What a crazy year it has been! This was a year of adapting to challenges, determining new ways to study, discovering my passions, and learning how to be the best person that I can be, all while navigating through a global pandemic. This was not an easy year at all, but I am incredibly grateful for the experiences that I had during my first-year here at Ohio State.

I started the year as a biochemistry major, planning on attending medical school. But, I ended the year as a neuroscience major with minors in Spanish and Human Development & Family Studies. Ultimately, this was a year full of discovering my passions, and creating a curriculum that will allow me to fully pursue the career that I want. As of now, however, I am unsure of what exactly I want in my future career. I am interested in subjects like addiction, neurological disorders, social work, and how family structures lead to the development of children. I know that I definitely want to incorporate mental health into my future career because I am very passionate about it, and want to help others’ that are going through similar things to what I have in the past.

I am also very interested in learning more about the Spanish language, and would love to live abroad after college. So, I definitely think I have turned away from the clinical side of medicine, which has opened up a lot of room in my schedule to take classes that will help me determine exactly what I want to do in the future. Next semester, I plan on taking five classes: Spanish, Abnormal Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, Nonprofit Organization, and Family Development. I am really interested in the topics learned in all of these classes, so I think it will be a great opportunity for me to determine what I want out of my next three years at Ohio State.

As for clubs, I have stayed involved in Cru, and have maintained my role as a Community Outreach Committee member for Buckeyes for Ronald McDonald House Charities. I am also still a member of AMWA, but plan on ending my participation next semester. Instead, I want to join a club or two that focus on mental health. This semester, I was part of the Honors and Scholars Semester of Service. I was in the Mental Health Awareness group, which allowed me to develop my passion for mental health. So, moving forward, I want to continue to stay involved with an organization that has these same interests.

Overall, my first year at Ohio State was wonderful, and I am excited to continue taking advantage of all that OSU has to offer!