Artifacts

How COVID-19 Impacted my SP20

Aug. 12th, 2020

When I went home for spring break on March 6th, I genuinely expected that I’d be back with my best friends and roommates in just over a week. Living with 5 other girls, I had only been able to say goodbye to my immediate roommate. The rest of us shrugged it off, we’d see each other in a week anyways. Text messages exchanged with hopeful wishes and praises to one another’s time off. 

Right after I moved back to Ohio State for my sophomore year, my dad sold my childhood home and moved into a two bedroom apartment. It was smart at the time, his two oldest were in college and weren’t planning on staying at home for a prolonged period of time, which meant my 15 year old brother was the only other person who needed a room. At my mom’s house, my room had been converted into a spare room for my mom’s work uniforms by night, and an office for my stepmom who was now permanently working from home for the foreseeable future. 

Needless to say, when a pandemic hit the world and I got moved home, I didn’t think I’d be living with my two 70 year old grandparents for 6 months, but here we are. Focusing on my now online classes was difficult as is, but compensating for two very well meaning and caring grandparents adds to the stress when a disease especially threatening to older folks is ravaging the country.

COVID-19 changed everything for me. As someone who loves learning in person and communicating face-to-face with my peers, adjusting to online learning was a steep learning curve. Attending organization meetings and trying to adjust our semester plans to virtual arrangements wasn’t something any of us wanted to do, but it was the best we could do. Although COVID uprooted everything about my life prior to, the most significant changes were in my home life and how we socialized. Usually, being in my hometown meant being able to see my best friends from high school, catch up, and relax a little bit. Now it meant face masks, no hugs goodbye, and keeping our distance. 

COVID-19 has changed the world incredibly quickly. We’ve all faced challenges that we never would have expected, but that’s life. We get hit with challenges, adjust, and eventually overcome. Although my Spring 2020 Semester wasn’t the experience I wanted, I’m hopeful for a future where I can hug my friends hello and goodbye again.

 

Mentee Interview: Autumn 2019 (ACES)

Mentee: Camille Taylor

Major: Health Sciences

Question 1: How did you decide your chosen major? What is your most challenging class?

Camille decided on studying Health Sciences because she loves puzzles. Her goal is to become a pediatrician, and she absolutely loves all kids. But what really drew her to that career was the mystery of diagnosis: She wants to find the solution to real life puzzles that people face. She didn’t want to study something like biology or chemistry in order to do so though, she wanted to be someone who is smart on those subjects but also personable, and not overly focused on her studies. 

Her most challenging class is chemistry. We bonded over the struggles of the class, as I also had a hard time with it my first semester. We talked about how it’s structured to be a weed out class, but how she’s also grateful she has a strong teacher.

Question 2: What kind of involvement are you interested in on campus?

Camille told me about how she’s been really busy with school work, so getting involved has been somewhat of a challenge. However, she has found a home within the Black Student Association, and hopes to attend next years’ African Night. She’s also made friends with people in the Off the Lake Productions, and is contemplating auditioning next semester to have a fun, relaxing space to destress. She’s also contemplating applying to be an R.A. (preferably on south campus) either this coming year or the next. I told her my experiences within USG, college dems, and we talked about how she feels about ACES so far.

Question 3: What are you looking forward to in the ACES program?

So far, Camille really enjoys how the program is straightforward in terms of its purpose and goals. She likes how it’s oriented at giving back to the community through service and education. She also is appreciative of how the requirements aren’t too restrictive: being able to do service hours in communities that work best for each individual person is really nice. She’s excited to see how that translates over to next semester and next year. Making friends in the program has also been an added benefit of it.

Question 4: What is your dream job and why?

Camille’s dream job is being a pediatrician. It’s her dream job because working with kids is something she’s always been drawn to, but serving others and helping them solve mysteries in their bodies is something she finds really appealing. Being a pediatrician allows her to do all of this. She’s willing to roll with the punches, in case anything needs to change, but that’s where she’d eventually like to end up. Her parents met working in an Emergency Room together, so it’s sort’ve in her blood. She doesn’t think she could handle pediatric surgery, but isn’t ruling out being a nurse one day either. But right now, pediatric medicine is her main focus.

Question 5: What is one of the most important things you have learned so far at Ohio State?

