Hello, my name is Joseph Puhalla and I am currently a freshman here at The Ohio State University. I am a mathematics major who is looking to study mathematics in relation to the financial world. I have always been very interested in the field of mathematics and its applications to our daily lives. I am very interested in the statistical analysis involved in trying to create a successful economy. Furthermore, I am interested in discovering new mathematical ways to help improve businesses or engineers.
I grew up in a very small town and lived in a decently secluded area in the woods. My father worked a lot on cars and different mechanical devices, and it was from him that I gained an interest in the fields of STEM. I spent many hours with him learning about different aspects of cars and mechanical engineering. I also learned how to work independently as well as how to apply theoretical ideas to physical applications. It was these experiences that led me to my interest in STEM as well as joining a joint STEM program with The University of Akron and my high school.
In my final two years of high school, I applied to and was accepted into a program that partnered me with The University of Akron’s Department of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering. At these labs I worked alongside a professor and two of his graduate students on a polymer engineering project. I worked for hundreds of hours on an extremely difficult project each year, and very rarely experienced complete success. However, it was through this experience that I really began to have a deep appreciation for how difficult science and engineering can be, and the time commitment it involves. Furthermore, these projects helped me to further develop my interests into the fields of STEM as well as deepen my knowledge of physics and chemistry.
I grew up around 30 minutes south of Akron, Ohio. I attended a very small catholic grade-school, and then went on to attend St. Vincent – St. Mary High School in Akron. It was at St. Vincent – St. Mary where I became involved in a variety of clubs and organizations that piqued my interests in science, and especially mathematics. I took every math course available to me throughout my high school years. It was through this gradual growth and experience with STEM related fields that I decided to apply to be in the STEM scholars program at Ohio State. I also hope to expand my knowledge about the STEM fields and their applications.
Strengths Essay:
Martin Seligman, an American psychologist once said, “The good life is using your signature strengths every day to produce authentic happiness and abundant gratification.” I hope to one day achieve my life goals through my strengths. My top five strengths were competition, achiever, analytical, learner, and focus. I feel that each of my top five strengths accurately portrays a virtue I pride myself in having. I am truly a competitor; almost every challenge I take on is an opportunity for me to either outcompete my previous self or others. I am always looking to raise the standard I held for myself the day before, and continue to raise from week to week, month to month, and year to year. In my opinion, competitions push people to better themselves every day. Next, the achiever attribute helps better explain my competition roots. I am constantly looking to learn something new every day, and I am willing to work in order to achieve this information. I am also very analytical about the ideas I take in. I do question people at times to prove that what they are claiming is true. I am very logical in my thinking and in comparing the outcomes of each situation. Lastly, the two traits of learner and focus closely coincide with one another. I value my education, and I am excited to continue my well-rounded education in college. However, I am always focused on where I am headed in life. I value and focus on my education so that I can achieve my career goals. Each of my top five strengths contributes to my daily life and future.
In addition to helping in my current life, my top five strengths also significantly contribute to my academics and goals. In my studies, I am always looking to outperform both myself and others. Although holding yourself up to the standards of others is not always the most ideal situation, I feel that I perform best when I hold myself accountable to this standard. In addition, I am always looking to achieve new knowledge, and thus I am excited to continue my college experience, and continue my growth of knowledge. I am very focused on achieving my career goal of becoming a certified FSA (actuary). Furthermore, this career interest involves a lot of data analysis, economics, and mathematics, and each of these items involve very analytical and focused thinking. I know that if I continue to work on improving my strengths, I can accomplish my academic goals for college, and possibly graduate-school.
Lastly, after I achieve my academic goals, I am looking to achieve my professional goals in life as well. As previously stated, my goals is to become a certified actuary; however, the process of the tests and knowledge needed to achieve this takes a long time. During this time, I will need to rely on each of my strengths in order to achieve my professional goal. I believe that one of my most valuable strengths during this time will be my ability to focus on outcompeting others in order to become an actuary. Furthermore, once I become an actuary, I know that I will have to work long hours in order to move up a company. One of my dreams is to become a CFO of a major corporation. I hope to help a company to continue to increase its financial status as well as its global influence. I believe if I continue to use my strengths to the best of my ability, I can accomplish every one of my goals through: competition, achievement, analysis, knowledge, and focus. No one is born an expert, but we all have strengths. Always be working to develop your gifts into passion and purpose.