Artifact 3

For my 3rd artifact I am selecting a picture of my sorority sisters on recruitment day. Delta Omega Kappa is a pre health sorority at Ohio State where every girls is pursuing some sort of pre health career. I rushed DOK because I was looking for a group of strong females who were going through the same thing I was as a pre med student. I found an amazing group of people who I am so proud to call my sisters. I am so blessed to have found the mentorship of older girls in the sorority, and I am beginning to step into those leadership positions myself. I was recently elected to the Treasurer position of my sorority for the 2022-2023 school year. I am very excited to take on such a big role in my sorority and to continue being a leader at Ohio State.

Artifact 2

For my second artifact I chose a picture from Cross Country. This picture and its frame were my senior gift after 6 years of cross country. The sport has definitely changed my life and taught me so much. Before starting Cross Country in seventh grade, the only sport I had done before was taekwondo, while taekwondo taught me a lot, cross country taught me a lot of other important skills like how to persevere and how to work with people.

 

My 7th and 8th grade year of Cross Country, I was pretty good at the sport. I was young but I had muscular legs from taekwondo, and this allowed me to succeed during runs and workouts. By the time I reached high school cross country, things really changed. The fast girls were much faster than I could ever hope to be. At this time all the girl’s bodies really changed, and I remember being able to put on much more muscle than my friends. However, in high school, with a longer distance the thinner you are the easier it is to run faster because you do not have as much weight to carry. I had to learn how to enjoy the sport without being really good at it. Freshman year was good because we had an amazing coach who made every runner excited for practice, whether they were fast or not.

 

By sophomore year things started to change even more and I began to dislike the sport. We had a new coach who only really cared for the varsity team. The rest of the girls were left without a lot of motivation or people pushing them. This was when the upperclassmen really began to step in and take care of us. They would give us rides to practice or meets, they would plan team bonding events, and they made cross country fun. The true leaders on our team were leaders because they cared for the team, not because they were faster or slower than other girls. I admired those girls so much and remember wanting to be them one day.

 

By junior year, school began to get more difficult. With extracurriculars, classes, and working a job I did not really think much about Cross Country, I just showed up. I did want to make the underclassmen feel welcome so the other upperclassmen and I planned as many team bonding events in the summer as possible. At the end of the season, I had gotten nominated for student of the month at school. I was not sure who nominated me but then I found out it was one of the freshmen on the team who said that I was a great leader in Cross Country. This mean so much to me and I dedicated my senior year to ensuring that all team members felt valued. At the end of the year, we got a senior gift from the Cross-Country team. When I look at that gift, I remember all the different ways there are to truly be a leader.

Artifacts

For my Artifact I chose taekwondo. Taekwondo has been a huge part of my life since I started when I was 7 years old. Since I have become a 3rd degree decided black belt and a level 4 instructor. I have found a second family in taekwondo and teaching taekwondo has taught me so much about myself. In this image I am receiving my third degree black belt in May 2016.

The first time I tested for my third degree black belt was in January 2016, this was my first time at national testing. It was a scary experience because I was only 13 years old. Many people do not pass national testing on their first time, and I did not either. I no changed because of sparring which made me very sad because sparring is a core piece of Taekwondo. The next testing was in May, so I worked super hard over the next couple of months to become better. My instructors helped me and I was able to pass my first national testing in May. This was huge for me and brought me to the next level as a martial artist.

As an instructor, it is my job to prepare student for their testing. Before students test in nationals they test at their home taekwondo studio where their instructors judge, so I also judge their testings. Seeing these kids succeed is very important to me, so I work very hard to prepare them to do well at testing. I form great relationships with them over the years and when they finally reach their dreams, I get to be so proud of them. Recently some of the kids I have taught for a while went to their first national testing and did not pass. I am excited to work with them when I go back in december and prepare them to pass at their next national testing.