Author: ogonuwe.2

My Career Goals

Happy New Year!! I hope your new year is off to a great start. In this post, I will be discussing some of my career goals. As I am constantly changing and adapting to new challenges and opportunities to grow, my career goals are not set in stone. However, they are what I am currently striving for and I can’t wait to see where I go with these goals driving me. Lastly, I have attached my resume and pictures to highlight how I have been seeking experiences to enhance my exposure to healthcare, advocacy, and policy.

Where I see myself in 5 years:

  • in medical school
  • working on or already obtained a masters degree in Public Health with a concentration on policy

Where I see myself in 10 years:

  • a board-certified physician
  • continuing to do advocacy work relating to health disparities, health literacy and education, and human rights

Where I see myself in 20+ years:

  • owning my own practice or non-profit organization
  • a policy maker/government official making positive change or preparing to run for office

Have a great week!

2020 Resume

My RA Experience

In August, I began my journey as a first year RA on north campus. As an RA, I provide support to my residents and my hall director with anything they may need. I organize events and craft nights for my residents to attend in order to build community and get them to engage with each other.  I also try to engage with the other RAs in my building during rounds, our weekly staff meetings, and hanging out with them from time to time. So far my experience has been good. My residents are great and they follow all the guidelines set by the university. They interact well with each other and know that they can also lean on me when they need to. When I started, I was worried about being able to create a positive and safe community for my residents and being able to balance my classes, extracurricular activities, and the demands of the job. Luckily, the feedback I have gotten for my residents have been positive and they do feel like our floor is a close-knit community. However, we getting close to finals, the pressure and stress that comes with my rigorous courses, wanting to get more involved, and keeping up my responsibilities as an RA has been a bit challenging. As I am still learning how to navigate these challenges, hopefully, second semester I will have a better grasp of it.

 

A pumpkin I painted during my socially-distant Pumpkin Painting Party with my residents.

Afternoon Bites with RA Stephanie: Buckeye Donuts, coffee, hot chocolate, and tea provided to residents during Game Day.

Stephanie Ogonuwe

My G.O.A.L.S.

I’m back! I am several weeks into my second year at Ohio State, and I am still looking for opportunities to enhance my experience on campus and grow. Today, I will be sharing my G.O.A.L.S. for the remainder of my time here.

Global Awareness: Appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences.

  • Learn about public health on a global scale
  • Volunteer abroad
  • Attend events that allow me to immerse myself in other cultures and learn from other people’s experiences

Original Inquiry: Understand the research process by engaging in experiences

  • Get involved with undergraduate research
  • Attend an event where I can showcase my research and learn about the work other people are doing

Academic Enrichment: Academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom

  • Successfully complete pre-med requirements
  • Obtain a minor in Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies

Leadership Development: 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.

  • Join one more student organization or other extra curricular activity
  • Get more involved in or obtain leadership roles in the organizations I am already a part of

Service Engagement: Commit to service to the community

  • Volunteer abroad
  • Continue to serve both the campus and Central Ohio communities
  • Volunteer at a different clinical setting

Thanks for reading!

Year in Review

With just a few weeks left until the end of my first year at The Ohio State University, I would like to briefly reflect on my college experience so far.

This year has been quite difficult. I came in with many expectations and a list of things I wanted to do. And then I took my first semester of General Chemistry, and my world soon became filled with long nights, long labs, and long lab reports. My chemistry knowledge only went as far as Honors Chemistry my sophomore year of high school, so going into a fast-paced college chemistry course was not easy. While taking Chem 1210, I was also taking Intro. to Psychology, Intro. to Behavioral Neuroscience, two survey classes, and my Mount seminar class. So my first lesson came when I had to learn how to balance all of those courses and manage my time wisely. With new classes every semester, this is something I will continue to learn and work through. However, I found that writing the things I needed to accomplish each day really helped me stay focused and organized. Crossing off accomplished tasks from my list of to-dos kept me encouraged and motivated throughout a busy week. Towards the end of first semester, I found different spots around campus that I liked to study in, so that also helped me stay focused and get my schoolwork done.

Although I have had to overcome a few challenges over the past year, I have grown so much since coming to Ohio State. I have pushed myself harder than I ever have and I have been inspired to continue pursuing medicine and serving others. I’ve met some pretty cool people and made new friends, while nourishing old friendships and creating new memories. After moving into my dorm, I remember lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling, and thinking, “wow, I’m in college now!!” It’s crazy to think that my freshmen year of college is coming to an end, but I am ecstatic to see where my journey will take me.

Goodbye for now and thank you for following me on my first year experience! Go bucks!!

 

Legacy Week Preparations

As a first year student in Mount Leadership Society, I am currently organizing a service project with my fellow Mounties to address poverty in Columbus. We have gone through contacting two agencies to work with, determining what we want our projects to be, thoroughly planning those projects, and creating a budget. As a team, we are collaborating with the Dream Center to host a birthday party for their guests during an evening dinner. The Dream Center is located near campus and caters to providing resources for individuals in underserved Columbus communities. Our other project involves a book drive for Prairie View Elementary students and spending part of the day reading and interacting with them through various fun activities.

Planning these two projects has been overwhelming at times, but it has also been a rewarding experience. I have learned a lot about the power of collaborating with others to make a positive contribution in the community. As a leader, it would be very difficult to do everything on your own; therefore, it is important to lean on others and their strengths in order to accomplish the group’s goals. I am grateful to be working with the people on Team #ChangingLives (Team Poverty) because they always come ready to share their own ideas and determined to do what it takes to fulfill our purpose of serving others and creating a lasting impact.

 

Artifacts

Buddy Boxes 

In September 2019, I had the pleasure of volunteering at The Family Mentor Foundation with a group of first year students from my scholars program. During our time there, we helped the organization make buddy boxes. Buddy boxes are boxes filled with snacks for elementary students in various schools around Central Ohio. The Family Mentor Foundation makes about 1,500 buddy boxes each week to deliver to students who may not have food to eat for the weekend. Therefore, our goal was to help them build and fill (with snacks) 1,500 in three hours. Fortunately, we made over three thousand buddy boxes!! It was very heartwarming to know that within the small amount of time we were there, we had made such a huge impact. I love being able to do something to positively impact my community and making someone else smile or feel loved. So kudos to us for working together for a great cause! Check out the video below to see us all in action, unfortunately I couldn’t add any music in the background, but I hope you can still enjoy the six-second silent “movie”.

About Me

Hello! My name is Stephanie Ogonuwe, and I am currently a freshmen at The Ohio State University. I am originally from Hilliard, OH and attended Hilliard Bradley High School all four years of my high school career.

At Ohio State I intend to study Neuroscience and/or Public Health on a pre-medical track. Outside of the classroom, I am a member of the Mount Leadership Scholars Society Social Justice committee and Universal Health Aid Columbus. After my four years at Ohio State, I aspire to obtain my medical degree and specialize in pediatrics or obstetrics and gynecology.

During my free time, I enjoy spending time with my friends, singing or listening to music and writing.

My mission and purpose in life is to make a positive contribution in my community and the world. I hope to continue to empower others to reach their fullest potential and serve my school, church, and community in any way that I can.