My G.O.A.L.S.

Global Awareness

Through the end of my second-year at Ohio State, my primary interaction with global awareness has been through academic coursework and research.  As a Political Science major, I am currently taking courses which focus both on the politics of development (Political Science 3220) and the decline in global democracy (Political Science 4245H). I have also explored a global perspective by completing English 2220H, where I read selected works of British Literature from 1800 to the present. Finally, I have been involved in research on war fatalities with Dr. Braumoeller and Michael Lopate within the Political Science department. This research has led me into literature concerning the backgrounds of war for nations spanning the continents, including Mexico, Peru, Pakistan, Poland, and Chad.

I am looking forward to studying abroad in Oxford, England, this summer as part of the Oxford University Pre-Law program. I am excited for the opportunity to leave the United States for the first time in my life and am thankful to have received a Wolfe Scholarship to aid me in fulfilling this opportunity. I am certain that living and studying in England will increase my global awareness in ways I cannot yet fathom.

 

Original Inquiry

I am fortunate as a student in Political Science within the College of Arts and Sciences to have the opportunity to engage with research or the creative process in almost every course I take. There are a few experiences so far, though, that have had the greatest impact for me.

My favorite creative experience so far at Ohio State has been taking Theatre 2100H. Within the course we explored, albeit briefly, the history of performance art in different cultures throughout the world while also examining the creative process which allows a production to be realized. I particularly enjoyed watching Seven Ways to Say I Love YouForbidden Zones, and Heathers. The latter two were especially interesting as different individuals associated with the productions talked to our class about their role within the creative process. Since taking the course I have developed a greater appreciation for theatre, leading me to attend a production of Wicked with the Residence Hall Advisory Council (RHAC) in December 2017.

A Political Science course, Dr. Baum’s “Supreme Court Decision Making” (Political Science 4132H), has so far been my most challenging and rewarding engagement with original inquiry and the creative process. For the first month of the semester, Dr. Baum guided us through a collection of articles containing theories on how the Justices of the Supreme Court reach their decisions. We were then assigned to write a theory-paper, where we synthesized and evaluated the material we had read in order to create our own “best” theory for how Justices reach their decisions. In the next section of the course, each student was given a current Supreme Court case to analyze and attempt to predict. The end-result of the course was a 20 page prediction-paper in which each student gave a theory for Supreme Court decision making, analyzed the facts of the case, and applied their theory to the facts of their specific case to predict how certain Justices would vote on the case before the Court. This course taught me a lot about my own capability for evaluating published academic research and synthesizing the material to effectively create my own coherent theory which explained the decision-making of Justices on the Court.

Going forward, there are multiple ways in which I plan to stay involved in original inquiry. First, I plan to continue to attend various creative events on campus and in the world; I now actively look to see which productions are traveling to Columbus and to see which are being performed at Ohio State. Secondly, I plan to use the methods of statistical analysis which I have learned in the “Methods” component of my Political Science degree to look into sports statistics  and do some rudimentary hypothesis testing on my own time. Finally, I may attempt to write a senior research thesis within Political Science, thought I am not yet certain is the correct path for me to follow.

Academic Enrichment

I believe the courses I have taken so far in my academic career at Ohio State reflect the respect I have for a strong education and academic excellence. I have enrolled in challenging coursework each semester I have been enrolled at Ohio State, from my beginning in University Exploration with a Fall 2016 schedule consisting of Physics 1250, Math 1152, and Psychology 1100H, to my current semester, with an Honors second-year-writing course and multiple upper-division Political Science major courses.

My Honors Contract reflects the challenging upper-division coursework with which I challenge myself. I am still unsure of my exact plans for the future, but having engaged with mathematics, physics, social sciences, and humanities so far in my undergraduate career, I believe my future will be either a career in law or a career in academia for either Political Science or English. To prepare myself for any of these scenarios, I have taken and plan on continuing to take a rigorous curriculum which will best prepare me for the challenges that will come from law or graduate school.

Leadership Development

My main extra-curricular source of leadership development throughout my first two years at Ohio State has been through my hobby of rock climbing. As an avid rock climber at the Outdoor Adventure Center (OAC), I have taken the belay certification course and test, allowing me to belay others as they climb on a top-rope. In simpler terms, this means I am allowed to secure others into a harness and secure their safety as they attempt to rock climb. Passing the belay test was nerve-wracking, as I had to prove without any help that I could acknowledge and check all safety risks relevant to properly securing a harness and to climbing. Additionally, I had to prove my competence with multiple forms of belay devices which help secure the safety of climbers.

This hobby has tested my leadership experience in multiple forms. For one, it allowed me to lead my friends and family who had not climbed before to climbing gyms, where they trusted me with their own well-being as I belayed them. This was an immense amount of responsibility, the kind of which I had never experienced before. Additionally, as part of my climbing hobby, I attended a trip to Red River Gorge in Kentucky which included both hiking and climbing. As a belay-certified climber, I was able to help the OAC leaders by teaching my fellow trip-goers how to tie their knots and secure their harnesses. Additionally, I was able to belay some of the other trip-goers outside, which was a new experience for myself and once again placed great responsibility in my hands.

Climbing has thus provided me an avenue to expand my own real-world competencies and allowed me to become comfortable being responsible. These invaluable skills have translated to other areas of my life, allowing me to be a confident and responsible decision-maker both in the classroom and with my friends.

Service Engagement

Unfortunately, I was not very involved with service throughout my first year at Ohio State. However, at the beginning of my second year, I was fortunate enough to have been told about OSU Pen Pals by a friend. This organization partners with local schools in Columbus, giving elementary school students a pen-pal who can serve as a mentor. I joined the organization almost as quickly as possible after I learned about the club; it broke my heart when I learned that some of the elementary school students did not have an OSU pen-pal while some of their classmates did. Writing to my buddy, Nick, an area third-grader, every-other-week has been an absolute joy and privilege. He is a really great kid and I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet up with him late in April. It is my sincere hope that I am able to connect with him as a friend and inspire him to follow his dreams by staying in school and completing his education.  Going forward, I know I will remain active in OSU Pen Pals and I will try to join the E-Board for my senior year here at OSU.

 

About Me

I am Garrett Rethman, a student in the Honors Program at The Ohio State University. I am currently in University Exploration, but I intend to major in Political Science with a minor in History. My hobbies include exercising, adventure, following politics, and relaxing with friends. This website serves as my ePortfolio – Enjoy!.