Year in Review- Junior Year

I really enjoyed my junior year! Headlines are in bold below.

Completed my Honors Undergraduate Research Thesis.

Junior year, I finished my thesis work, which was the culmination of two years of hard work. Since the end of my freshman year, I have been working on research relating to the long-term mental health correlates (specifically, anxiety and depression) of early failure experiences. I hypothesized that there would failure would be negatively correlated with depression and anxiety, and that this relationship would be mediated by fear of failure. My thinking was that those who experience and surmount failure at a young age may teach individuals that failure is simply a part of life, which could decrease levels of fear of failure and perfectionism, and thus lead to better mental health outcomes. While the results were not so clear-cut, I learned a lot about clinical psychology, the research process, and what research as a career could be like through this project. This would not have been possible without such an incredible team. I was fortunate enough to work with Dr. Jennifer Cheavens as my advisor and Whitney Allen, a clinical psychology graduate student, as a partner. The thesis is posted in the artifacts section, if you want to check out the study!

Finished up my neuroscience major!

I reached a huge milestone junior year- I finished up all of my neuroscience classes for my major! My major was not only valuable because of what I learned about the nervous system and its importance, but also because of the incredible “soft skills” I learned throughout, such as how to study effectively, how to process large amounts of information, how to break down complex topics into understandable chunks and work up. I am so grateful for the opportunities that being a neuroscience major brought me, and am proud to have completed my major courses.

Competed with the Ohio State Mock Trial Team

Through the first semester of Junior year, I competed with the Ohio State Mock Trial team for my third season. I was able to engage with complex case material, practice public speaking and persuasive rhetoric, and apply the Federal Rules of Evidence in a high-pressure environment. I even got to deliver closing arguments on behalf of my team, which was a goal I worked towards for several seasons.

Overall, I had a great year, and look forward to what senior year has in store!

Summer @ Bain & Company

This summer, I was fortunate enough to intern at Bain & Company, one of the top consulting firms worldwide. Specifically, I worked as an Associate Consultant Intern who was staffed with the Healthcare Private Equity team. I came into the summer looking to learn more about the world of consulting and business as a whole, especially since I do not come from a business background. Not only was this goal accomplished, but I also learned that I have a true passion for consulting. I felt invigorated by the way in which the core questions of the diligence were directly connected to the work that every person on the team- from the interns to the partners- was involved in. I also really enjoyed the fast-paced nature of the job and the fast learning curve it brings; I felt myself tangibly improving in key professional development areas in an extremely short time. Finally, I felt extremely at home and welcomed within Bain itself. The culture was nothing short of incredible: fellow “Bainies” were consistently willing to invest in my professional, genuinely valued my input, and intentionally sought out ways to make a new city feel more welcoming.

My experience was nothing short of incredible! I was fortunate enough to receive a full-time offer, and I accepted! I am so excited and genuinely grateful to begin my career at such an incredible place, and cannot wait to see what the future holds.

Summer Research at Johns Hopkins

This summer, I was fortunate enough to be selected for a Research Experience for Undergraduates Program at Johns Hopkins University, where I researched multi-task learning theory in mice models. At the end of my summer, I presented my research at both local and national conferences- below is my research poster!

About Me- Senior Year!

Hey, everyone! My name is Maria Sanchez Boedo, and I am a fourth-year Eminence Fellow and Stamps Scholar at The Ohio State University. I am a neuroscience major but have a non-traditional path in that I have never wanted to go to medical school. I came to Ohio State with the intent of getting my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology after graduation but realized that I do not want to go down the research route long-term. Instead, I became very interested in applying the problem-solving skills that I developed as a neuroscience major and undergraduate researcher to business problems. Because of this, I began to look into management consulting during my sophomore year and found that it aligned well with my skillset and goals. This past summer, I was fortunate enough to work at Bain & Company’s Dallas office, where I was an associate consultant intern within their Healthcare Private Equity Group. After a great summer, I am excited to share that I will return to full-time Bain as an Associate Consultant after graduation.

Outside of my classes, I have been heavily involved in undergraduate research; although I have decided not to go down the research path long-term, I still really do enjoy it! I spent the summer of 2022 at Johns Hopkins working on neuroscience research relating to animal learning theory and recently completed my   Honors Undergraduate Research Thesis in the clinical psychology department. Additionally, I was part of the Ohio State Mock Trial team for over two years, which helped me to hone my speaking, critical thinking, and legal reasoning skills. Throughout my time at Ohio State, I have also been a Peer Refugee Mentor through the Community Refugee and Immigration Services organization, have volunteered at the Ohio Legal Aid Society, and have taken a class in a women’s prison alongside incarcerated individuals through the Ohio State Education Exchange Project.

I have had a fantastic time at Ohio State so far, and am looking forward to seeing what the last year has in store!

Year in Review

Freshman year has been one for the books. Navigating my first year in college during the COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging, but has also incredibly rewarding; I have been challenged, learned, and grown as an individual and academic.

This year has been unexpected in terms of the progression of my career interests. I came to Ohio State most excited about the possibility of pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology after graduation. Today, while I am still very interested in that option, I am equally interested in attending law school. I have used my experience in Ohio State Mock Trial and the network of coaches and alumni in the program to learn more about this path, and am excited to learn more about the legal field firsthand as I volunteer and intern in the legal area in upcoming years.

