My first year of college has been full of both struggles and achievements, but overall I have gained a sense of independence and experienced growth in many aspects of my life in just one year here at Ohio State.

Primarily, I have gained an appreciation for the level of discipline and dedication it takes to succeed.  I think many of us students would agree that the rigor of academics in college is tremendously different than what we experienced in high school.  Although I worked hard in high school, it was not enormously difficult to reach the standards I had set for myself.  College proved to be a different story, at least for myself.  I struggled with the fact that I was not always producing the quality of work that I had been in high school, and I was not earning the highest grade I could in every situation.  Although it was difficult, I used this as motivation to increase my efforts and work as hard as I could to reach my own standards.  By being put in a situation where hard work was the only way to succeed, I have learned that my success is only limited by myself and that I can achieve whatever I want if I’m willing to put the work in.

Another thing I have learned this year is that if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong place.  There is always something to learn from the people around you, and this has proved so important to me this year.  At a university as competitive as Ohio State where you’re surrounded with extremely intelligent and dedicated students, it can sometimes feel like you shouldn’t be there or that you are there by mistake.  This year, I have learned to let those thoughts pass and form a new mindset that will allow me to learn anything I can from the people around me.  If you’re the smartest person in the room, you will gain nothing from those around you, so I have learned that it’s okay to not know things and to use that opportunity to grow.

Although there were hardships during my first year as a college student, I learned so much about myself and gained skills and lessons that I will be able to carry with me throughout my whole life, and I can’t wait to see what the next few years hold!

Year 2:

My second year of school at Ohio State was certainly different than year one.  Obviously with COVID-19, everyone had to switch their way of doing things, and we all had to adopt a different way of learning.  This was extremely challenging but taught me a few things along the way.

One thing that I learned through this experience was how important it is to connect to the people around you and form relationships.  There is no doubt that the social and professional networks we are so used to relying on were halted this year, and it was much harder than I would have expected it to be.  I learned not to take opportunities for connection for granted in both my social and professional life.  I also learned how adaptive we all are to change.  I cannot think of an area of my life, or any of our lives, that wasn’t affected by the pandemic, and it is truly incredible how we are able to change to our situation and continue to live but in a different way.  I think that is a lesson that I will take with me for the rest of my life.

This year, I continued my involvement in Health Sciences Scholars and became a member of the Student Dietetic Association.  I also began volunteering at All People’s Fresh Market and formed relationships with the staff there as well as the customers.  I learned so many skills through this including how to communicate with people who come from all different walks of life.  I learned compassion and communication and plan to continue volunteering there throughout my time in Columbus.

Although this year was very different from year one, I learned some things that I think will be applicable to my life forever and am ready to get back in the classroom this fall!