Hello everyone! Within this ePortfolio you will find my current and future goals as well as what experiences I have completed and gained throughout my time at The Ohio State University. You will also find my current resume with more detailed information. You will come across my personal interests and hobbies that I take part in on campus.
Year in Review
YEAR 2018-2019
This year, I have finished my first set of classes and first semester of powerlifting club. I can honestly say that I have learned a lot this semester. Not only have I learned so much content through lectures and labs, but I have also learned a lot about myself in the process. For example, I have learned new study techniques to better my abilities on exams and understanding of material. I have also learned my limits as to how much studying I am able to handle in one sitting. This is critical knowledge for the future to understand how I should go about my academic career.
Just like in academics, I have learned to understand my limits in terms of physical well being. I have accomplished this through my time on the Powerlifting Club. From workouts to diets, I have learned what my body can physically handle and what it cannot. I am constantly pushing these limits, however, to reach to potential as this is how one grows, being careful to not overreach with high aspirations while still not caging myself to my comfort zones. Yes knowing your limits is crucial, but it is crucial in order to know how to break through them. I believe that I can take this lesson and apply it to academics as well as to life as a whole.
To apply this lesson to academics, I can take the previous example I gave, knowing how much studying I can handle in one night, and learn to expand this limitation. In other words, I ask myself the question, “how can I be better suited to handle more information at a time?” One way to do this would be to gradually increase the amount of information I study each night. This will allow me to get a feel for the amount of information gradually and after a while, I will find that I will be able to attain more knowledge than I was able to when I started. Another method to use would be to only review what is important. As I study, I tend to look at EVERYTHING. This includes all the minuscule details, thus leaving little room in my brain to hold more information on important things. Holding back on the tiny, unimportant details, I would be able to study a lot more material and be better prepared. These are the lessons I’ve learned at my time here at The Ohio State University thus far.
YEAR 2019-2020:
This year has been one for the books. I had so much fun with being in a new dorm, making new friends, and taking interesting as well as challenging classes. With my time in Neuroscience, I get to take a lot of interesting classes, mostly having to do with Psychology and Neurological conditions and how they play a role in the lives of those who are affected. A lot of classes also have proven to be quite difficult, especially during the evacuation of campus due to COVID-19. I had completed all required classes for the year and cannot wait to start a new year at OSU.
The clubs I have joined have proven to be a great sources of experiences and friends. I have learned to balance the student life with the athletic and social life. The people in all of my clubs are some of my closest friends to this day and without them, OSU life would not be the same. Unfortunately due to COVID-19, much of this years activities and events were cancelled or cut short but next year will prove to be an even better one.
G.O.A.L.S.
Global Awareness: To develop my appreciation for diverse settings and cultural experiences, I plan on studying abroad at least one time in my undergraduate career. I will study abroad in Israel to enhance my love for the country as well as gain some crucial experience.
Original Inquiry: I plan to research in a lab during my undergraduate time. I would like it to be in the Neuroscience field so I can further enhance my understanding of the field.
Academic Enrichment: In order to further enrich my academics, I will further my experience with my current clubs in order to gain experience in Neuroscience outreach and to learn how people are affected by certain disabilities.
Leadership Development: In the clubs that I join, specifically Powerlifting Club, I plan on running for an officer position in the future. This position will allow me to experience a leadership role in the club as well as being a leader and a mentor to other club members. In addition, I plan on running for a board position in Buckeyes Against Alzheimer’s. This will be a great opportunity for me to gain critical experiences in creating and running events alongside the amazing experiences with the service aspect.
Service Engagement: I plan on continuing my journey with Buckeyes Against Alzheimer’s, a club that helps raise awareness for Alzheimer’s disease and uses community service to help those with the disease. The club volunteers at a nursing home doing many different events with the residents, such as arts and crafts and senior prom, which I will continue to take part in.
Career/Resume
Attached is my resume. For my career path, I have chosen to pursue the medical field. My future plans involve graduating from OSU with scholars and to get accepted into medical school.
Artifacts
A personal achievement that I have accomplished and am still currently accomplishing is that of weightlifting. The reason this is such an accomplishment in my view point is because of how much it teaches a person. It teaches someone to persevere through hardships. Every day in the gym is a new challenge with your mind and body. Every day you push your limits further and further and learn more about yourself. You put yourself in the mindset of, “I WILL do this. I WILL do an extra set. I WILL do the extra rep.” Weightlifting also teaches you to be humble. You must do what is comfortable for you while still pushing your limits. If your ego takes over, you will get hurt and you will suffer. You must be humble and you must be smart because weightlifting is 70% mental and 30% strength.
SCHOLARS EVENT:
For my scholars event, I went to the TED talk on CRISPR/Cas9. This was a very interesting TED talk as it had to do with genetics and altering gene expression. The topic lead to an interesting conversation/debate on the moral ethics of altering genetic codes. For example, if this takes into effect and we can alter people’s genes, when will it turn into rich people buying good genes for their children and poorer people not being able to afford it, therefore making a further divide in todays society? The debate was interesting to be a part of with listening to different views. In the future, I would attend more TED talks and debates.
SURF Internship at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
file:///Users/gregoryrivin/Downloads/SURF%20Program%202019%20Poster_Greg%20Rivin_Draft%202.pdf
In the summer of 2019, I applied and was granted the opportunity to work under Dr. Samual Wittekind at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in the Cardio department. This was an undergraduate research position for 10 weeks in the summer. The assignment for the summer was to create an original research question within the pediatric cardio field as well as to conduct the research. The final conclusion of the research was to be presented to a panel of judges (medical doctors in other fields) in the form of a symposium with a poster. Attached is a link to the poster. This project was very interesting and very fun to work on. There was a lot involved with the creation of an original question that could be further studied after my time there. Dr. Wittekind went on to gather data from a greater population field to further stratify the data and to be able to apply it to current practices. Afterwards, he wrote a scientific paper that is currently in the process of being published in the journal of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.
About Me
My name is Gregory Rivin, I am currently studying Neuroscience at The Ohio State University. My end goal for the future is a career path in medicine. As this is my end goal, I have many smaller steps/goals in life to get me to this point. The first of these steps is to graduate with a Bachelors degree from OSU. From here I plan to apply and go to Medical school at the University of Cincinnati. I also plan to complete a few internships, co-ops, and research throughout my time in undergraduate school and medical school. I plan to join many clubs during my college life, some academic as well as some personally appealing ones.