Camille is an out of state student, hailing from Texas. Being this far away from her parents is definitely a change of pace for her, but luckily, she has an aunt who doesn’t live too far away from campus. As an only child, she grew up feeling a solid amount of independence. However, living in a city as big as Columbus, in an entirely new part of the country, has taken that to an entirely new level. When she was a kid, Camille’s mom worked hard to instill discipline and hard work into her in terms of focusing on her studies. Camille says this helped lay the groundwork for her newfound independence in the city as she adjusts. This has allowed her to find balance in all of the craziness college offers.

Explore Columbus: Autumn 2019 (ACES)

My mentee, Camille, and I decided to check out a bakery in the short north called C. Krueger’s. When we first met, one of the things Camille told me was that she really liked cookies. I started asking around, and my roommate told me about the cute little shop with great pastries and cookies just up High Street. I also never having been, was just really looking forward to see the place my friend gave such a high review. Plus, I am also a big fan of cookies, and was excited to head to the short north. Due to a pretty busy semester, this was the first time I’d really had time to head back to that area, and it was a nice reminder of how much I love it.

I was really looking forward to getting to go back to the Short North. Like I mentioned, I love the artsy vibe and liveliness of that area of town, despite all of the ongoing construction. It’s one of my favorite parts of being in Columbus, and it’s sadly something I know I do not take enough advantage of. Having the opportunity to make this experience and memory with my mentee in one of my favorite areas of town was definitely something I was excited about.

Getting to C. Krueger was easy enough thanks to the COTA bus system. When we first arrived, I noticed how pretty the inside of the shop was. They’re currently in the middle of moving closer to campus, so some of their usual set up wasn’t up, according to the workers. Overall, I really enjoyed the vibe of the store and how nice the workers were. There were so many options for desserts and candy, and knowing it was all freshly prepared was a nice change of pace from campus food. 

I ended up getting a double chocolate crinkle cookie for myself, and Camille chose a chocolate whiskey cookie that she said was fantastic. I also picked up a chocolate chip cookie and a brownie for my roommate, as it’s one of her favorite shops and she was the one who recommended it. The cookies were insanely good! Mine practically melted in your mouth, but truthfully, the chocolate was a little overwhelming. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely recommend them to others. I’m looking forward to them moving closer in the Short North, simply so they’ll be easier to access and more visible. I might even stop in for Christmas gifts!

I learned that Columbus has more to offer than what is immediately visible. C. Krueger’s location we visited was tucked away in a short alley off of High Street, making it much less visible and much more secluded than other shops directly on the street. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed in a new area, especially one as large as Columbus. However, taking the time to find the gems buried underneath it all is definitely worth it. C. Kruegers was one of these tucked away gems, and I’m really glad my friend shared it with me.

Learning something new about a city is always fun in my opinion, especially because I’ve only been living here for a year. Finding shops that aren’t obvious or exploring new parts of town you haven’t seen is always really exciting. It’s like having a secret about this big, giant place in the world, and being able to share it with those around you. Getting to know Columbus better just helps the city feel more like home. The more time I spend there, the more I feel attached to it.

If someone wanted to complete a similar experience, I would totally recommend trying samples at C. Krueger’s or getting a seasonal cookie. Make the experience at the shop whatever you want it to be, but tying it to what is specifically available on the day you visit would make it especially memorable.

This experience allowed me to feel more connected to Columbus and my mentee. I liked that we went to a place we both had not been to before. It allowed me to feel connected to both her and the city because we made the experience together. I had no preconceived notions or experiences, everything we did was entirely what we made of it. Plus, my mentee and I spent a lot of our time together just talking and genuinely getting to know each other better. That made the experience even better, and was the icing on the “cookie.”

 

 

Environmental Work

In high school, I worked closely with an organization called Ohio Ocean Foundation. Here, I helped educate my local community on the dangers of plastic pollution and how we can make an impact. I also participated in river and city clean ups of our area. Working here lead to my interest in environmental policy. In February of 2018, I participated in Algalita’s International Youth Plastic Ocean Pollution Summit in Dana Point, California, where I worked with peers from all over the world to create solutions for decreasing plastic waste. This experience, working with kids from Tunisia, Kenya, the Bahamas, Cambodia, Zimbabwe and so many more places inspired me deeper to continue to pursue this field.

ACES Pillars Film Project Presentation

As a first year ACES, we were required to watch a film and explain how it impacted us as advocates and how it represented the pillars of ACES. My group watched The Mask You Live In, a film dedicated to exploring the history of toxic masculinity and how it affects our society today.