G.O.A.L.S.

Global Awareness

As a freshman, I have made plans to enrich my global awareness. These plans include getting involved in study abroad opportunities and taking history courses about different cultures of the world. Many study abroad opportunities allow me to immerse myself in the cultures of others while also enriching my academic career. I plan on finding a summer internship in any country I can to allow me to learn as much about the world as possible. On campus, I plan on taking historical studies classes about other cultures throughout the years to learn more about other parts of the world, not just current events, but the events that led up to how it is today.

Throughout my time at OSU, I have broadened my global awareness by taking courses to study the Russian language. During these courses, I not only learned the basics to the language but I also learned more about the different cultures in Russia, as there are many since the country is so large. I hope to be able to travel once I graduate, whether for school, work, or pleasure to continue to learn about other cultures around the world.

Original Inquiry

My entire goal in life is to be a research scientist, so original inquiry will forever be a part of my life. During my time at The Ohio State University, I hope to get involved in research as early as possible, hopefully starting either during this summer or my second year. I do not currently know what type of research I would like to do but I am in the process of looking at the research opportunities here at OSU in the science and math fields for anything that strikes my interest. Currently, I am taking Biology 1114H, which has a research project built into it. I have spent the last semester working in a lab, learning how to grow cultures and write a journal article. My next semester I will take Chem 1920H, and spend the entire semester doing another research project.

During my second year at OSU, I became a student research assistant in the Jackman Lab. I work with proteins and RNA and even though my time physically in the lab was cut short because of COVID-19, I am working virtually and should be able to start my own research project as soon as I can be in the lab again.

Academic Enrichment

Academic enrichment is a big part of my life goal. I wish to learn as much as possible. To do this, I am taking honors and upper level classes. These classes involve not only classes for my majors but also classes such as history and classics courses to help expand the range of knowledge I will have. Not only will classes help me learn more but studying abroad will as well. Any time I take to learn more about the world and the people in it will help me become a more rounded person.

I have continued to take challenging classes while at OSU. My favorites so far were the ordinary differential equations class I took and my current biochemistry class. Both are my majors and help to solidify that I am in the right majors for me.

Leadership Development

Leadership is an important part of who we are as Buckeyes. This year, the leadership role I have taken is becoming a general body member of the Lincoln Activities Board in my dorm. While I do not hold an actual executive board position, I go to every meeting and help with whatever I can to make our time in Lincoln Tower as fun and special as possible. In later years, I hope to become a TA or head lab assistant to further my own leadership skills and gather research and lab experience as well.

I have joined a few clubs at OSU, most which focus on STEM related subject and women in STEM fields, as that’s what I want to be involved in. I have also joined a research lab where I will hopefully be able to create and complete my own experiment so that when I join the field after undergrad, I can be prepared to do research on my own and with others in a lab.

Service Engagement

Throughout my time at OSU, I plan on volunteering my time at a research lab, as well as join groups and other opportunities to help people.

During my second year, I also volunteered as a Math Major Peer Mentor for incoming first years in the math major. I helped a lovely young lady decide what she wanted out of the major and helped her find other resources as well to help her through her time at OSU.

 

Year in Review

A Year in Review (March 2019-March 2020)

 

My year has been a roller coaster. After having one full semester behind me, I finally felt like I had a better grip on the realities of college, and partially on adulthood. I made it through living eight hours away from home in a new state and not knowing anyone on campus, and I feel I have become a better person because of it. I learned to make new friends and to experience new opportunities. But the realities of college change semester to semester. I made it through my first semester and felt great about how I was doing academically, and then came my second semester foundations of math class. This was the first time I was really challenged in a class and at first, I didn’t know how to handle it, but I adapted. I changed how I studied, because in all honesty, I didn’t really study before this. I took the time to work out my issues and I was able to raise my grade enough to get a B-, which was a large step up from the C- it was at in the middle of the semester. This showed me that I needed to be adaptable to the different styles of teaching and the different types of materials.

Sophomore year brought different challenges. I was no longer living in a suite with ten roommates and a very welcoming floor. I was living with three close friends, and on the same floor as all my other female friends, but now it was much harder to find time to hang out with everyone. My male friends were living in a different dorm building and all had their own lives and schedules so making time to see them was a struggle. We would make plans and then homework and projects and papers would get in the way. Time management became a struggle for balancing my academic and personal life, but with the help of my friends and own willingness to be flexible, we ended up having one of the best semesters, going out together and making sure everyone stayed in touch.

In addition to having to find balance with academics and my personal life, I also had to figure out what kind of research I wanted to go into, which is where my Biochemistry Research Seminar came in handy. I listened to a lot of researchers talk about what they do and why they love what they love. This was an amazing opportunity that I am glad Ohio State presents students. I discovered that there are many topics that I would not enjoy studying more but there are also plenty of areas of chemistry and biochemistry that I am very fascinated with and would love to further research. This has led me to Dr. Jane Jackman and her work with proteins and RNA. I have spent two months in her lab working with her and her graduate students. This presented me with the opportunity to discover what working in a real lab is like to make sure this is exactly what I want to do with my life.

I would have loved to spend more time in the Jackman Lab before the COVID-19 pandemic turned the world upside down. I moved out of my dorm a month and a half early, cutting my time with my roommates and friends short and making my last time living in a dorm a very sad and strange occasion. Now I am hoping for a new normal, but also hoping to be able to keep things the same when life calms down. I want to be able to have classes on campus come fall and I want to go back to working in the lab. Not being able to see my friends everyday and only being able to communicate online makes me wish for a time when we can all be together in one room again. I expect that a lot of what is going on now is going to become the new normal and that a lot of adjustments will have to be made to my time at OSU, but I also expect that we will adapt.

Goals Reflection:

Throughout my time at OSU, I have broadened my global awareness by taking courses to study the Russian language. During these courses, I not only learned the basics to the language but I also learned more about the different cultures in Russia, as there are many since the country is so large. I hope to be able to travel once I graduate, whether for school, work, or pleasure to continue to learn about other cultures around the world. During my second year at OSU, I became a student research assistant in the Jackman Lab. I work with proteins and RNA and even though my time physically in the lab was cut short because of COVID-19, I am working virtually and should be able to start my own research project as soon as I can be in the lab again. I have continued to take challenging classes while at OSU. My favorites so far were the ordinary differential equations class I took and my current biochemistry class. Both are my majors and help to solidify that I am in the right majors for me. I have joined a few clubs at OSU, most which focus on STEM related subject and women in STEM fields, as that’s what I want to be involved in. I have also joined a research lab where I will hopefully be able to create and complete my own experiment so that when I join the field after undergrad, I can be prepared to do research on my own and with others in a lab. During my second year, I also volunteered as a Math Major Peer Mentor for incoming first years in the math major. I helped a lovely young lady decide what she wanted out of the major and helped her find other resources as well to help her through her time at OSU.

Career

[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career.  Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

Artifacts

[Artifacts are the items you consider to be representative of your academic interests and achievements. For each entry, include both an artifact and a detailed annotation.  An annotation includes both a description of the artifact and a reflection on why it is important to you, what you learned, and what it means for your next steps.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

About Me

[Your “About Me” is a brief biographical statement that might include your intended major, your academic interests, your goals, as well as the things that make you unique.  Definitely include a picture! Also, remember that you can always update this post at any point. For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]