Music is a beautiful thing. Music can also be tedious, and unforgiving; cramming homework and extra studying with individual practice, making that daily, frigid, night-time walk for rehearsal, sacrificing social events for performances. It is easy to lose sight of hard work. Putting the nose to the grindstone day in and day out sets in tunnel vision. Pushing yourself proves to be harder once you begin to forget purpose. But, once you don the tuxedo and slowly approach the growing euphony of chatter from the auditorium hall, you begin to relive that motivation. Sharing the gift of music with others is a truly magical experience. It is at the end of the semester, a week before finals to be exact, that the School of Music puts on the annual Celebration Concert. The morning was filled with K-12 students and teachers, and the evening was filled with students, alumni, family, and friends. People taking time out of their day solely to appreciate your accomplishments and musicianship is very humbling. Having my friends surprise me after my performances with the Ohio State Symphony Orchestra and Collegiate Winds reminded me one of the reasons why I do all of this hard work. Music matters and no matter how tough times get, the joy of music will always be there.
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About Me
Andrew Xavier Scott is a STEM Exploration and Engagement Scholar in the College of Arts and Sciences at The Ohio State University, majoring in Security and Intelligence and minoring in Arabic and French. Andrew hopes to gather foreign intelligence and consequently improve diplomatic relations. He wants to work for a federal intelligence organization with interests in operations, Middle Eastern cryptolinguistics, criminal science, and national security. Andrew has interned at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in the Inlets and Nozzles Branch, and has worked at the Home Depot as a Freight Associate. Outside of academics and work, Andrew is an Eagle Scout and volunteers as an Assistant Scoutmaster at Troop 333 in Avon, Ohio. He thoroughly enjoys performing music, playing cello with the Ohio State Symphony, euphonium with the Ohio State Collegiate Winds and Ohio State Athletic Band, and marching baritone/trombone with Rhythm X Inc. He marched Drum Corps International with Legends Drum and Bugle Corps during the 2016 and 2017 seasons on euphonium, was a drum major at his high school’s marching band from 2016-2017 as well as a baritone soloist in 2015, marched cymbals in his high school’s indoor percussion ensemble in 2015, was a cello soloist in 2016 and 2018 with his high school’s pit orchestra, a principal cellist for the Session II Blue Lake Symphony Orchestra in 2015, and was an OMEA Class-A cello soloist and duettist with superior ratings.
Welcome to my Honors & Scholars e-Portfolio
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Personal Development: End of Semester One
This is it. The time of year where there should be snow all over the ground but because of Ohio the weather fluctuates between really cold and autumn temperatures, and the majority of students have left campus to celebrate the holiday season and prepare for next semester. As each of us heads our own separate directions we may ask ourselves, what do I have to show that I was HERE? Aside from a few pesky numbers that have their final resting place on CarmenCanvas and maybe a few free t-shirts from convocation, what each student is left with post-semester is deeper than anything material. What skills and personality traits did we develop that have made us a more well-round human and aid us in our personal goals? While most students, including myself, may reflect on what went horribly wrong, it is extremely important to see the individual yet immense growth attained. Before I even began to think about how my first semester at Ohio State impacted me, I reflected about those close to me and how they have grown along their own in path in life. Surrounding yourself with people of great diversity, character, personality, and a success-mindset is my personal philosophy on living a positive and fruitful lifestyle. The number of close friendships I accrued with people all across campus definitely played a role in my personal success and I find myself not just thanking my professors, teaching-assistants, and staff for contributing to my growth but my friends as well. Actually, I think I learned more from the people around me than anything else. It makes sense really. No student gets through the semester successfully solo. I thought I would to an extent, and that begins my reflection on my growth. Before the semester, specifically June 2018 when I attended my freshman orientation, I was mentally in a completely different place. While I had finished senior year extremely well with my classes among other successes, I accepted I had no clue where to begin with college and then also accepted that I pretended everything was going to work how I visioned with little to no extra thought. To be frank, I have no idea what I was thinking or expecting. I planned on majoring in Astrophysics and Astronomy so that I could build upon our species’ philosophy on the biggest questions we could ask ourselves, such as “Where did life come from?”, “What is reality?”, “What happened before Big Bang?” While