Year in Review

Second Year reflection on GOALS

This past summer I had the chance to study abroad in Poland with the Sociology Department’s Summer School in the Social Sciences in Warsaw, and for five weeks I got to experience a culture completely different from my own. This experience was invaluable and I not only got to learn about the troubled history of the country and central Europe in general, but I had the opportunity to see the effects firsthand. I also traveled with the London Honors Program my first year and was able to see the rich culture of England as well. I am fascinated by the differences in culture across the world and love to interact with people there and be immersed in the history. There are so many things that our young country hasn’t experienced and there is such a deep history worth exploring across the world.

While in Poland this summer, I worked with researchers that direct the largest and longest running panel study in central Europe. I had the opportunity to choose my own project and subject to research and during my time there I learned the appropriate statistical procedures and techniques for writing a paper on perceived sources of success in life for Poles based on age and place of residence. Not only was this topic interesting and new but the process of research was as well. I had to engage in problem solving and finding creative ways to use statistics, learn how to compose the sections of a research paper, find the best ways to create tables and more. My involvement in research isn’t over however, since coming back to Ohio State I have presented at a research forum, plan to present at the Denman, and submit my article to JUROS. My research may be finished, but presenting it is a whole new challenge as well. I also will be taking an advanced research course in social psychology in which I hope to use the skills I have gained and hone them even more so.

The combination of psychology and criminology is a unique mix that makes for a curriculum that is extremely interesting to me and applicable for future careers. I am very excited to be involved in the reentry movement for ex-offenders and think the classes I get to take in these majors will be very useful. I really genuinely enjoy learning and this makes it easy to be involved in my classes and look for ways I can apply what I’m learning to the world. I enjoy challenging myself with classes that expand my knowledge. It is also so fascinating to see the overlap in these two social sciences and how I can apply information from each class to another and see how it can apply to a new context.

I am involved in a campus church, H2O, in which I am a leader of a small group of women. We meet weekly to explore the Bible and share encouragement and challenges. I have the opportunity to prepare our time every week and lead our discussion with questions, and get to intentionally meet up with these women and do life with them. I also have a team leader I who coaches me  and helps me develop in leadership. This summer I will be going to Colorado as a part of H2O’s Leadership Training program as well, where I will be learning even more how to be a leader especially in the church. A large part of leading is coming alongside people and I think this is comes up in many parts of life, but especially for my future career, it is so important that I am getting experience leading while at OSU so in the future I can know how to lead people in reintegrating to society after prison and come alongside them in their struggles.

Once a month I serve at the Bridge Community center with H2O. We help clean and organize the building and do repairs to allow them to focus on the refugees they engage with in Columbus. I believe it is so important that they see the unseen in the city and find ways to show them that someone cares that they are here. I want to be able to do the same throughout life and in my career, that I would not be volunteering or working for my own sake, but as a servant to the people I engage with. In the fall I would like to get involved in an organization that serves those who have been in contact with the justice system and that I could regularly care for these people I have such a heart for helping. Especially in a large city, I think so many people go unnoticed, but I want to be someone who not only sees them but serves them.

 

G.O.A.L.S.

The first part of the Honors and Scholars G.O.A.L.S. is something that I find very important. I have seen firsthand how rewarding it is to work with people who come from a different place than you do. I especially have a passion for interacting with people from other countries. I am already looking to study abroad and this winter I will be traveling with the London Honors Program. Over this entire semester we have been learning about many aspects of English history, culture and modern events. I find value in learning these things because learning about other people groups helps us to better understand the world we live in. I am also interested in traveling with my department or in the social sciences so I can learn about what I love in a new context. The English Conversation Program is also something I would like to get involved in during my time here. I would love to interact with people in an environment that promotes learning from people of different backgrounds. I am fascinated by the ways we can see and learn from different cultures and look forward to integrating that into my time here.

Ohio State has so many opportunities to get involved in research. Currently, I am taking a research methods course and I am intrigued by the challenge of creating research that is strong, valid and adds something to the field. I would like to start off with working with professors and faculty on research they are doing and hopefully be able to create some of my own projects. One great opportunity to do this would be the Honors Thesis. Part of the study abroad trip I am looking into for this summer includes the Undergraduate Research in Sociology course where I can spend time even before and after the trip working on a research question, so I am excited to be involved in research even in other countries. I don’t know exactly where my research ambitions will take me, but I do know that I want to get involved and dive deep into my field of study with my own original inquiry.

Part of being an honors student is that I love a challenge. I don’t want to just take classes that are easy for me just to boost my GPA, I want to learn something. I want the courses I take to be engaging, with subject matter I have to think about. In my Academic Plan I laid out classes that were interesting to me and that were high level. I desire to learn everything I can about my area of study, even in my general education requirements. Within each requirement I searched for courses that would somewhat overlap with psychology or criminology so that I would be interested and therefore want to learn and do my best in the course. As long as I am learning about what I want to do in the future and what I love, I think it will be easy to keep striving for a rigorous program and I think the high level classes will give me an opportunity to expand not only my knowledge, but my thought process that will be extremely advantageous in other endeavors.

Currently I am involved in a few activities and although it is my first semester, I am already eager to take a leadership role in some of these clubs. As I expressed above, I love diving deeper into what I love, and often this leads me to leadership positions in the student organizations I am a part of as well. This semester I played with the women’s rugby club, got involved with a campus church called H2O and got an on campus job. That was a lot for the first semester, but I am passionate about all of these things and wanted to jump in right away. In the future, I am interested in getting a job that would be more related to my area of study, especially with an internship at some point. Along with the research I would like to do and also clubs like the english conversation program, I think all these activities will help me develop the skills I need to be a leader in society.

Contributing to the community around me is something I believe is very important. I plan to be involved in “community engagement Saturdays” with my campus church where we go out and serve in Columbus. I really enjoy days and trips like these where I can serve people in my direct community or beyond. I want to look into more opportunities where I can do this, and even serve in prisons and corrections or even just urban areas because these are the people I have a heart for helping. I am excited to find organizations on campus that do this that I can be a part of and actively serve my community and the people that I want to eventually work with professionally.

 

 

 

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.]

Artifacts

[Artifacts are the items you consider to be representative of your academic interests and achievements. For each entry, include both an artifact and a detailed annotation.  An annotation is a reflective description of the artifact that attempts to communicate its significance.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

About Me

[Your “About Me” is an introduction and should provide insight into who you are as a person and a learner.  This should include a picture of you that is appropriate in a professional/academic context. This information should be continually updated.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio.  Delete these instructions and add your own post.]