Artifact 1

UN Healthcare Project

My first artifact is my UN Millennium Development Goals Presentation that I completed in my International Affairs Scholars Seminar.  For this assignment, four of my classmates and I were assigned to one of eight UN Development Goals to research, write a paper about, and give a presentation on. We were also asked to pick a region of the world that is especially affected by our Goal to focus on. My group was assigned to the fifth Millennium Goal,  to improve maternal health, and the region we chose to study was India. While completing this project as a group, my portion was to answer what our millennium goal is and why it is important.

While working on this project, I gained an insight to the world around me that I did not previously have. One of the reasons for this is because I am a male and maternal health does not really affect my life. Secondly, I am fortunate enough to live in the United States, where we do not have many issues in regards to maternal health as much as countries on the other side of the world. However, from doing my research for this project, I was able to learn about the lack of maternal healthcare in other parts of the world, and how it significantly affects many people. I now realize that maternal health really does need to be improved, and that the United Nations was right by including it as one of their eight Millennium Goals.

About Me

Hello! My name is Clayton Rush and I am an 18 year old from North Royalton, OH. I am currently a student at The Ohio State University studying economics. In the spring of 2015, I graduated with an honors diploma from North Royalton High School. While in high school, I participated in cross country, swimming, and track, and was also part of the National Honor Society. I have worked as lifeguard for both Metropolitan Pool Service and the Ehrnfelt Recreation Center.

After graduating from college, I plan on joining the Peace Corps for two years. After that, I would like to work in the foreign service, particularly with the United States Department of State. Promoting world peace and providing aid to foreign countries who need it are very important to me. Another issue that is meaningful to me is income inequality, which is one of the reasons why I chose to study economics. I have been inspired by many of my high school teachers and quite a few of my peers. Overall, my dream is to instill change that will leave a lasting positive impact on the world.Screenshot_2015-08-24-23-22-35-1

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.]

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 information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. 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.]

Year in Review

Overall, I have evolved greatly as a person and as a student this year. Coming from a suburb of Cleveland, I had not previously been exposed to much diversity. However, that all changed when I came to Ohio State, where I met people from various backgrounds. Some of these people were even from outside of the United States. This allowed me to hear first-person accounts of what life is like outside of Ohio, which was a very eye-opening experience.

Completing my first year of college has also helped me to grow. The expectations of a college student are much greater than those of a high school student, so I needed to adapt quickly in order to do well and maintain a respectable GPA. I learned new study methods and ways to keep myself motivated to stay focused and finish all of my homework on time. This helped me to survive my freshman year, and these methods will carry over for the rest of my college years.