Columbus To Do List

On November 3rd, 2019, my HES group and myself visited the Columbus Museum of Art. This was a very eye-opening experience and we got to see a lot of inspirational pieces including a traveling exhibit called Driving Forces (pictured below). This exhibit was all about what drives people to be who they are, what drives cultures and individual goals. I found this really interesting and deeply enjoyed seeing and learning about each’s artist’s driving force behind who they are in addition to interpretations of older more contemporary artist’s world views. It was also very intriguing to see how these motivations change as time progressed. I enjoyed this progression of thought the most.

I would definitely go back again but I would plan more time for it into my schedule and would bring more friends to have discussions with.

VIA Character Strengths

As a part of ENGR 1197, I took the VIA Character Assessment. This was a very reflective process and I learned about how different people can use their strengths to their advantages and how to maximize group performance by working with people who have complementary strengths. My top 5 strengths are love, curiosity, appreciation of beauty & excellence, zest, and love of learning.

Love

Valuing close relations with others, in particular those in which sharing & caring are reciprocated; being close to people.

This being my number 1 character trait was spot-on. One of the most important quotes in my life is “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel” said my Maya Angelou. I strive to make a personal connection in every encounter  so that people do remember how I made them feel. I very highly value love and relationships with others and feel that this contributes directly to my positive and optimistic outlook on life.

Curiosity

Taking an interest in ongoing experience for its own sake; finding subjects and topics fascinating; exploring and discovering.

I relate very closely with this character trait. I am driven relentlessly by my curiosity and often find myself delving whole-heartedly into some topic I know little about. Additionally, I am curious about what drives others. What motivates, pushes, and inspires people? This plays in with my number 1 character trait, love. In order to develop personal connections with others, I have to be genuinely curious about their passions, beliefs, and life goals.

Appreciation of Beauty & Excellence 

Noticing and appreciating beauty, excellence, and/or skilled performance in various domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience.

Appreciating beauty and excellence in everything around me is what keeps me going throughout the day. I would describe it as seeing how closely intertwined our surrounding environment is and how everything affects everything so heavily. I love sitting back and just admiring how complex our world it. The odds of us being here are so small, yet, here we are, thriving. I find unfathomable amounts of beauty each day in things like nature, art, music, math, technology, and interactions with others.

Zest

Approaching life with excitement and energy; not doing things halfway or halfheartedly; living life as an adventure; feeling alive and activated.

I think of zest as energy. I live by the belief that if our time is limited, why waste a single second of it? Why waste other’s time with anything less that your absolute best? I am dedicated to working wholeheartedly, passionately, and with all my energy because I despise the thought of looking back on your life and wishing you had done more. I think all the time about how I will look back on my life and how others will remember me. And that thought inspires me to spend my time doing things I truly care about, helping others, having fun, and making a change in the world.

Love of Learning

Mastering new skills, topics, and bodies of knowledge, whether on one’s own or formally; related to the strength of curiosity but goes beyond it to describe the tendency to add systematically to what one knows.

The popular Tom Cruise quote “I feel the need – the need for speed!” describes quite perfectly my love of learning. I am constantly finding new topics or ideas that would help me develop my technical and professional skills. I feel the need for them, so I learn them. I love the feeling you get after you’ve finally mastered a skill and you have such a deep understanding that you’re able to apply it to your everyday life.

Year in Review

This past year has definitely shaped me as a person a lot more than I expected to. I learned a lot about creating and maintaining relationships with others and some really helpful strategies to try and keep a more balanced life. I am really grateful for all of the support and resources both OSU and HE Scholars individually was able to provide for me and my peers for our first year and I feel like I would have had a very different experience if it wouldn’t have been for all this support. I also learned a lot about how to prioritize, which was something I struggled with a lot previously. It was really difficult to have to make the decision to maybe cut something because you don’t have time in your schedule but I found myself being able to put a lot more time into assignments and I definitely saw an increase in the quality of my work. I think overall, the main thing I am going to take with me from this past year was being able to go out of my comfort zone more. I tried a lot of new things and I had a ton of fun learning about all the different opportunities available on campus. I really love it here at OSU and I had such a great first year!

G.O.A.L.S.

[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.

  • Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc.
  • Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
  • Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
  • Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
  • Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]

Artifacts

My old, worn out converse have always been meaningful reminder of my goals and aspirations in life. I have been a participant of a program called FIRST robotics for many years and it has truly shaped me into the person I am and the person I strive to be. One of my biggest role models is a man named Dr. Woodie Flowers. Dr. Flowers, in addition to being an engineering professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and FIRST Executive Advisory Board Co-Chair, is the coiner of the term “Gracious Professionalism.” Gracious Professionalism is one of the core values of the FIRST program, and the basis of how I live my life. Through my time in FIRST, I have learned what it means to be on a team, what is means to fail forward, and an appreciation for collaboration so great few words would actually do it justice. My converse are such an integral part of my being because Dr. Flowers wears the same ones. Every time I put on my old, worn out converse, I am motivated to be like Dr. Flowers, to inspire others, and to do my part to better the world. Every time I tie those fraying laces, I reminisce about all the great memories shared with my teammates, and how we’ve all worked together to foster real change in our community, make an everlasting impact, and leave our legacy. My converse are so important to me because I wore them every time I was with my team. And the signature in the bottom right is that of, nonetheless, Dr. Woodie Flowers.

About Me

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” -Albert Einstein

First-year undergraduate student at The Ohio State University majoring in Computer Science as a part of the Humanitarian Engineering Scholars program. This is my third summer as a research and development intern at the Air Force Research Laboratory. As a part of this internship, I was able to collaborate with students from all across the country to create lightweight, reliable technology for the Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) Center.

In my free time, I enjoy tutoring Rwandan refugee students in my area. I founded a program in the Dayton area where High School robotics students work with Rwandan refugee students to help them further their education and learn more about STEM. This upcoming summer, I will be traveling to Rwanda to teach computer programming to students at the Biymana School of Sciences.

Above all, I strive to collaborate with others to create technology used to better the lives of those who need it most.