Summer 2019 Reflection

Over the summer of 2019, I worked at a Jewish summer camp in Maine. I am not Jewish so I learned a lot about their culture through the camp. About half of the staff at the camp was international and I learned about their cultures and experiences as well. I definitely became more Globally aware. At the camp I was the head of woodworking. Although it wasn’t research I was designing projects for students to complete. There was an element of creation and I was also teaching the kids woodworking. During my breaks at camp I taught myself biology and Spanish to further my academic enrichment. I also read two books over the summer. I was a leader by being the head of woodworking and I was the assistant unit leader for the 7-9 year old boys. It was not traditional volunteering, but I would spend some of my off time working in the wood shop to be prepared for the kids.

Columbus To-Do List #1

On October 28 my peer group and I went to Kafe Kerouac. I would not recommend it to a friend. We met each other at the cafe. It was tucked away, but not too hard to find. It was raining that night so I had to hurry to get there to not get caught in the rain. I was excited to see my peer group right when I walked in the door. The place had a nice atmosphere. There was a fellow patron who was so friendly and took our picture for us. There were board games, paintings, and books. The cafe was relaxed. My favorite part of the experience was walking in the door and seeing my peer group right away. My roommate Jackson went home for the weekend and I missed him. The first time I was able to see him since he left was at the Cafe with our peer group. I learned more about navigating the city.

Columbus To-Do List #2

Drew and I toured Columbus on Labor Day (9-3-18) with two of our other friends. We walked through the Short North after meeting at the Union. Then we walked along the Scioto River downtown. We found the deer along the water. Stopped at the splash park. We got all the way down to German Village and ate at Schmidt’s Sausage Haus und Restaurant. Then we made it back to Arena District and watched a Clipper’s game. My favorite part was eating at the German restaurant because I have never been to a cultural area or restaurant like that before. I learned a lot about how the city is laid out and where different museums and other attractions are. We had walked over ten miles around the city so by the end of the day we had gotten a pretty good feel for the city. I would highly recommend it to a friend, but I would not want to just generally tour the city again because I feel that I have seen a lot of it. I need to go to more specific locations and attractions now.

First Year in Review

During my first year at Ohio State, I have discovered a passion for humanitarian engineering. As an incoming student, I had known nearly nothing about it. The people I have met and the projects I have been involved with have reassured me that I am in the perfect field for me. I have worked and communicated with a community from Njau, The Gambia through Engineers Without Borders. In May, I traveled to Guatemala with my advisor Rachel Tuttle to complete an engineering service-learning trip. I have also worked on a coding project for users with limited dexterity in their hands.

The biggest change in my GOALS and aspirations after one year at college is I have developed a clearer plan of how I will accomplish my GOALS. I have always known what I’ve wanted to accomplish with my life, but it was not clear the path I would take to complete them. Now I am confident I can reach my goals through work in humanitarian engineering.  The steps I have taken towards my goals have come from being involved in different projects and learning as much as I can. My involvement has led me to connect with and meeting a lot of different people who I have learned so much from. Over my second year, I intend to develop a clearer plan to reach my GOALS. Going into my first year I knew where I wanted to end up. At the end of my first year, I have learned the general direction I need to go to reach my goal. Through my second year, I want to develop more of a plan on how I will reach my goals and what steps I need to take along the way.

G.O.A.L.S.

  • Global Awareness: My global awareness has increased during my first year at Ohio State. I have been engaged with communicating with the community of Njau in The Gambia. I went to Guatemala and worked with local people on an engineering service-learning trip.
  • Original Inquiry: My work in humanitarian engineering is original inquiry because the work and projects have never been done before. There are know answers online about how to solve these problems. Each step we take we are pushing the boundaries of the young and developing field.
  • Academic Enrichment: In Spring 2019, I enrolled in an Introduction to Humanitarian Engineering course. The course was not worth any specific credit to me, but I enrolled anyway. The class was my favorite of the semester and I learned a lot about what I am passionate about.
  • Leadership Development: I have grown as a leader through student organization leadership positions. In Engineers Without Borders, I was a committee lead and became the interim grant writing chair. I currently serve as the grant writing chair.
  • Service Engagement: My service to communities comes from my involvement with Humanitarian Engineering Scholars. I have completed the OWL program twice, community committment, and MLK Day of Service. I also was apart of an engineering service-learning trip to Guatemala. Engineers Without Borders is volunteer based as well.

My goals have not changed over the course of my first year. I have gained a clearer understanding of how to reach the GOALS.

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

Over the summer of 2018 I went to a charity bowling event with my closest friend. We were supporting Terry Rozier’s charity. The day before the event I had to get my wisdom teeth removed and I went anyway because supporting the charity and my friend Terry Rozier was immensely important to me. At the event we were chilling with GMB, Terry’ s friends, and got to have a great time while making contributions to his charity. His charity supports youth sports and educational program in underprivileged areas. Terry has taught me many important lessons and moral values through our relationship. My friend and I were the champions of the bowling event, but nothing was more valuable than the memories made and the charitable contributions.

 

I have played basketball my whole life, but in only my third week on campus I broke my thumb playing basketball. I had never broken any bone or had a major injury before. I was adjusting well to life at college, but then I was faced with the additional challenge of adjusting to doing things without my thumb. I had to face the challenge of deciding what I should do without my parents advice. I had to run to the urgent care in the rain because I have no car here. I had a follow up appointment that was right outside downtown Columbus that I also had to run to. It was not an easy experience to go through and it happened at a terrible time. Ultimately, it taught me to be more grateful for my overall health and the opportunities that I do have going forward.

About Me

I am Matt Parsons, a first-year student intending on majoring in chemical engineering. On campus I’m involved with Humanitarian Engineering Scholars, Engineers Without Borders, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and Engineers for Community Service. My greatest interest and passion of my student organizations is with Engineers Without Borders. I am the Director of the Agricultural Project Team. The team is responsible for creating an infographic that will be displayed in a community in Africa to teach the population best farming practices. They are new to farming and as a whole organization we are helping them develop their farm. Academically I will challenge myself with the major of chemical engineering. I will add depth with a minor in humanitarian engineering. I also plan on minoring in business to add breadth to my education. My ultimate goal is to inspire others and be a motivational role model for anyone who needs it. My life has been changed immensely by outside role models and to have the impact on someone else that my role models have had on me would be the highest level of fulfillment.

My top five strengths from the Clifton Strength Test were learner, input, achiever, focus, and responsibility. I strongly agree with learner as my top strength. I enjoy reading nonfiction material and I am always studying. I am also continuously looking for ways to improve and become more efficient to help accomplish my goals. The input strength goes hand in hand with the learner strength. Input means that I like to collect something and what I enjoy collecting is knowledge and information across any subject. The strength I am most proud of is my achiever strength. I never stop working and what most people find relaxing stresses me out. I have no patience for wasting time and quickly become frustrated with anything that wastes time. I’m always trying to out do myself and find ways to work harder and more efficiently everyday. There is no better feeling than knowing you did everything you could to prepare and study for coursework and for me that means always working on something. I believe that my focus strength just comes from that I am always working on something. I feel like I do not have the best prioritization skills, but I’m always working so I can get everything done. The responsibility strength also applies to me in that I follow through with what I say I will do. I also closely follow my personal values that guide my decision making.