During my first semester at Ohio State, I held high expectations for myself to succeed in my classes and achieve good grades on my exams. Thus, I spent a great deal of my time at Thompson Library studying for quizzes and midterms while also completing myriad homework assignments. As the seasons changed, and the course material became more rigorous, Thompson Library always remained the same comfortable place where I could catch up on my studies. Now that my finals are rapidly approaching, I find myself frequenting Thompson much more often in an effort to tackle these tests.
About Me
In the Aeronautical/ Astronautical Engineering major, I hope to utilize these skills to gain a career specializing in space. The unknown vacuum that surrounds our Earth has fascinated me since I was old enough to truly comprehend that there was more to the universe than what I could see with the naked eye. I am eager to gain more knowledge on satellites, rockets and other spacecraft in order to take part in space exploration. To become more experienced in spacecraft knowledge, I have joined Rocket Club.
As a freshman, I am considering double-minoring in business and astronomy so as to gain skills that will be beneficial both in my career field and overall in the professional world. I hope to soon begin research in the field of Astronautical Engineering so as to gain a fuller understanding of my major and explore the different possibilities associated with it.
Coming from a city outside of Cincinnati, I went to school with over 800 other students in my class alone. In my classes, a great amount of effort was required to make sure I stood out; this became especially true in high school where there were many students competing for the top ranks, so I had to work hard and make connections with my instructors in order to prove that I was dedicated to learning and to continuing my education at a university. Coming from a competitive high school, I believe I have been prepared to do well under pressure at Ohio State.
I chose to join International Affairs Scholars because I am interested in learning more about global affairs. In high school I focused mostly on my math and science classes, and in my engineering major I will continue to focus on math and science, so to become a more enriched human being, I would like to branch out and learn more about the world around me.
Welcome to my Honors & Scholars e-Portfolio
[The Home Page will show a running blog of your recent posts, which are categorized and show on that category’s page. Please delete this post or edit with your own information.]
Year in Review
Although this year was a great change from what I have been made accustomed to by high school, I still feel like I have learned a great deal, made some amazing experiences and have formed lifelong friendships. My first semester started off a little rocky. While I was involved in BuckeyesFirst, an organization designed for students whose parents either never attended college or hadn’t earned a degree past an Associate’s, and another organization called OWL (Ohio Welcome Leaders) which was designed to assist other students in moving into their dorms, I still managed to find time to miss home.
The trip I took with BuckeyesFirst was to Camp Kern located in the Cincinnati area. This trip was taken two days after I moved in, a time when I desperately needed to try to become accustomed to my dorm and accustomed to Columbus in general. The real problem with heading to the Camp Kern was that it was located about 20 minutes away from my home; thus, the entire time spent there, I just imagined how quickly one of my parents could pick me up and take me home instead. It would have been much more beneficial to spend that time on campus becoming familiarized with the area. However, once we returned to campus to be a part of OWL, I felt much better. I was able to return to my dorm and I even met up with my roommate. What had been a difficult start soon turned into a fun experience with a group of friends I had already made.
My first semester went alright; I got A’s and B’s which in college is pretty good, but I was used to the lifestyle of getting all A’s in high school. I made my closest friends this semester, all of whom lived in my dorm (which is, of course, how we met). The four of us spent a lot of time studying and eating together. Our friendship with one of them got to the point that she was in our dorm so often she might as well have lived there.
In my first semester I started the semester out as an Aeronautical Engineering major; however, upon learning some of the programming language MatLab in my intro to engineering class, I instantly fell in love and switched my major to Computer Science and Engineering (CSE).
Then the second semester rolled around; I was surprised how fast time went when I stayed busy. Between the second semester of intro to engineering and my two CSE courses (Java and C++), I felt as though I lived in the computer lab that semester. Having already completed a semester at OSU, I felt much more prepared to tackle my second semester, and I did much better. I studied a lot more, and the studying seemed to be very beneficial to my grades. Although I did well my first semester, I did much better my second semester.
By the end of my second semester I was involved in OHI/O, a group that created Hackathon, Makeathon, and Show OHI/O, programs designed to give students a place to showcase their ideas and show off what they are capable of creating. I also became involved in a startup organization called International Career Management (ICM) created to help students, particularly international students, in building their resumes, getting internships, and gaining skills necessary in their careers.
Overall, I like to keep busy. Too much downtime gets boring and is unproductive. In the real world, particularly the business world, it is an essential skill to be able to take on several projects at once and keep everything organized. So, it would be beneficial to practice those skills now rather than try to catch up in such a fast-paced environment.
The biggest project that I took on in my second semester was in my intro to engineering class. Each group was to design and code their own Advanced Energy Vehicle (AEV). The goal was to make it lightweight, energy efficient and consistent. It had to travel on a track on the ceiling that was a wide U-shape. It had to be able to start moving, stop at a gate for 8 seconds, then start moving again. It then had to collect another unit, by magnet, reverse direction and stop at the same gate on the way back, then finally travel back to the starting point where it would then gently stop. Although completing this project was a very fun challenge, my group faced many technological problems. We had nearly everything break at some point; one of the motors went bad, a motor chip went bad, and a wire fell our of the Arduino at one point. These problems nearly cost us our grade as on the day of testing the wire fell out of the Arduino, so we had to get it fixed and were forced to test both trials on the very last day of class. Luckily, with good and thoroughly tested code, the AEV was able to complete the mission with only one small error.
Although our group wasn’t able to achieve the best energy efficiency, we were able to successfully design a lightweight vehicle that traveled very consistently. On top of learning real-world problem solving and expectations to meet deadlines, we also were introduced to the Arduino programming language that was necessary in completing the mission.
The semester went much better than the first as I become more accustomed to living on campus and attending difficult classes. I have even considered taking on a double major (or at the least, a minor) in mathematics. I think it would help me to stand out as someone more knowledgeable and hardworking, and could also open up doors to many more career options. I look forward to coming back in the fall as a sophomore at The Ohio State University!
G.O.A.L.S.
[ “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.]
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.]