Sophomore year was one of unexpected circumstances, posing a new challenge and prompting big (but temporary) life changes. Throughout it all, I was able to grow as a student, a future professional, and as a person.

Academics: This was my first year as an official data analytics major, which allowed me to start developing the foundation for my data analytics education. However, online school definitely made this adjustment to taking more advanced classes more difficult, and I found that I was disappointed in the quality of learning that I was receiving in my core classes for my major. However, I was able to take several general education courses and sociology courses for my minor that I enjoyed, of which Comparative Studies 2864H: Modernity and Post Modernity, and Sociology 2290: Culture and Pop Culture, were highlights. I also enjoyed gaining more experience coding in R and taking statistics courses specifically for data analytics majors, and am looking forward to more advanced statistics classes along my academic path.

Research/Internships: This fall, I dedicated a lot of my time to applying to internships, building a LinkedIn profile and creating connections online, which opened up a lot of opportunities. However, after applying to over 20 internships, and being ghosted after a final final interview and promises of a position, I was not able to land an internship for this summer, and made the decision, in my best interest, to focus on myself and my other current projects instead, especially after a grueling year of online school.

At the start of 2021, the two graduate students that I worked with on a computational social science research project in the Translational Data Analytics institute reached out to me, and I decided to re-join the project to create DCiFR, or Demographic Characteristics in Facial Recognition, a python graphical user interface that allows users to analyze the characteristics of any photos that they have, with the help of deep learning models. I am the first author of this software, and have been working on coding the interface throughout this past semester, which is in its final stages of development and will be available for the public to use soon. It has been an incredible experience to work on a project from scratch on my own, and be able to see the process of how a research project is created, from start to finish. I will be third author on the paper that we plan to publish in the near future.

Personal:
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, I made the decision to spend this year in my hometown of Bloomington, Indiana. This was a difficult decision to make, as I knew that being away from campus, Columbus, and my friends was going to be hard. Taking only online classes for a full year forced me to develop new organizational, time management, and work habits, and I struggled without the social resources that being at Ohio State provides. However, I think that this decision allowed me to not only be more successful in my academics and extra curriculars, but also allowed for me to manage the limitations and events of the past year in a more calm and controlled way. I could not be more excited to come back to Columbus in the fall, but I am also grateful for the lessons and the growth that this past year in Bloomington has brought me.

Freshman year was packed full of new experiences, people, and opportunities. Ohio State is now my second home, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the next three years will bring.

Academics: As a pre-major in data analytics, I saw freshman year as an academic survey of Ohio State. I took 7 general education classes in a variety of subject areas, including philosophy, world cinema, West African history, and physical anthropology. I submitted my application to the data analytics major in May of 2020, and am eager to delve deeper into what data analytics at Ohio State has to offer. It was difficult at first for me to adjust to the demands of college classes, but I was able to learn about what worked best for me academically and learn how to succeed and thrive in my challenging classes.

Research/Internships: I knew that I wanted to start exploring research opportunities as soon as possible, and I did so by applying to join a computational social science project in the department of sociology at the end of the fall semester. Little did I know, the experiences and learning opportunities I had through this research position would open my eyes to how invaluable computational research methods are to any area of study, and I was fascinated by the intersection of data analysis and sociology, especially in relation to the present-day problem of racial discrimination on the internet, as well as the value of open-source programming in today’s world. This amazing opportunity led me to change my minor to sociology, and I’m excited to continue doing research in computational social science.

A screenshot of the animation from a recent tutorial I created for FURY. Click on the photo to watch a GIF of the animation!

Another highlight of this year has been interning for the Garyfallidis Research group at Indiana University’s School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering. This research and development group specializes in scientific data visualization, as well as many more software engineering areas of interest. I have learned so much about the coding backbone of these animations and 3D visualizations, and I am able to see the vast potential for data visualization that these technologies provide, specifically into the medical and scientific world of study, which is a large focus for the research group. I have been developing tutorials for users of FURY, an open-source scientific visualization Python library, available to anyone who wants to learn more about the capabilities the library has. Most recently, I created a tutorial walking users through making an animation of our solar system, with planets following their accurate orbital paths.

Extracurriculars: I purposefully tried not to over-extend myself during my first year, as I know it to be a non-beneficial tendency of mine. Instead, I worked hard to invest time in my academics, social life, personal time, and extracurriculars that I was genuinely interested in and cared about. I joined the Big Data Analytics Association, which allowed me to find a community within the Data Analytics major, and learn more about professional opportunities after finishing my undergraduate. This organization has so many amazing resources, and I was able to connect with many of the members, including upperclassmen, to help me start to find my path within this area of study.

My first time lead belaying at the climbing club’s clinic. We went to the Scioto Audobon park in Columbus, an outdoor climbing facility and nature preserve.

I also joined the Ohio State rock climbing club, as rock climbing is one of my biggest hobbies, and met many awesome new people. I frequently went to practice at off-campus gyms in Columbus, and was even able to learn how to lead climb, which was a big accomplishment! I plan on participating in some competitions through the team in the near future.

Personal: I found my first year at Ohio State to be really fulfilling, despite that it did include some struggles to adjust to, as well as bumps along the road. I loved living in Bradley Hall, and was able to meet some incredible friends. Football games were definitely a highlight of my fall semester, as I’ve never seen school spirit quite like Ohio State’s. I’m definitely a proud buckeye now! The adjustment as an out-of-state student did make things somewhat difficult at first, but the resources the university had to offer helped to ensure my success during my first year. It was sad to see the spring semester come to a close earlier than expected as a result of COVID-19, and I was sad to leave Columbus so abruptly. Despite that things are still uncertain for the coming academic year, I’m looking forward to seeing what my next year at Ohio State will bring.

A picture from my first football game!