A few weeks ago, I met with Rachel Schmitmeyer, one of my scholars family mentors. Rachel is a third year architecture student, minoring in design, from a small town between Dayton and Lima, OH. Being that she is an architecture major, she was busy with her studio work, I dropped by the studio for our interview. This was the first time I had seen the architecture students’ studio, but I had heard a lot about it from my roommate, so it was interesting to actually see it.

When I first got there, her pictures of her international travel pinned up on her board immediately caught my eye. One of the pictures was of the Duomo di Firenze, which is my all-time favorite building. We got into talking about traveling, among other things, and especially travel related to architecture and history. Because I mentioned that I am considering changing my major to history, she helpfully highlighted key points such as joining professional organizations (she’s in the AIAS for example), and resources that the library contains.

Aside from school and major related things, Rachel and I talked a lot about extracurricular advice. She said that her favorite OSU moment thus far was not only the Michigan game of her freshman year, but also just the small moments she has with her friends. She talked about her running club and a church organization that she’s a part of, and really stressed the point of not thinking solely about school or your career, but to remember to have a good time. This definitely stuck with me, since I know from past experiences that I can get a little to caught up in the academics to the point that I am lacking socially.

Overall, meeting with Rachel really helped me to understand how big this university is; the resources and opportunities that she mentioned were ones that I had never heard of before. This made me a little more confident about pursuing a major that I have more interest in – I’m not stuck in one place.

Hello! My name is Ginny Palmer, and I am from Columbus, Ohio. I am planning on majoring in civil engineering, and maybe minoring in history. The summer before my senior year of high school, I traveled to Spain and Italy where I fell in love with the structures there. However, since these were so old, they need upkeep. Therefore it is my career goal to become a historic structure preservation engineer so that these structures are around for many more generations to enjoy.

Aside from the academics, my interests include things like camping, antiquing, and  collecting vinyl records. This past summer, I also got into historical reenactment through my job.

Originally, the Ohio State University was my third choice of colleges. I had thought that I wanted to go somewhere out of state, but as the time for decision drew nearer, I realized that being around for my siblings was important to me. The deal was sealed when I was accepted into the architecture scholars group that I am now a part of. During my senior year of high school, I worked for a Welding Engineering PhD candidate to aid in research, so I felt a little more familiar with the school. I know that OSU is a very well-rounded school, with a strong engineering program, so I am quite satisfied with my choice to enroll here.