G.O.A.L.S.

Global Awareness: Global awareness is incredibly important to me, and it’s something that I really enjoy working on in myself, because I love learning more about other cultures. At Ohio State, I participate in the English Conversation Program as well as Tzu Ching, a Taiwanese service group, both of which constantly teach me more about other cultures, and which I love being a part of. In the classroom, I take French, working on my fluency and cultural awareness; I also hope to start a third language soon. Furthermore, I intend to study abroad. My classes, too, show my strong focus on learning about other countries (Russian Literature, History of East Asian Art, for example).

Original Inquiry: I hope to learn more about research and even possibly take part in the next few years, but for now, I use original inquiry most frequently in music, where I improvise jazz solos and work on my own compositions and arrangements. I also perform in off-campus performances and creative jam sessions with my jazz group, which I love learning from. I’d love to create a body of my own original musical work soon, to start creating.

Academic Enrichment: I take several honors classes, and work very hard to make sure my schedule is challenging. I also work hard to do well in my classes, and to learn well from my professors. As simple as this approach is, it is truly quite difficult, and takes many hours. Outside the classroom, I pursue my own learning when possible, and hope in the future to participate in extracurricular groups or academic opportunities which would challenge me even further academically.

Leadership Development: I’ve been working on developing my leadership skills by taking charge in my classes when group work is requested, as well as by gaining confidence in my new job at Curl Hall, where I work with customers, and in my jazz ensemble, where I play violin, a bit of an unusual band instrument, but a fun one. As I grow better on piano, I will also probably learn leadership skills from that endeavor because the piano is such a crucial instrument to any band. Besides, I’ve become a bit of a leader within my English Conversation Group, since I’m the only native speaker of English there and can help facilitate communication pretty well.

Service Engagement: Every week, I spend several hours at an after school program in a nearby city which contains a high refugee population, specifically from Somalia. Children there have many challenges to face, and I enjoy helping them with their homework, playing with them, making connections, and helping them feel important, smart, and capable. I also go with Tzu Ching, a Taiwanese service group, to spend a few hours at a nursing home each Saturday morning, where we talk to and perform for the senior citizens. Here, too, I love connecting and having relationships with these wise, incredible humans, and brightening what can sometimes be a monotonous nursing home life.

Esperanza Spalding

On October 5th, I had the pleasure of watching Esperanza Spalding speak and perform–from the front row! She was brought to Ohio State by the combined forces of the OUAB and OSU Jazz Club, and spent about an hour discussing the craft of jazz (and demonstrating) before answering questions from the audience. I was almost overwhelmed by how much wisdom Esperanza shared during this short hour; in almost every piece of her intelligent, thoughtful speech was a new creative idea or metaphor that I hadn’t previously considered. She spoke of her musical origin story, of making art from limited resources (be it musical improvisation under note constraints or creative survival under living constraints); she spoke of jazz (creative evolution: at its core, a dare to go farther), of improvisation (pure storytelling, not overused clichés), of active listening (at once an acceptance of what’s being said and an offer to continue in various new directions), of counterpoint (a collaborative conversation of compromise between a storyteller and an active listener, i.e. a voice and a bass), and more.

Listening to Esperanza Spalding was intensely inspirational for me not only as a jazz musician, an improviser and composer, but also as someone that wants to tell stories, to work with passion, and to connect to others through both words and music. Furthermore, Esperanza Spalding inspired me as a woman, and as a human that has committed to and mastered her craft. Though not necessarily one of her explicit messages, one of the biggest takeaways from the night for me personally was to better prioritize actions over my thoughts and words. Esperanza Spalding exhibited a comfort with her ideas, with her skills, with her intellect, and with her self that I feel comes only through extensive action, through an enormous amount of experience, and I think that I could learn from her in that sense. I tend to think about things more than I actually do them, whereas Esperanza Spalding has reached great success by doing; she acts with clear purpose, and I think that her confidence is admirable.

Year in Review

[ “Year in Review”  is where you should reflect on the past year and show how you have evolved as a person and as a student.  You may want to focus on your growth in a particular area (as a leader, scholar, researcher, etc.) or you may want to talk about your overall experience over the past year.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

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.]

About Me

Julia Romie is a first year undergraduate student in the Honors College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio State University, supported by the Maximus Scholarship. She plans to major in International Studies. She is a National Merit Finalist, a member of the National Honors Society, a four-year member of the Société Honoraire de Français, and a graduate of Centerville High School in Dayton, Ohio. Julia is also the former concertmaster of the Centerville Alternative Strings program, and a cantor at Incarnation Church. She enjoys playing, writing, and listening to music, as well as philosophy, biking, traveling, and learning.