Year in Review- Sophomore Year

Sophomore year was the year of starting to become who I was always meant to be. I look back at my work this year and am so very proud of the things that I have accomplished. However, my undergraduate work has only just begun. Here are a few things that I have done this year, and a few goals I have for the future:

Global Awareness: After coming back to Ohio State after having spent the summer in my home country of Croatia, I reflected on who I was as a global citizen. I thought about how thankful I was to grow up experiencing cultures across the world. The most important things that I learned about the cultures that I interacted with were through conversations with native people. I thought about what new culture I would like to begin to experience, and Germany instantly came to mind. This year, I began taking German classes to learn the language. My goal for next summer is to take a chemistry internship in Germany and further immerse myself in the culture. I hope that in my time at OSU, I study at least one more language and visit a place that commonly speaks it.

Original Inquiry: Sophomore year was the year that I really dove into research. Reflecting on my freshman year, I decided that the topic that most interested me was theoretical chemistry. The first week of my sophomore year I joined Dr. Sherwin Singer’s research group. Theoretical chemistry is a demanding field, and I fully immersed myself in the work that I was doing. I spent the first half of the year learning how to use molecular modeling software to be able to run the experiments that I am doing now. I am currently learning coding so I can execute scripts in my research process. I have been studying C++ and I love it so much that I am taking a class over it next year and am even considering expanding my undergraduate education into a fifth year to get a computer science degree. I was awarded the Mayer Undergraduate Research Fellowship for this upcoming summer, so I hope to have my first paper about the Stokes shift in tryptophan 28 in a lysozyme published by the end of the summer.

Academic Enrichment: By the end of this term, I will have completed all the Honors courses that the chemistry department offers. I love the field that I am studying and the class that I have looked forward to the most, physical chemistry, is coming up in my next year of study. I have also developed interests in computers through my work in theoretical chemistry, so I hope to take more computer programming classes in the future and possibly even add a second major in computer science.

Leadership Development: The biggest leadership challenge that I took on this year was changing my role from student to teacher. I began teaching for the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry as a general chemistry lab instructor. I was nervous for my first semester of teaching, but I feel that I significantly improved at the end of my second semester of teaching. One of the proudest moments of my life was the last day of lab having so many of my students tell me that my teaching was what helped them succeed in general chemistry. I am excited to start teaching recitation next year so that I can help my students succeed even more in general chemistry.

Service Engagement: Some of the most memorable experiences of my sophomore year were through volunteer activities. This year, I volunteered in many activities assisting the blind through my sorority, Delta Gamma. My favorite event was working for the convention hosted by the National Federation of the Blind of Ohio. I spent most of my time guiding people through the hotel and I learned so much about hope from them. Not a single person let their disability hold them back from doing the things they wanted to do. It was so inspiring to me. It made me want to pursue more service events because they helped me as much as I helped them. My service goal for the future is to go immerse myself in a Spanish-speaking culture for a project. I hope to spend an extended amount of time in a Central American or South American country so I could really help the people there while also getting to befriend them and learn to appreciate their culture.

 

Service Engagement Goal

The ultimate human goal is to acquire as much knowledge as possible and use that knowledge to serve society. In my next four years at the Ohio State University, I plan to serve society. As I aspire to be a physician, my primary means of service will be through volunteer work in the realm of medicine. I plan on volunteering at the free clinic and at the Wexner Medical Center during my time at the Ohio State University. During breaks when I am at home, I live near a Planned Parenthood and I am going to continue to volunteer there because reproductive rights are an important issue to me. Additionally, I am going to join a sorority. One of reasons sorority life appeals to me is the service work it does. Also, I want to work at an organization that teaches adults English because it is both a service opportunity and an opportunity to enhance my own Spanish skills. My goal is to add one service project to my agenda each semester during my undergraduate career.

