Author: scaria.3

About Me

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Hello everyone! My name is Emmanuel (Gus) Scaria and I am a fourth year student attending The Ohio State University. I’m currently enrolled in the honors college and am pursuing a degree in Neuroscience and a minor in child abuse and neglect. I am also a member of the Eminence Fellows class of 2024, a cohort here at the university.

I grew up in Broadview Heights, Ohio, a suburb around thirty minutes away from Cleveland. I attended North Royalton High School before enrolling here at Ohio State. I chose Ohio State for two main reasons: the sheer amount of opportunities a big university had to offer and because of the neuroscience program.

I’ve always been interested in both biology and technology and so I felt as though a degree specialized in computational neuroscience will allow me to study at the focal point of these interests. However, as I approach the midpoint of my third year of college, I’ve decided that behavioral neuroscience more aptly fulfills my interests. This switch was fueled over the course of the last two years as I worked in Dr. Barrientos’ Lab researching the behavioral and biochemical basis for Alzheimer’s and Age related cognitive deficits. Working in her lab, I had the privilege of working with Adeno-Associated Viruses, and after taking the course ‘All about AAVs’, I find myself increasingly interested in gene therapy. In the future, I specifically want to delve into research advancing gene therapy based therapeutic solutions to neurological issues because in my research I find that gene therapy has an extremely high ceiling in terms of therapeutic benefit for the patient. This focus also piques my interest because of the largely untapped potential of gene therapies for neurological conditions.

During my time at Ohio State, I’ve gotten involved in several organizations on Campus. Freshman year, I helped found Project PEER, an organization dedicated to bringing academic enhancements to incarcerated individuals with the intent of reducing recidivism and providing equal access to education for all. This past year, I became a part of ServUs, a startup social enterprise dedicated to bringing volunteer opportunities to college students based on their interests. I find that these two organizations have fueled my interest in entrepreneurship and creating new and innovative solutions to the world’s problems.

In my free time, I enjoy playing tennis, skateboarding, and watching Netflix. I’m also an avid car enthusiast and have an instagram page (carspotcbus) where I document cool cars that I see around Columbus and facts associated with them.

G.O.A.L.S.

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[ “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.]

Career

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[“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.]

Year in Review

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To put it simply, these past two semesters have been interesting. Living the fast-paced life of college didn’t come easy at first, but with time, I gradually learned to adapt to the demands of the situation I was in. Looking back on this year, it’s crazy to see how much I’ve changed from when I moved into the small, musty fourth floor room in Bradley Hall last September.

 

A large part of what made the beginning of this year interesting was the high level of uncertainty there was. The uncertainty about being able to connect with others, uncertainty about how eminent the Covid risk was, uncertainty about whether or not attending in-person events was a good idea. This game of weighing the risks and benefits ended more often that not with me making a decision based on a “Why Not?” Although mistakes were made from this spontaneity, learning and dealing with these uncertainties led me to question my values, allowing me to me grow as a person fundamentally and gain a better understanding of the things that were important to me. Thankfully, I never did end up getting Covid in the process.

 

In addition to the dealing with covid, learning to adapt to the demands of college courses and extracurriculars was also an integral part of my first-year experience. My first semester, I took Chemistry 1210, Biology 1114, and Psychology 3313. Although I learned a lot from the classes themselves, a lot of the learning also took place outside of those classes, predominantly in the areas of time management and learning how to adapt to online classes.

 

By the time second semester rolled around, I was deeply involved in several extracurriculars. I had joined Ekal Vidyalaya, a club that supports education in rural, underprivileged areas in India, and Doctors without Borders. Being involved in extracurriculars also presented its own set of challenges – predominantly regarding the level of involvement possible with online meetings and the lack of in-person events. Although it was difficult, I found that actively participating in the virtual meetings was the best way to become more engaged in my extracurriculars. I also got involved in research second semester, joining Dr. Ruth Barrientos’ lab as an undergraduate research assistant. Right now, I’m currently working on a project that deals with the effects of a certain protein in Alzheimer’s prevention.

This first year has undoubtedly molded me in many ways, allowing me to expand my understanding the world in general. The people I’ve met and the experiences I’ve had make this year a memorable year and I have high hopes for what is to come of the next three years at college.