Year in Review

Global Awareness: I have taken courses in Italian and I am minoring in French. Taking multiple languages allows me to learn about different cultures and compare them. I also have taken multiple history classes in which I have been able to see how an area’s culture has shifted and changed over a period of time. This summer, I am going to Ireland as part of a study abroad program. In this program I will be learning about the medieval history of Trim, Ireland and assisting in the archaeological excavation of its medieval monastery.  I will not only get to learn about another country’s history, but I get to see the difference in architecture and meet people from another country. After graduation I plan on attending graduate school, perhaps out of the United States and I would like to work in a foreign country.

Original Inquiry: As part of my courses, I have completed, and I am also in the process of completing large essays for courses such as French, English, History, and Linguistics. In doing so, I have been able to focus on specific interests and learn about them as I work on my projects. This semester, I am working on a research essay on women’s rights in Anglo-Saxon Law and another on change in American Sign Language and whether it parallels change in spoken languages. In the next year I will be taking courses in my Linguistics and Medieval and Renaissance majors in which I will be undertaking my own independent research. Projects like these have helped me and will continue to help me understand the amount of work and the thinking processes that go into producing quality academic projects, as well as affirm whether or not I want to go to graduate school.

Academic Enrichment: My Honors Contract demonstrates my commitment to the goal of Academic Enrichment because I have chosen upper level courses to fulfill many of my GE and major courses. Beyond that, as a Linguistics major, I have also chosen to major in Medieval and Renaissance Studies because of my interest in history and historical linguistics and I believe that adding this major I can have a better understanding of the context in which my linguistics interest takes place, as well as have an increased access to courses of other languages like Medieval French or Old English. I have also chosen to minor in French, which allows me to not only learn a practical skill for life, but to apply my linguistics courses to other academic areas.

Leadership Development: I am currently involved in multiple organizations on campus. One club I belong to is the Zero Waste Syndicate, which strives to reduce waste in not only daily life, but we are also working to get OSU to reduce its waste on campus. I am also involved in the Undergraduate Linguistics Club, which allows me to meet others who are also Linguistics majors and I get the opportunity to attend events related to my field and career goals. I plan to run for a leadership position in these or another club to better improve my leadership skills.

Service Engagement: As a high school student I tutored other students and I would like to continue this by joining a related organization on campus. I also participate in activities that help our environment. For example, this past week I was part of a group of students that went to a nearby park and picked up all of the litter. I have joined the PERIOD at OSU club this semester and this organization does many events in which they contact government officials and push for better legislation concerning menstruation. One time in particular we put together bags of menstruation products that were donated to a women’s shelter here in Columbus. I plan to continue my involvement in this organization as well as organize trash pick ups on campus and other areas in the future.

G.O.A.L.S.

Global Awareness: I am currently taking courses in French and Italian and I will take Spanish. Taking multiple languages allows me to learn about many different cultures in the world. As part of my romance studies major, I get to study abroad in Italy. After graduation, I hope to possibly attend graduate school out of the United States or work somewhere in the world.

Original Inquiry: As someone who aspires to go to graduate school, I would like to participate in undergraduate research in linguistics. I have also attended seminars for linguistics in which I learned about others’ research in linguistic fields.

Academic Enrichment: I am currently taking and will take honors courses both within and outside of my major and minor fields of linguistics, romance languages, and history. I will strive to do well in these difficult courses.

Leadership Development:  I’d like to develop my leadership skills while here at Ohio State. I might run for a board position in one of the clubs I’m involved in or join an organization that itself deals with leadership.

Service Engagement: I like tutoring other students, and I did so throughout high school. I’d like to continue this by getting involved with a tutoring-related organization.

 

 

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 information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

Artifacts

There is a lot of planning ahead that I do on a daily basis. Pack my bag, set out my clothes, make sure I’ve done my homework, etc. Then there are the slightly more long term planning — keeping an eye on my swipes for the week and studying for tests. As I’ve gone through my first semester of college, I’ve had to learn how to plan ahead beyond next week. I’ve thought of what classes I’m going to take for the next four years and even after graduation. My backpack is an artifact because it represents the skill I’ve learned to develop. I plan ahead, even for the next morning.

About Me

Cassidy Polack is a first year honors student majoring in linguistics and romance studies and minoring in history. After graduation, she hopes to attend graduate school and earn her PhD in linguistics to become a college professor. She enjoys learning languages, having studied Mandarin Chinese, American Sign Language and Dutch. She is currently studying Italian and French and will add Spanish in the next few years. Outside of classes, she enjoys watching movies, reading, and playing board games with her friends.