Author: saleme.2

First Year in College

My first year at Ohio State has overall been pretty good. I’ve adjusted to dorm life pretty well and have become more independent as a result. The early move out was a bit unexpected but returning home hasn’t been difficult even though I am hoping to return to campus in the fall. Throughout the year I have learned a lot about engineering and have enjoyed most, if not all of it. This past semester has been pretty stressful even without the post-spring break stuff, but I got through it pretty well. One of my classes was a coding class with MATLAB as the language being talked about. Because of that class, I realized that I enjoy coding and I have started to wonder if I want to pursue it as my major or go for a minor in CIS. For the most part, my first year has been filled with classes I have previously taken but didn’t have credit for which can be sort of tiresome, but the few classes I have taken so far which covered new content were great.

Now to move on to the more interesting stuff. This year has been pretty fun, I’ve made some friends and have been getting into a routine of working out. I never really had a set plan when I go to the gym, but I’ve been going to the gym with a friend and have started to better plan my workouts and have learned a few more exercises. The only disappointing part of this is that because of COVID-19 I am unable to go to the gym and I lack much of the equipment at the moment but my plan is to save up some money and get a few of the essentials. I also had a lot of fun being part of the OSU Broomball League were in the fall semester we went to the championship. Sadly clubs were closed after spring break but before they did, The Swiffer Dusters were undefeated in the spring semester. Overall this year has been better than I thought, it has had a few bumps, but I have high hopes for next year and hopefully, we are allowed to return to campus in the fall.

Columbus Blue Jackets Sweep the Tampa Bay Lightning

About a year ago I was sitting at home stressing over the Stanley Cup Playoffs because my team, the Columbus Blue Jackets, had to face a record-tieing team in the Tampa Bay Lightning. My stress was reinforced because, in the first period of Game One, the Jackets were down 3-0. Until the team started clicking and the Jackets scored a goal in the second period. I wasn’t getting too excited because we were still down two, but the Jackets played better. The second period ended 1-3 and my hopes, while not drained, were nearing that point. Then the third period started and we scored, 2-3 Tampa, then we scored again, 3-3. I couldn’t believe it, the Columbus Blue Jackets, a team that barely got into the playoffs, had the league’s top team on the ropes after being down 0-3 in the first period. Then a miracle happened, Seth Jones, a Blue Jacket Defenseman, scored the game-winning goal in the third period. I was stunned. A couple of hours ago I had lost all hope, I didn’t believe my team had a chance not only in the game but the whole series. Then we won the next game and the next game which I actually attended, and finally, the Columbus Blue Jackets completed the sweep. A team nobody, not even some of the fan-base, went 4-0 against a team that set records and were favorites to win the Stanley Cup. I never truly gave my team a shot. I acted as we would win but I thought CBJ would be lucky to even make it to Game Seven. I doubted my team before the game even started. I lost hope and counted my team out before the start of the second period of Game One. The Jackets proved me wrong, they played with heart and never lost hope even when they gave up three in the first period.  This series taught me how to be a better fan. It taught me to not lose hope even when the outcome looks grim. Go Jackets!

Journal Three

Recently a few friends and I went to an Ohio State Men’s Hockey Game. While at the game, an animation appeared which involved racing Zambonis around an ice rink. This sparked an idea in our heads, what if we created actual RC Zambonis that we could race? We began discussing ideas and came up with the plan to build a functioning RC Zamboni together as a team and then we could separate, each building a Zamboni, and then racing them. This plan isn’t fully decided upon, we are deciding upon if an RC Zamboni is too difficult for us at the moment and have a backup plan of RC planes, but we want to go down that track. This is a project that reaches the engineering part of me that I don’t often have an excuse to use and it is related to my major. This relates to the goals of Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, and Leadership Development. We plan on discussing more about the project over winter and possibly working on it a bit, but nothing is set in stone. I plan on first discussing with them what kind of RC we are going to attempt to create, then once that is clear, I will research RC vehicles over the break, hopefully with some help from the others involved. I hope to have those two things done by the end of Winter Break, and then work on it periodically over spring break. I am very excited about this project. It involves a topic I have a genuine interest in, and it allows me to get hands-on engineering experience that I lack.

