Resume

Matthew Pedersen

88 W Woodruff Ave, Rm 209. Columbus OH 43210. pedersen.61@osu.edu 513-291-6034

EDUCATION

The Ohio State University                                                                                                                                                    Columbus, Ohio

Bachelor of Science, major in Physics                                                                                                                             Expected May 2020

Major in Astronomy                                                                                                                                                                           GPA: N/A

 

William Mason High School                                                                                                                                                       Mason, Ohio

High School Diploma                                                                                                                                                                          May 2016

 

EXPERIENCE

Culver’s                                                                                                                                                                                          Mason, Ohio

Kitchen Staff                                                                                                                                                                  May 2015-August 2016

  • Prepared food in a fast food setting with a team
  • Made modifications to orders and cooked food to look appealing

 

Ohio State Crew                                                                                                                                                                    Columbus, Ohio

Rower                                                                                                                                                                              August 2016 – present

  • Practice every day from 6-8:30, sun or rain
  • Work in a tight knit team setting
  • Competitive racing each weekend in fall and spring seasons
  • Required to be flexible and take different positions in boat as needed

 

ACTIVITIES

  • Biological Scholars at Ohio State
  • Student Ambassador in Mason Ohio (15-16 School year)
  • Volunteered at Mason food Pantry (2014-2016)

 

SKILLS

Computer: Proficient in MS Word, PowerPoint, and Excel

Language: Fluent in Swedish and Danish

Year in Review

This Year in Review post isn’t really looking at the year in review, but rather my personal growth over this semester. A lot really has changed during this semester. Although I haven’t participated in any research or worked, this has been a period of adjustment to the college life, where I am finally taking my first steps to become a more independent person. Being almost completely responsible, fiscally, academically, socially, etc., can be a tough transition. I find it has, however, been of great value to me. My time management skills have improved drastically over the semester, as well as discovering a newfound appreciation for the value of the education that I am so privileged to experience. The most valuable development, to me, is the way in which I have now learned to work toward my end goals. Having spent 12 years in school just preparing to go to college, this is not quite something I have been used to. Now, however, I am working toward a specific degree, as well as a specific desired career path. This, originally, appeared to be a massive ordeal. I have now however, learned to break larger goals like these into smaller ones (i.e. I need a B grade in Calculus to take the next course in the Math sequence) and then begin to work toward these goals. This truly is a wonderful skill to have, because it makes seemingly impossible tasks become much more attainable.

Overall, my first semester at Ohio State has been wonderful, and I am hoping for many more years of fun, learning, and development.

Matthew DK Pedersen

G.O.A.L.S.

Growing up, I have had quite a lot of experiences that shaped who I am and who I wanted to be. I have lived in Denmark, Sweden, as well as the US, attended both public and private schools, and met a lot of wonderful mentors. All of these have left an impact in some form on me, but the biggest of all is curiosity. The best teachers I had were always the ones who stayed curious; ones who weren’t afraid to both teach and be taught by their students. I have had amazing social studies teachers, math, core sciences, etc. They are all fascinating subjects. When I was in the first grade I wanted to be a biologist. 5th grade it was a doctor. But now that I have been through 13 years of elementary schooling, I am finally sure of what I want to study: space-time and its implication. Driven by the sometimes manic lectures of previous math teachers, TV shows, comic books, physics lectures, and a variety of other sources, I am beginning to make more and more clear what the true end goal is for me.
To begin this research, my main long term goal is to obtain a Ph.D. in astronomy and become a researcher and professor within that field. Starting here at OSU is the first big step toward this goal. While at my time here I am taking major classes within the fields of physics and astronomy. This will allow me to lay the groundwork for the Ph.D. while also networking with professors, giving access to references when applying to higher education. I also plan to begin undergraduate research while here at OSU, and seeking internships during the summers, increasing my practical knowledge, preparing me not only for higher education but also my dream job. I plan on taking the GRE in my 3rd year.
This however, is just a general plan for all 4 years. And what are years but composites of many minor components? We can look at this in blocks of months, all of which build up to a year, which build up to several years, leading to this end goal. This month I am looking to begin attending SPS (society of physics students) meetings, so that I can become part of a club in which I meet other people with similar goals to me and meet professors in a setting outside of the professional. I am also part of the rowing team, so that I can exhibit a desirable quality to graduate schools: teamwork.
By the end of the year, I aim to get to know one physics professor and one astronomy professor on a level beyond the professional, giving me access to potential references and research opportunities. I aim to do this by attending office hours to get to know these professors and develop a better understanding for what they work with. I also aim to attend Nationals with the OSU rowing team, allowing me to show my commitment to a cause and also giving me something else to do rather than just school work and slacking off. Finally, I aim to get an internship/job for the summer, so I am doing something productive during the summer.
My goals fall in line quite neatly with the “O” in GOALS. The O is all about research, and while I work toward my own personal goals I too will be all about research. I hope to carry on the tradition of O even after I graduate, as I find research to be one of the most potentially rewarding fields one can work in.

Career

  • Anatomy program eat & greet
    • Albeit short, the anatomy eat & greet was a great experience. Not particularly because of it talking about something I am interested in, but rather because it highlighted a few key points concerning where my academic focuses should lie as I aim to get into grad school.  A few of these things, beyond the obvious “maintain a good GPA”, included networking with professors, as well as getting involved with research. These are definitely tips I plan to take to heart as I continue on working toward higher education, beyond where I am right now.

Artifacts

osucrew

Seeing as I have not quite been at OSU for long enough to have a wide array of artifacts to select from displaying my interests, I figured the best possible artifact would be that of me joining the OSU Crew team. Crew is the rowing club here at OSU, where we race competitively against other schools throughout the fall and spring months. This is a wonderful experience, as a boat cannot move unless everyone in the boat (5 or 9 people) are working together coherently and efficiently. This has, and continues to be, a wonderful character and teamwork skill building activity, and I foresee continuing in the sport for all four years here at OSU.

About Me

Hello there!

My name is Matthew Pedersen. I moved to Ohio 3 years ago from Sweden. Growing up for me was an extremely multicultural experience. I’ve lived in Copenhagen, Denmark; Boston, Massachusetts; and Stockholm, Sweden. For almost the entirety of my schooling I lived in Sweden, where I attended an international school. I also speak Danish, English, and Swedish, learning English at the age of 6 and Swedish at 8, but native speakers in either language would never be able to tell.

Now I attend OSU. I am a Physics & Astronomy double major, and also a member of the OSU Crew team, which is the rowing team at Ohio State.