Welcome to my Honors & Scholars e-Portfolio

My name is Nina Oryshkewych. I am a first-year STEM EE Scholar, majoring in data analytics. My ePortfolio contains a collection of information, regarding facts about myself, my experiences, my acheivements, my interests, and my aspirations. Based on this information, it is clear that there are many things that have shaped me into the person I am today. I have attained numerous valuable skills and talents through my educational journey thus far – I am hardworking, diligent, and responsible. I hope to use the skills I already have along with those I will attain over the course of the next four years to pursue a career as a data analyst.

Year in Review

Ohio State is an enormous school, and entering one’s first year at a university of such size can be quite intimidating for just about anybody. Coming into my freshman year, I was feeling all kinds of nervousness about beginning this new chapter in my life: good nervousness in the sense that I was getting a chance to form new friendships, become more independent, and start taking steps towards my future career, and bad nervousness in the sense that meeting new people can be difficult and an immense load of pressure was about to be dropped on me for the next four years. However, I was sure that choosing to attend the Ohio State University was the right choice for me and that countless opportunities for success were waiting for me on whichever path I chose to take.

My first year at Ohio State was full of both good times and bad, new experiences, and countless memories. Undergoing all of this has led to a great deal of change and development in my persona. Specifically, joining the STEM EE Scholars Program has helped shape me over the past school year into a new person. The STEM EE Scholars Program has made me a well-rounded person. A big focus of the program has been to strive to achieve the G.O.A.L.S. of the Honors and Scholars Center, which are global awareness, original inquiry, academic enrichment, leadership development, and service engagement, and to do so within the STEM fields. I have learned to place value in things outside of just academics, in order to embody a more wholesome identity. By doing so, I have expanded my mindset and grown in maturity and developed more of a willingness to evolve my ideas.

Above anything else, I have become a much stronger person with regard to my ability to manage stress and overcome difficulties. Throughout my first year, I have been faced with all kinds of new challenges. First of all, my course work this year was much more demanding than anything I have done in the past. This was a huge adjustment for me, as I was obligated to put in much more time into school work and learning things on my own. Secondly, I had to adapt to being on my own and develop my sense of independence. By doing so, I have learned to make decisions on my own and to become my own person. All in all, by learning to cope with all the difficulties of my first year of college, I have developed a variety of skills that I never had before.

In many ways, my first year at OSU was different from my initial expectations. A big aspect that turned out to be different from my expectations was how to make a big school small. Here at OSU, there is a plethora of opportunities to get involved. I initially thought that the best way to go about involvement would be to join every club that sounded enjoyable so that I could meet as many people as possible. What I ended up doing, though, was quite different. Rather than spreading myself out amongst many clubs, I joined just a few clubs, in which I was very active, and thus creating very close friendships along the way. The STEM EE Scholars program, along with the other clubs I have joined, has provided me with a tight-knit family in this huge sea of people that make up the Ohio State University.

G.O.A.L.S.

The five facets of the G.O.A.L.S. of the OSU Honors and Scholars Center are Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. Global Awareness involves students being not only citizens within their own communities, but also striving to be citizens of the global community by showing recognition for diversity and the uniqueness of every individual. Original Inquiry means that students will undertake self-driven activities through which they will better understand the research process. Academic Enrichment encompasses the involvement in scholarly activities both in and out of the classroom in order to connect their formal education to their future career path. Leadership Development involves building leadership skills, within students’ areas of interest, that can be utilized in different types of environments. Service Engagement means that students will dedicate time to serve their communities through activities within their fields of interest. Together, each of the aspects of the G.O.A.L.S. form a holistic and creditable persona that students should strive to embody.

Academic Enrichment, particularly, is the most important out of the G.O.A.L.S. in the context of my future career goals. I would like to go to medical school and become a doctor, specifically a pediatric doctor. Medical school is very difficult to get into and being admitted would require a reputable academic record. This includes not only a strong grade point average, but also evidence of academic involvement outside the classroom. There are several steps I plan to take throughout my time as an undergraduate in order to meet this standard. First, I will be diligent in my coursework so that I can receive as high of a grade point average as I can. Secondly, I will look for any academic clubs or honor societies to join that relate to my field of study. Specifically, I have been looking into the Pre-Medicine Club, the Pre-Health Giving Back club and Alpha Epsilon Delta Honor Society. After receiving my undergraduate degree, I hope to be admitted to an accredited medical school. While in medical school, as well as in my career, I will have to continue my pursuit of Academic Enrichment in order to be successful.

Original Inquiry will also be crucial in my path to my career goals. An important part of preparation for medical school is also participating in some sort of undergraduate research and or working an internship within one’s field of study. Pursuing Original Inquiry will help me take the steps necessary to prepare me for such a position and eventually earn one. In order to earn a research or internship position, I will need to make connections. I will do my best to succeed in my major courses and maintain contact with all my professors in case any opportunity for research comes about. I will also sign up for the Undergraduate Research Office’s newsletter to keep myself informed of all undergraduate research opportunities. Another important step I will take is attending job fairs to try to land an internship in my field of study. Beyond my four years of undergrad, I will continue to incorporate original inquiry in my time at medical school, as well as in my career as a pediatrician.

