[ “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: Near the end of last year, I received my DICE certification, which stands for “diversity, inclusion, and cultural engagement.” I completed this program in the spring of my freshman year. To obtain this, I attended various seminars and meetings which explored several topics and perspectives in the areas of diversity and acceptance. I learned to better understand differences among people, and I really enjoyed the overall experience. If I had the choice to do it again, I definitely would. I think it was an interesting program and I’d encourage anyone to get the certification which I believe will help me in my future career by helping developing my overall understanding for others.
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: This past week, I interviewed my peer mentor, Natalie Ferguson, who is a senior majoring in Health Sciences on a pre-med path. I too, am a Health Sciences major who wants to pursue medicine, so I asked her various questions to gain insight into the path towards medical school. Some of the questions I asked were, “How many medical schools did you apply too?”, “How did you prepare for the MCAT?”, “How did you find doctors to shadow?”, “Do you feel like your major prepared you well?”, and “What kind of extracurriculars were you involved in?” Natalie was very helpful and carefully answered each of my questions. She explained that she applied to about 10 medical schools and to prepare for the MCAT, she did not enroll in a class but instead bought a Kaplan book. She suggested this type of self-study and advised that the MCAT prep courses are very expensive and a good alternative is to simply buy the book. She also explained that shadowing experience is extremely important, and said that she reached out to a doctor here at OSU through email in addition to shadowing local doctors in her hometown. Natalie went on explain how much she enjoyed the Health Sciences major classes and how well she felt that they prepared her for medical school interviews since she was well equipped to answer health policy questions. She also said that she generally enjoyed the courses and felt that she gained a lot of real world knowledge from each of them. Natalie was involved in various health related clubs and also participated in clinical research which she enjoyed and felt that it benefitted her application process. Overall, Natalie provided an abundance of information regarding the path to medical school.

Leadership Development: This year, I participated in the HSS peer mentor program as a mentor to my mentee and I also was a TA for the Scholars seminars. I think both of these activities individually enhanced my ability to be a leader and I learned valuable leadership skills as well as a better understanding of the responsibility that comes with it. I plan to continue each of these programs in future years to further develop the skills. As a peer mentor, I demonstrated leadership on a one-to-one level whereas with the TA experience, I learned it in terms of a group setting, so I think both experiences contributed to improving my leadership ability and can be carried with me into my professional life.

Service Engagement: Over the course of this year, OSU has provided me with so many great opportunities to serve the community. These include events such as volunteering at OSU swim meets, Med-life sponsored blood drives, BuckeyeThon, and Garden of Hope. Each of these experiences has made me realize what a difference an individual has the potential to make in so many lives. BuckeyeThon in particular was one of my favorites parts about this year, because it was amazing to be a part of something that has such a huge impact. I was honored to join the OSU community and their commitment to putting an end to pediatric cancer. It was amazing to see the strength of each of the families and the kids involved. Volunteering at Garden of Hope was also a very rewarding experience as the organization plays such a role in helping cancer survivors regain their health after beating such a vicious disease. Each of my volunteer experiences has opened my eyes to the importance of service and I am excited to continue this work in the coming years.