Leadership Development Goal

The goal of education is to build a foundation to become a leader in society. Education occurs both in the classroom and outside of it. I plan to build my leadership skills through involvement in multiple organizations. First, I am going to pursue research. I already have one research opportunity for the summer after my freshman year, and I hope to have at least one more. I also aspire to be a teaching assistant for a general chemistry course for at least one semester because teaching chemistry to a group of students will teach me leadership in return. Outside of the realm of science, I have a big goal for creating an organization here at the Ohio State University. I am a painter, but not a career painter. It is something I like to do in my free time. I imagine there are many other students here at the Ohio State University that are also hobby artists. I am currently a member of art club in hopes to reach to other hobby artists because I want to start an organization that sells art and donates the earnings to Columbus area charities. These are just a few of my aspirations to fulfill the goal of Leadership Development.

Academic Enrichment Goal

Picking my major was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made because I find so many different fields interesting. I chose chemistry as my major because if I am going to do one thing for the rest of my life, I want to be either a physician or a chemist. The courses I am taking for my chemistry major are going beyond the minimum requirement. I am currently enrolled in Honors General Chemistry 1 and will be taking Honors General Chemistry 2 in the spring, and I plan to take all the other Honors courses the chemistry department offers. In addition, I am only required to take 1 semester of biochemistry to fulfill my premed requirements, but I am going to take the three-semester biochemistry sequence because I am interested in understanding the connection between chemistry and biology. However, I am not just a “science” person. To me, science explains life but studying the humanities gives meaning to it. I am pursuing a Spanish minor and a Slavic and East European minor currently because I am very interested in the different cultures around me. The classes taken in these minors will teach me qualitative thought which is far different than the quantitative thought often used in science. The goal of the variety in my coursework at the Ohio State will enhance my ability to think both creatively and analytically. Ultimately, I hope that at the end of my undergraduate career, my depth and breadth of study will make me a competitive candidate for either medical school or a graduate chemistry program.

Original Inquiry Goal

As does any dreamer, I hope to do something profound. I want to someday read an article about ground-breaking information and see my name listed on the team that discovered it. In particular, I hope to create original thought in chemistry. To do this, I plan to take Honors courses in chemistry to be able to be taught by the best chemists the Ohio State University has to offer. I plan to work on research during my undergraduate career. I want to work on one research project in the field of chemistry, hopefully even with a faculty member. I am particularly interested in physical chemistry, so it would be an honor to work for Dr. Singer some day. As I am also on the pre-med track, I have a research position with Dr. Gary Koski at Kent State University for the summer after my freshman year and hopefully successive summers. I hope that my research experiences under faculty members give me the tools I need to one day set up my own lab and do that “profound” thing I aspire to do.

Global Awareness Goal

I want to become immersed in as many cultures as I can in order to see the world from as many viewpoints as possible. To do this, I am going to take a multitude of courses at the Ohio State University. I am currently working on my Spanish minor and my Slavic and East European minor. I have currently tested out of the Spanish language and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian language prerequisites for each and I am taking advanced grammar and composition classes to perfect my speech and writing. From there, I am going to take culture classes to best prepare me to study abroad Spain and hopefully in a Balkan country, which I plan to do as an upperclassman. I am going to learn German and Portuguese during my time here at Ohio State as well because I already have a background in both languages. My goal with the German language overlaps with my chemistry major, too, because I would like to pursue a summer internship with a German chemical company at some point in my undergraduate career. My ultimate goal for all the global studies I am pursuing is to become a well-rounded individual with a global mindset and a better appreciation for all the diversity that exists in this world.

Little Wanderer

They called me “Mala Lutalica”, or “Little Wanderer”. I spent a large part of my childhood growing up in Seget Vranjica, Croatia. I ran around my beach community wearing no shoes, with long, dark hair and skin bronzed by the Mediterranean sun. Growing up, I remained the same– always running around for an adventure. I have explored many parts of Europe while staying there. One thing I have learned is that there is so much of the native life that tourists do not see. My global awareness goal for my lifetime is not to simply visit different countries. I want to learn about the cultures and become immersed in them. The life I have is not enough for me. I want to live as many other ways as I can, even if they are better or worse than my own lifestyle. I want to always be a Little Wanderer.

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.]