these are noble propositions for a prospective career field, and I will always believe answering these questions to be our most important goal as a species, the path I began to follow was not for me. I wish things were different in the world, and I could follow my dreams of being on the forefront of advancing the discovery of life’s purpose and origin without the need to master theoretical physics and advanced calculus. Although, I am very content with the path I chose. Instead of making something work because it can work, and making something work because I see its merit and know it will better me, I will be much more successful. Over the summer I worked at the Home Depot. While work was really late at night and an extensive amount of manual labor, I pushed through it and advanced myself in the company. But, Ohio State’s marching band has summer sessions to prepare you for try-outs and potentially marching in TBDBITL. So I decided I would go to these since marching in the band was a goal of mine. Columbus, however, is two and a half hours away and summer sessions last about four and a half hours for another two and half hour drive back home. Well, I did it. I had to cancel every Tuesday and Thursday of work, and spent a LOT of money on gas and food, but I did it and performed extremely well despite not earning a spot in the band. While being in the band is still something I’m passionate about, I know in hindsight it would’ve been better to have gone to maybe a couple and worked more often than I did. Life isn’t about if it fits the bill, life is about living the life you want to live and being the person you want to be. While I am not completely there, I’m starting to choose to be me more. People are drawn to that; friends, professors, employers, everyone. That change in mindset also lead me down my new major in Security and Intelligence and following dreams I had always hidden and pretended weren’t me. Now that I am with completely surrounded by those who care and love me a lot, and following a path of music and my new major, I am excited to keep working to be the best person I can be.
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.]
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
The time is 2:34 AM on a Tuesday morning. Coffee is circulating through our blood vessels like water through an elaborate array of underground pipework. Physics equations are etched into our eyes like a tattoo from the hands of Bernoulli, Newton and the like. The dormitory is relatively silent, aside from the taciturn murmurings of possible solutions and the frantic yet futile punching of a calculator. The distant horizon is a malevolent reminder that day is coming as the sun slowly creeps out of the abyss like a panther ready to strike. Throughout all of the chaos I reflect deep within myself, and somewhat ethereally ask, “What is my purpose here?” I knew what my purpose was, but this was difficult to accept. My purpose is to fail. Failure is merely just a test of preparation and decision-making. It is through our shortcomings that we discover who we are and the cold nature of the human condition. But it is these defeats that we give life its meaning, and subsequently our individual purpose.
Unaware of what day it was, what week it was, whether I ate that day or how much sleep I got the night before, I obediently trudged through the life I set for myself. While one could point out countless specific problems I had, I saw all of my issues as a collective microcosm of my first big learning obstacle during my college career. That is the balance between truths and ideals. I was very successful in all the other facets of life, creating my own identity and pushing past all of life’s debacles, but when it came to my future career and related long-term goals I subconsciously chose to live in the present and hastily decided what I believe sounded successful and achievable. I was not cut-out to be a theoretical astrophysicist that would help answer questions such as where life came from or what happened before the Big Bang. While noble in approach, I shortly unearthed the tenuous soil of my heart that projected someone I was pretending to be and discovered at those benevolent roots who I really was. I live for leadership and the ability to change people’s lives through being an example, I am amazed by the beauty of language/communication and wish to learn as much as I can, I dream of traveling and meeting all the diverse people that inhabit this planet, I love music above all else, and I wish to protect what I believe in and those I care about.
It was these countless, sleepless nights of Honors Physics 1250 that helped guide me to who I am. It was faking through a 22 credit hour semester of calculus, physics, Arabic, and music that swelled my discontent with the path I was following. Fast forward over a month from when this picture was taken and I am overwhelmingly just thankful for this experience. While at face value this was a harrowing process, I saw it not just as an opportunity to learn from my failures who I was, but as an exposure to rigorous mathematical concepts and more importantly, an avenue for me to make new friends and even a couple best friends (pictured). While I am currently living my best life, I no longer fear for when there will inevitably be more difficult situations.