connect people in my classes, I ended up finding a stable and positive group of friends to surround myself with, who happen to live in Baker West with me–all of whom, to my pleasant surprise, are in Arts Scholars as well.

However, aside from fears in the social aspects, I did come in to college with fears in the academic department, as I have heard many rumors surrounding the increase in difficulty from high school to college. To be specific, I heard about the difference in workload and the pace at which information is crammed into a student in a specific amount of time. While I did have some academic difficulties during this semester, it felt like the difficulty was highly exaggerated–but that’s likely due to the fact that I had quite a bit of background knowledge on most of my classes coming in from high school. So, in order to combat the increasing difficulty in classes that is inevitably going to come as time goes on, I’m probably going to try and adopt healthier study habits–like having a consistent sleep schedule, and scheduling time dedicated to studying–as well as making connections with other classmates, to provide opportunities to study as a group, allowing ourselves to learn from each other. In addition, I’ll probably take advantage of the resources available to me at Ohio State, like tutoring sessions, office hours, and talking to TA’s.

Moving on, my experience with the Arts Scholars has been enlightening, exciting, humbling, and very positive. Through Arts Scholars, I was introduced to an entire plethora of fine arts, located right here in Columbus, of which I wouldn’t have been aware of existing in the first place. Not only that, but I’ve met a ton of fantastic people in Arts Scholars with great personalities, with enlightening and new ideas, with skills that show me I still have much to learn about the arts. Moving forward, I’d like to take the chance and introduce myself to new forms of art through the opportunities presented through Arts Scholars and getting involved in intellectual discussions about the concepts of art itself collaborations with other people in the program. I would also like to get more involved with my Arts Scholars family, hopefully showing up to family nights with all of us together. Overall, I would like to enrich my college experience by involving myself more with Arts Scholars and the opportunities it presents.

My First Week at OSU

If I had to describe Welcome Week in one word, it’d be: hectic. But then again, I feel like hectic is more of an understatement. The first three days were all very chaotic–I mean, day one was move-in, then day two was the Student Involvement Fair, and day three was convocation and Buck-I-Frenzy. All of which, had a higher population density than Manila, Philippines. It was only after those three days where you were given time to breathe and do things on your own, rather than doing mandatory things–the only downside being the fact that was the day when classes started, but I digress.

I’d like to think that I’m adjusting well to my new schedule and life away from home, but some would say otherwise. I mean, I’m still staying up late to finish assignments, not necessarily because they’re hard, but because I have a bad procrastination problem, which I’ve had, even before coming to OSU, so to me, as of now, not too much as changed, aside from the amount of time I have between classes.

However, going in, I knew that it was going to be quite chaotic, considering the size of OSU, but I wasn’t quite expecting it to be chaotic to this degree. I would’ve thought that the activities they gave us would be good opportunities to explore the campus and mostly be optional activities, but for the first three days, I wasn’t given much opportunity to explore, since I had mandatory things to go to, and it was only after classes started where I could explore the campus more in depth and head to events on my own terms, or stay in my dorm to catch a break. Even though my expectations were a lot different from what actually happened, I wouldn’t say that what I experienced was necessarily a bad thing–it was just chaotic, but I adapt pretty quickly, so it wasn’t too bad on me.

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 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.]

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 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.

  • 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 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.]

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 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.]

About Me

Hi! My name is Tim Obaob. While I was born in San Jose, California, I spent a majority of my childhood in Perrysburg, Ohio, which is a suburb of Toledo. I attended the public high school there, appropriately called Perrysburg High School.

During my time in Perrysburg, I participated in multiple math competitions in junior high, placing in the third place team, third place in a speed-based tournament and tenth place individually at a regional competition over the course of two years. While in high school, however, I participated in OMEA Solo and Ensemble, earning seven “superior” ratings, one “excellent” rating, and one “good” rating for my participation in eight ensembles and one solo. I also participated in other honor bands, and participated in OMEA Large Group Contest, in which every ensemble I participated with received a “superior” rating. I also participated in my school’s competitive indoor drumline, usually placing between first and third in our division. In my last two years of high school, I was picked to be the alto saxophone section leader for my high school’s marching band. During my senior year, however, I took initiative and transcribed and arranged a piece for my high school’s jazz band. Later on in the year, I was awarded an “Outstanding Achievement Award” within the band department, as well as the “Patrick S. Gilmore Band Award” for my outstanding contributions to the band.

However, as of now, my current majors are Mathematics and Accounting, but that may be subject to change sometime in the future. While I do know what I’m majoring in, I still don’t necessarily know what I want to do with my majors, or what job I want to be doing in the future–for now, my goals are just to learn as many new things as I can, as well as making new connections, and most importantly, finding myself, what I’m truly passionate about and what I want to do. I am also an Arts Scholar–specializing in instrumental music, especially jazz. Since I’m still trying to get more adjusted to life at OSU, I don’t quite identify myself as a member of any extracurricular clubs quite yet, but that’s definitely bound to change sometime soon.