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.

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.

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.

• 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.