Career

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The STEM EE Scholars Program has enabled me to develop many transferrable skills that will benefit me in any career route I choose to take. First of all, STEM EE has taught me responsibility. There are a number of requirements to be in the program, and staying on top of all of them has required me to stay responsible at all times. Also through the requirements of the STEM EE program, I have acquired time management and organizational skills. Another important aspect of  STEM EE is the G.O.A.L.S. As a member of a Scholars community, I have pursued each of the G.O.AL.S., and I believe that by the end of my four years here at OSU, I will have reached the G.O.A.L.S. and possess them as strong skills of my own.

Another activity I have gotten involved in at OSU is club swimming. Above anything else, it has taught me teamwork and dedication. Just recently, we ended our season with a win at our national championship team, which was a direct product of the hard work of the entire team as a whole. I learned that being a success on a team requires complete investment from each member, and although each member can contribute in a different way, each and every contribution is necessary to achieve the best result.

Artifacts

This year I participated in OSU’s BuckeyThon, which is a 24 hour dance marathon that raises funds to support the children of the Hematology/Oncology/BMT Department of Columbus’ Nationwide Children’s Hospital. I can say with all honesty that participating in BuckeyeThon was the most moving experience I’ve ever had. It was incredible to see how happy the children and families were to be supported by so many people. Another very special part of the event was getting the chance to hear several success stories of children beating cancer. No one deserves to have their life changed by cancer, and I am so honored to be part of the effort to create future success stories.BuckeyeThon

About Me

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My name is Nina Oryshkewych. I was born in Parma, Ohio, which is a suburb of Cleveland, then moved to a different suburb of Cleveland called Broadview Heights. I went to St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic school through fifth grade, then finished middle school at Assumption Academy. I went to North Royalton High School. My educational journey has allowed me to grow as an individual in numerous ways. My elementary and middle schools were very small; high school was a big adjustment for me, as it was much larger than the previous schools I attended. I gained not only academic knowledge at school, but also knowledge of how to deal with change and adapt to new environments.

A large portion of my life thus far was dedicated to swimming. I joined the Ridgewood YMCA Swim Team when I was eight years old and continued swimming year round for the next nine years. I also swam on the varsity team for all four years of high school. It was through swimming that I met my closest friends and formed my fondest memories. Swimming has also taught me a number of valuable lessons. It has taught me discipline, hard work, and the value of teamwork. It has also taught me to appreciate the ups and downs in life – that even in failure, you still come out as a stronger person.

I have always been best at math and science, so I have always always been interested in the STEM fields. What is most intriguing to me about the STEM fields is that they are always progressing and striving to make innovations. While science and math have always been my strongest subjects, I did not always see myself going into those fields. High school really showed me where my strengths and weaknesses are, and allowed me to figure out where my true interests lied.

I wanted to be a STEM EE Scholar for a number of reasons. First of all, I wanted to be a part of the ever-progressing community that the STEM fields encompass. As a STEM EE Scholar, I am given the opportunity to explore the STEM fields and pursue my interests in them. Secondly, as a new student at Ohio State, I knew that it would be quite overwhelming to be at such a large school. Being a STEM EE Scholar would allow me to make a huge school a little bit smaller by becoming a member of a close-knit community.

My top five strengths are adaptability, responsibility, competition, deliberative, and futuristic. Adaptability means that I realize that each day offers its own surprises, and I am able to handle whatever surprise is thrown at me; I prefer to “go with the flow” and experience life in the moment. Responsibility means that I feel accountable for good results when completing tasks – people can rely on me to follow through with things that I say I will do. Competition means that I strive to be the best and often compare myself and excel in contests; I am motivated to outshine others. Deliberative means that I take great care in making decisions, I anticipate obstacles, and doing what is important to me matters more to me than doing what is important to others. Futuristic means that I am inspired by what I can accomplish in the future and it motivates me to keep moving forward.

My strengths play a large role in my current life. Now that I am aware of what they are, I can clearly see how they influence my day-to-day activity. For the most part, my strengths are centered around accomplishing my goals and setting myself up for a bright future. They motivate me to act now so that I can be successful later. Now that I know my strengths, I can see that I really am set on working hard to achieve my goals and I believe that what I do in my daily life reflects that.

My strengths also help me when it comes to academics. Because of my adaptability, challenges or problems in my schoolwork do not scare me. I know how to deal with them and how to change my plans if need be. My sense of responsibility drives me to complete assignments on time and to complete them well. I come prepared to class and do my work diligently. My sense of competition pushes me to do well in my classes, to get good grades, and to be the best student among my peers. Because I am deliberative, I take care in putting hard work into my academics and making good choices in order to set myself up for a bright future. Furthermore, my futuristic strength pushes me to do the best I possibly can in school so that I can accomplish all the goals I have set for myself.

Knowing my strengths definitely supports my thoughts on my future goals. I have never liked having a specific plan that is set in stone, hence my adaptability strength, but I know that I am capable of accomplishing great success in the future. Currently, I am majoring in data analytics, and I plan on specializing in biomedical informatics. I hope to work for a hospital or company as a data analyst. Once again, I am hesitant to make specific plans so I am not positive if this is exactly what I want to do. What I do know, though, is that I can accomplish whatever I set myself up to do – I am willing to put in the work it takes to get myself where I want to be, and I know that my strengths can help me do this. Because I am futuristic, I see myself doing big things, and my other strengths only support this vision. I will be able to make changes as I need to and overcome obstacles because of my strength of adaptability. My sense of responsibility will allow me to take hold of my obligations and duties. My competitive instinct will drive me to achieve my high goals so that I can be recognized as a winner. Finally, my deliberative strength will help me move through my plans with caution and be sure to make the right decisions in order to reach my goals.