I am also finding active ways to learn more about clinical psychology. I am thankful to say I found a fantastic opportunity to do so; I will be working as a research assistant in Dr. Cheaven’s Mood and Personality Studies Lab starting in the fall. I believe this will be an incredible way to learn more about clinical-psychology research first-hand and to gain mentorship by Dr. Cheavens, who is a clinical psychologist herself. 

Furthermore, I have honed in on my academic interests throughout the year. I came into Ohio State as a neuroscience and psychology double major, but soon realized that I was most interested in the clinical and abnormal areas of psychology. Therefore, I dropped my psychology major to a “Clinical Psychology and Individual Differences” minor. I also learned that I truly do have a passion for neuroscience. I came into the neuroscience major relatively “blind”, as I had never taken a neuroscience course before and solely knew that I had an interest in the neurobiological aspects of behavior. Over the year, my interest in neuroscience continued to increase. Specifically, I found behavioral neuroscience to be fascinating. I am looking forward to taking “Advanced Behavioral Neuroscience” next semester to learn even more about the area, and ultimately declaring my concentration in Behavioral Neuroscience.

Lastly, the highlight of my year has been being part of the Ohio State Mock Trial team. I came into college never having done mock trial, and tried out on a whim. Trying out for the team has easily been one of the best decisions I have ever made. I have developed a strong interest in litigation and law, have expanded my critical thinking, collaboration, and public speaking skills, and have met a life-long group of friends. I am excited to compete on the team for years to come.

My freshman year, while unconventional, has been impactful and memorable. I am extremely thankful for all the lessons and experiences I have gained throughout my first year at Ohio State, and am excited to see where next year takes me.

G.O.A.L.S.

Focusing on my G.O.A.L.S.- Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement.

Global Awareness.

Diversity can be seen as a “check the box”. What good is it to have individuals with different ideas, experiences, and backgrounds if they will just be a statistic and will not be thoughtfully listened to and learned from? Each individual’s perspective is incredibly valuable, and I strive to try and understand these diverse perspectives through intentionality and curiosity.

Original Inquiry.

I do not want to be a passive learner. I want to learn about my fields of interest firsthand through research.

Thus, in May of 2021, I joined Dr. Jennifer Cheaven’s Mood and Personality Studies Lab to learn about clinical psychology firsthand. Dr. Cheavens is currently supervising my undergraduate thesis, in which I investigate how early experiences of failure may correlate to mental health outcomes. I have also been able to attend weekly lab meetings in with the graduate students of the lab which always prompt rich discussion of psychological material, receive invaluable mentorship from Dr. Cheavens, and learn more about the process of research firsthand. It has been an incredibly rewarding experience and I am excited to see where my work in the lab goes.

Academic Enrichment. 

I am incredibly fascinated by neuroscience, specifically behavioral neuroscience. I am also very interested in the law and am passionate about ensuring that it is applied equally and fairly to all individuals regardless of differences in age, gender, sexual orientation, and race. I have structured my coursework and extracurricular to allow me to most fully delve into my interests in behavioral neuroscience and the law.

I just finished taking Advanced Behavioral Neuroscience this semester (Fall of 2021). I really enjoy behavioral neuroscience as it allows me to understand the biological basis for different behaviors and disorders. I also just completed a Structure and Function of the Nervous System course, which gives me the foundation to understand the brain from a biological and anatomical perspetive.

To cultivate my interest in the law, I participate in Ohio State Mock Trial. Our program is currently listed as fifth in the nation! Being a part of the OSU Mock Trial team really allows me to learn about litigation and court-room dynamics first-hand. Furthermore, it helps me improve my public speaking skills, critical thinking abilities, and on-the-spot responses; these are all skills which are important to succeed in law school and in the legal field itself. Lastly, Mock Trial allows me to connect with incredibly. lawyers in the Columbus area, as the majority of our coaches are lawyers who have greatly enriched my understanding of a career in law.

Leadership Development.

As a high-schooler, I was involved in numerous clubs and had a leadership position in nearly every one. Coming into college, I wanted to be much more intentional about where I invested my time and what I chose to be an active leader in, in order to really focus and grow initiatives that I considered important. As a freshman in her first semester of college, I am currently exploring my different interests and responsibilities first before diving into any formal leadership positions. I want to be a leader to explore my passions, not to further my resumé.

As of now, my greatest leadership has come through my involvement with OSU Mock Trial. Although I have not sought out any formal positions, I feel as if every member of a successful team must lead by example. I do my part by ensuring I am working on my materials each day, come to practice prepared, and work with my teammates and coaches to continue to improve and become the best team possible.

Service Engagement.

Service is extremely important to me. I have been given so many incredible opportunities, which are really not worth much if I can not use them to improve the world around me.

I am working with CRIS Columbus (Community Refugee and Immigrant Services) as a mentor to a high-school refugee student. Working with CRIS has been a great experience and helped me to expand my perspectives by working with those around me.

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 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.]

Artifacts

I am very interested in research in the fields of psychology and neuroscience. I realized that I was interested in the research after designing an independent research project my senior year of high school. This project focused on comparing the reported caloric values that are seen on nutrition labels to the actual caloric values as measured by a calorimeter. This research was spurred by the discovery that companies can have a 20% margin of error on the caloric values that are reported; I wondered if companies would under-report caloric values to make their products seem more appealing to customers, as many prefer lower calorie products. The research paper is attached here.