My first semester at Ohio State went by very quickly. Between getting my studio projects done, studying, writing papers, along with extracurricular activities, and keeping up a social life I feel like I’ve hardly had time to breathe. Fortunately, I’ve enjoyed every second of it, and it’s been a blast. Architecture wasn’t quite what I expected it to be, but not in a bad way either. It’s most definitely something I want to keep pursuing. Although I really enjoy it, it’s very intense major, so I’m not sure how I’ll be able to balance all of my school work along with having a job, but I do want to get a job starting next semester. Also, I want to consider joining AIAS. I feel as if it’ll be good for experience and a good thing to put on my résumé. And maybe in the spring of my sophomore year or sometime junior year, I’d like to get an internship. Along with all of this, I think interior design would be a nifty skill to acquire. With this education, it would help me to utilize, create, and perceive spaces in new and diverse ways. All in all, I want to broaden my perception of design, and I want to do this in many ways. The goals that I’ve laid out here are mainly categorized in the Original Inquiry section of Scholars G.O.A.L.S. I know that there’s upperclassmen in scholars that are involved with AIAS, so I’ll easily be able to get help from any of them with joining. And I can also get time management tips from them in how to maintain the stress of majoring in architecture along with having a job. Essentially, I can achieve many of my goals with the help of upperclassmen scholars students, and whatever I can’t achieve with their help, I know there’s people within Knowlton that would be willing to help.

For the Columbus To Do List, I chose to participate in the coffee and tea theme. I love trying new kinds of coffee and going to new and local coffee shops/cafés. Cafés are wonderful places to study and to simply just go and relax. There are some coffee shops that even have live music from time to time. Through this project, I’m excited to find a nice, retro coffee shop that I can visit and have a place to study that’s off campus and not quite common and popular. I also can’t wait to find a coffee shop that has a unique drink that I can introduce to friends and family.

So far, I’ve visited two coffee shops: One Line Coffee and The Roosevelt Coffee House. One Line Coffee is located in the Short North. I think the Short North is a convenient location for a coffee shop, because there’s so much going on that anyone could stop in there at any time so they get an ample amount of business. I loved the general atmosphere of this shop: upbeat and vibrant. While here I got an iced mocha to drink, but unfortunately, I’ve had better. They kind of just put all the ingredients in a cup and handed it to me rather than stirring it up-I could taste the actual coffee grounds in it. If I were to go back, I’d get the drink hot instead of iced, but it’s not likely that I’ll go back, and I would not recommend this place to a friend.

I had a much better experience at The Roosevelt Coffee House. First, it’s a little further off campus, so not as many students were there, but they still had a decent number of customers. Second, along with being a coffee shop, there was a small design studio for architects upstairs. Instead of ordering an iced mocha again, I got a mocha latte. Little did I know, this coffee shop does latte art! So, I got a heart design on the foam of my latte. I really enjoyed my experience at The Roosevelt Coffee House, and I’ll definitely be going back and recommending it to others.

[ “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.]