Dementia

I have recently found a lot of things to point me in the direction of working in the mental health field or with the brain in some way. My grandfather struggled with memory loss and dementia and just recently passed away. Seeing his memory loss progress so rapidly over the past year, and doctors being unable to prevent it, really made me interested in learning more about the brain and why this happens. I think it would be really interesting to work as a neuropsychologist and work with dementia or Alzheimer’s patients to help treat them and determine the best course of action for their lives. In this career, I would also be able to work with people with other types of neurological and nervous system disorders, which is something that I have always been really interested in.

It has been really interesting to see how so many parts of my life seem to be pushing me towards a career that allows me to work with the brain in some way. This has definitely reassured me that I am in the right major, and am on the right track to figuring out exactly what I want to do for the rest of my life.

Family Development

HDFS 2200: Family Development is by far one of my favorite classes I have ever taken. This is a class that I decided to take because I had room in my schedule, and was hoping to try to figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life. I learned so much in this course and learned a lot of things that I will be able to take into my future as a mother, wife, friend, psychologist, and person in general. Our final was to write a paper highlighting our top ten takeaways from this course, which is what I have linked below. We talked about topics such as gender norms, arranged marriage, consent, the gender pay gap, marriage, and familial differences based on socioeconomic status. These are all topics that I truly believe will help me be a better mental health professional in the future, as well as a person in my daily life. After taking this course, I decided I wanted to take more like it, and officially declared an HDFS minor.

HDFS 2200 Final Reflection: Top 10 Takeaways

Family Weekend

My parents came to visit me on campus this weekend for Parents Weekend! It was a really fun two days spent eating together, touring campus and the Ohio Stadium (so cool!), and talking about how great of a fit Ohio State is for me. Both of my parents went to OSU, and despite not meeting here, they did get engaged at Mirror Lake. But, due to this, and the fact that I grew up in a suburb of Columbus, I have been a Buckeye my entire life. OSU was not my first-pick school until the start of the pandemic, as I realized I wanted to stay close to family. But, Ohio State has been everything I ever hoped for and more. I’m so grateful to go to a large school, with so many opportunities. I have been able to change my major, consider numerous options for minors, join organizations, get involved in the community, have access to great faculty, and still be in the same city as a majority of my family.

This weekend with my parents, and the discussions that occurred, made me realize just how happy I am that I chose to come to Ohio State. I really will be a Buckeye for Life!

STEP

This year I decided to join STEP, the Second-year Transformational Experience Program. By participating in this program, I have been able to build a relationship with a mentor and faculty member here at Ohio State, while also growing friendships with a small cohort of other students. We have had weekly meetings where we play games and do activities to learn more about ourselves and discover our passions. We have gone on a field trips to different, relatively unknown places on campus, such as the Chadwick Arboretum, Planetarium, Orton Geological Museum, and the Biological Sciences Greenhouse. This program allows its students to receive a grant for completion of a STEP project. I am not sure exactly what I am going to write my proposal on, but am planning to use the money to fund part of a Global Study Abroad trip. As of now, I am hoping to go to Spain, but definitely want to use the money to fund a trip to a Spanish-speaking country, and hopefully complete a few classes for my minor.

 

Mexico

Back in 2017, I went with a group of people to an orphanage in Mexico. To this day, that trip has been the most meaningful thing that I have ever been involved in. In one short week at the orphanage, I was able to practice my Spanish language skills and build connections with all the children living there. I grew my love of Spanish and decided that I wanted to continue pursing this passion throughout college, which is why I have chosen to minor in it.

That week also allowed me to learn about the economic disparities and poor access to healthcare that is present in many parts of Mexico. If one child at that orphanage gets sick, all the other kids would get sick as well, making it extremely difficult for the little amount of funding that the orphanage receives from the government to pay for the medicine and other medical expenses.

After learning how much I truly enjoyed Spanish, and hearing about how hard it is for the average person to receive medical care, I came back from the trip with the goal of working in a country similar to Mexico. I want to be able to provide medical care to people that struggle to find access, while also combining my interest in the Spanish language. Whether it be in the United States, or in a country in Central America, I want to use my future medical degree to help as many people as I can.

A picture from one of the childrens’ favorite games: having me guess who is covering my eyes!