Do

Bike Trail

Recently, the weather was above 50 degrees so I decided to take the opportunity to run outside once again. A few of my friends also prefer running outside compared to on treadmills and they’ve always recommended that I go run on the bike trail by the towers. For some reason, I thought the trail would be further than it actually is or that I would get lost as I like to run in the late evening. But with the nice weather, I decided to run around noon when the sun was nice and bright. It added extra warmth to the day and provided more than enough light for me to see and not be afraid of getting lost. So, I began my run and ran past both Morrill and Lincoln Tower to get to the bike trail. As I was running past them, I realized two things. I needed to go run more often if I wanted to stay in shape and that the trail is extremely close to campus. It was beautiful even in the dead of winter. The river provides nice scenery to look at while running and I didn’t feel as if I was isolated at all. Overall, I’d definitely love to come back to the trail once the weather begins warming up again.

Go

ARC

Almost half of my floor created an intramural soccer team. One Sunday night the rest of us decided to go watch and support them. It ended up being at the ARC at 9:45 P.M. Since we all live on South campus and it’s wintertime, we decided to take a bus over to the ARC. That turned out to be quite the adventure as we had to sprint to catch the bus to make it to the game in time. Luckily, we did catch the bus and were able to make it to the ARC. Upon entering, I was shocked. I had no idea that the ARC had a rock climbing wall that was free to OSU students! I knew that I would come back soon to go rock climbing since it’s been so long since I’ve climbed last. We continued on to find the soccer game had already started and our boys were crushing it. We cheered them on and they crushed it. The final score ended up being 2-0 and our floor had won.

Eat

We went to eat at Double Comfort.

On February 6, 2016, a few of my friends and I went to Gallery Hop in Short North. This was something that we’ve always wanted to do, but the timing never seemed to work out. This semester, we decided to make it a goal of ours to actually go to Gallery Hop. It always seemed like a fun time when we heard other people talk about it. It was a cold night considering it is February and the weather is not ideal to be outside for long periods of time. However, it was everything I’d hoped it would be and more! We saw a ton of modern art that was both confusing and cool. We also got pretty hungry walking around, so we decided to stop at the next restaurant we saw. In this case, it was Double Comfort. We checked it out on Google, and the reviews seemed pretty good so we went in to eat. The food was all-natural and delicious! I would definitely go back to Double Comfort sometime soon as their mac ‘n’ cheese is to die for.

Year in Review

As the year is coming to a close, I’m excited to be going home for a few weeks but it’s also bittersweet. I’ll miss all the friends I have made here at OSU, but I also miss my friends back home. Luckily, I will be working on campus this upcoming summer as an Orientation Housing Assistant so I’ll be back for about two months. I’ll be able to see my friends that live in Columbus.

Going back to the beginning of the year, it’s weird to think how much I have changed over the course of just a few months. My work ethic has improved immensely. I used to procrastinate every night and end up staying up until the wee hours of the morning to finish my homework. Now, I still procrastinate on occasion, but I start my homework before the night it’s due and have been sleeping a lot more. I expected to have much more free time in college, but that has not been the case. If anything, I am busier now than I was during my senior year of high school while working five nights a week. Fortunately, I enjoy being busy as I am more productive when I have a lot of things to do. Also, I came in expecting HSS to give me a feeling of a close-knit community on a large campus, and I have gotten just that and more. Everyone I’ve met has been extremely welcoming and I’ve made good friends who have similar interests.

I have always prioritized giving back to my community and volunteered as much as I could. One of my most memorable service experiences was volunteering through the Biomedical Engineering Society. I volunteered at the Physicians Free Clinic. Their mission is to provide a free walk-in clinic for Franklin County residents that are uninsured and are impoverished. Walking in to the clinic was a culture shock. We came to volunteer at 5 PM and the clinic opened for registration at 4:30 PM. By the time we got inside, there were at least 40 people in the waiting room for treatment. As it is a walk-in clinic and appointments are not necessary, the waiting time is much longer than a standard hospital where one calls to schedule an appointment. I had never seen so many people just waiting for treatment in one room. Since we did not have medical experience, we helped by doing miscellaneous tasks that would make the physicians jobs easier. One of the tasks included sorting the patient’s medical charts. While this seems like a simple task, it was actually slightly difficult as the charts had not been organized for a few hours. The clinic had been backed up for some time, so sorting the charts allowed physicians to see more patients as the other volunteers could find their medical charts easily once everything was alphabetized. Also, many of the charts were placed in the wrong spot making it difficult for the patient to get treatment in a timely fashion. Helping out at PFC on Mondays has become something I look forward to, even if I have a case of the Mondays.

G.O.A.L.S.

[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.

Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc .
Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]

Career

As the first semester is winding down to an end, I realized I now know more about Biomedical Engineering. I learned that there are many different things I can do with this major such as make prosthetics, research cells, research using nanotechnology, and many more. However, BME is a very competitive major and I need a good back-up plan in case I do not get into it. I decided I would switch my major into Integrated Systems Engineering. They have a similar human domain track that corresponds with the BME curriculum. I know that if I have any questions about my major or switching majors, I can ask my HSS peer mentors or my advisors. The support system here at the Ohio State University is outstanding. I feel like I can ask any of the people mentioned earlier anything to help mentor and guide me through my career at OSU.

Adjusting to college life at first was not the easiest thing to do. I didn’t have much trouble adjusting, but I didn’t know how to manage my time well and wasn’t really taking care of myself. However, by the third week of college, I realized that running at night released a lot of stress for me. It was my escape from the busyness of the day. I also learned I needed to make a daily and weekly “To Do” list to prioritize my assignments and manage my time efficiently. This way, I would be able to complete all my assignments and still have social time. As the next semester is about to begin, I realize I need to continue doing everything I’ve been doing this semester and more. I am involved at OSU, but I would like to join one more club will help me grow.

As an aspiring Biomedical Engineer, I wish to make prosthetics for dogs like this.

As an aspiring Biomedical Engineer, I wish to make prosthetics for dogs like this.

SEL (or 18th Ave Library) is my favorite place to study or do homework.

SEL (or 18th Ave Library) is my favorite place to study or do homework.

The Union is the best place to hang out and study with friends.

The Union is the best place to hang out and study with friends.

Patel-Shivani-ProfessionalResume

About Me

Hello, my name is Shivani Patel and I am currently a pre-major for Biomedical Engineering. I’m excited for the challenge this upcoming year will offer me. While I have not been at the university for a long time, it already feels like home to me. When I finally have to leave my new home here (which is hopefully never!), I would like to have a job making prosthetics for dogs.

I’m an outgoing person and love to meet and connect with people every day. Thanks to HSS, I get to do both of these on a daily basis! As for a few of my other interests, I like to stay active by running outside or playing tennis with a few friends. I also enjoy reading and listening to music.

One of my most memorable experiences in high school was being a class officer. I helped plan events such as school dances, raising awareness for various causes, planning and running class meetings, and other miscellaneous things over the course of four years. My peers had thought me worthy of being in that leadership position and I was honored. I learned a lot about myself and how to be a better leader through planning these events. Here at The Ohio State University, I’d love to better explore how to become a better and more effective leader through a leadership minor.

H&S Portfolio Picture