Columbus To Do List: Part Two

Most of my experiences were great, I got to try new things and it gave me an excuse to go back and have some of my old favorites, and learn more about the city in which I grew up in. Having lived in Columbus my entire life it is astonishing to me how many places there are in which I either have never seen before or places which I have heard about and just never gone to. For example, I’ve never heard of Kittie’s Cakes before, and I have only ever had Jeni’s twice, once when a Jeni’s opened up in Easton Mall and this project. Speaking of Jeni’s and the topic of frozen treats,  I personally like Graeter’s ice cream more than I like Jeni’s, Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip is just too good. Also on the topic, I personally can’t rank Graeter’s vs. Whits. Each just covers a different area for me. Greater’s is ice cream and Whit’s is custard, I can’t really fairly compare them. More on my experiences with the places I went, I enjoyed each one and would go to them again, but for the specific root beer, I got at Rocket Fizz. They had so many options of bottled root beer to choose from and I guarantee I’d like most of them, but the specific kind I got when I went there I personally didn’t like. It tasted too much like black licorice and had some other flavor I can’t describe, despite that though, I do see myself going back there. 

I thoroughly enjoyed each place that I went to but out of all of my experiences though I’d have to say my favorite was the trip to Graeters. Personally, my favorite ice cream place is Graeters. They have many of my favorite flavors such as Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip and their seasonal flavor Watermelon Sorbet. Another reason I enjoy Greaters is a bit of a nostalgic factor, I can remember in elementary school when my school would go to a Graeter’s factory and learn how the ice cream was being made and got samples at the end. I always have an enjoyable time when I go there and it’s one of the best places to go for a dessert.

If someone else were to go through with this I only have one recommendation, truly enjoy it. It doesn’t matter what situation you find yourself in, go into the place truly wanting to have a good time. Leave whatever stresses you have at the door and relax. It makes not only the experience much better, but it allows for a break and allows you to reset. That is all I’d recommend, the rest is determined by the person who wants to go through the list.

When going through the list, I was surprised by how much I learned based on how I have lived in Columbus my whole life I didn’t expect to learn much but the opposite occurred. I learned more about my city and visited places that I had no clue about. It changed my view of Columbus because it broadened my horizons. I started to realize how as of late I have been experiencing more of Columbus and as a result, many of my favorite places to go to I have discovered within the past year. This project has opened my eyes to that as well as what Columbus has to offer. I should try and experience more new places because I could find something I enjoy, this time, I might want to try looking for food places or sports events.

 

Different Graeters I went to and the ice cream from Jeni’s

Columbus To Do List: Kitties Cakes

The last place I decided to go to was Kitties Cakes. The place was like a small coffee shop with other baked goods. I personally enjoyed the mocha that I had and overall the place felt like a quaint coffee shop. The place isn’t really close so I don’t know if I’d go there again, but I personally did enjoy it and would definitely recommend it to a friend.

Columbus To Do List: Whit’s

Over Fall Break my family and I went to a Whit’s that is near my house. I have been to Whits before, and by far my favorite thing there is Crunch Coat. Its a topping like sprinkles but better in every way. I first had it at an ice cream shop in my mom’s home town and its been my favorite topping ever since. I would go back and refer it to a friend just because of Crunch Coat, but I also enjoy Whit’s custard and some of there specialty drinks.

Columbus To Do List: Jeni’s

While in the Short North for Rocket-fizz, we decided to also stop by Jeni’s because my friend Sam wanted to try it. I was personally confused by the fact that there was more ice cream than I thought. I don’t know why I though the ice cream box shown in the picture below was the only kind they had, but I did. Out of the options I thought I had, I decided to get egg-nog ice cream. I personally enjoy Graeter’s ice cream more, but Jeni’s was still good.

 

Columbus To Do List: Rocketfizz

I decided to go to the Short North with a couple of friends. I went into Rocket Fizz looking for some root beer. During away OSU football games I like to drink a different type of bottled root beer. Getting to the Short North was easy due to COTA, but twice on our way back we had to run to the next bus stop because we were in between them. There were a lot of options for root beer so I do see myself going back.