Hi there! My name is Alexandria (Alex for short) Orkis. I have a passion for my studies, making others feel loved, and being the best person I can be. Currently, I am a student at The Ohio State University in my first year of studying chemical engineering. I am also a member of the STEM EE scholars program. Despite being relatively new to campus, I already feel like this is a place where I can succeed in academics while becoming a better version of myself.
Why did I choose to be involved in a STEM major? Well throughout middle and high school I started to notice that I love math and science (and seem to have a knack for them). While both of these subjects challenged me and the content did not always come easily, I always felt their importance. I knew that I wanted to excel in all of my classes, but I felt a special need to do better in any math or science course. An added bonus was that these ended up being the classes that could hold my attention and were interesting to me. I like to understand how the world around me works, and through courses like calculus, chemistry, and biology I had a better understanding of this (which really interested me).
I have always had an a feeling that I should strive to be an engineer. One of my greatest role models, my dad, is an electrical engineer and I have always been interested in what he does. He gets to use math and apply scientific principles to make computers more efficient and a wide array of other things. I myself am very interested in the medical field and medical research. I love chemistry but have no real intention of going to medical school and becoming a medical doctor (unfortunately I do not do so well when I see a lot of blood). I have concluded that becoming a chemical engineer and being able to work in the medical field would be the best of both worlds. I would be able to help a multitude of sick people, which is something I’ve always wanted to be able to do with my career, and continue to use the subjects that interest me the most to accomplish that.
I know the road to becoming a chemical engineer working in the medical field is long and contains many obstacles, but I think I am up for the challenge. I have not always succeeded in school although I try to. For example, senior year, no matter how much effort I put into my physics course, I could not obtain an A. This was something that really bothered me. For a while I solely thought of physics as the class that ruined my 4.0 and chance at being valedictorian, but now I can see the benefits of not doing as well as I would have liked to. I have learned that grades do not define who I am as a person. I can get a B and still be a kind person to everyone I meet. When I look back on my life I highly doubt that I will remember what I got in my high school physics course, but I will remember the people that I’ve helped and the friends I made along the way. It has also taught me that being a perfectionist is not realistic. The next 4 years will be a very challenging time, but with hard work I can do it. Even if I do not get the grades that I hope for, I am learning valuable skills that I will need if I truly want to spend the rest of my life trying to help people. I can accept that, as long as I keep my long term goal in mind, a few B’s along the way will not stop me.
My top 5 strengths are Developer, Includer, Achiever, Arranger, and Empathy. As a developer, I try to help others become a better version of themselves. I can see the good characteristics that others possess and push them to use those qualities for their own benefit and for the benefit of others. As an Includer, I try to make sure that everyone is included, feels wanted and accepted. I understand that everyone has challenges they face daily, by making sure everyone is included, I can try to lighten the daily burden that others carry. Being an Achiever means that I value success and feel that everyday should accomplish something. My fourth strength is Arranger. With this strength I like to organize things and find the most efficient way of completing a task. Finally, my fifth strength is empathy. This ties in well with my other relationship building strengths. Empathy allows me to be aware of the emotions of those around me and be able to respond to another person’s needs.
I see these strengths at work in my everyday life, especially because they fit very well into my personality and the person I want to be. I always strive to be a person who cares about the well-being of others. I understand how horrible it can be when someone feels left out or like no one cares about them. I try to make sure that everyone feels cared about and knows their value as a person. I know that there is good inside of everyone and I genuinely love to see people achieve their goals.
In academics, I can see the value of working in a team or with others to complete a task. Others bring a wide array of unique skills to the table and utilizing everyone’s talents can yield an even better product. Knowing my strengths has helped me learn that I would work best when working with others or in a team. In engineering I would most likely be working with others to create a final product. This would be ideal as I would be able to work in my dream field while getting to help others achieve success. Since many of my strengths deal with seeing the best in others I would be able to push my team towards success by utilizing each person’s individual strengths.