Welcome to my Welcome Page. On this page, I will showcase all of my recent posts; as well as, each category that the post corresponds to. Each category of a specific post can be found in the menu bar. Hope you enjoy reading my posts as much as I enjoy writing them.
Month: September 2017
Year in Review
[ “Year in Review” is where you should reflect on the past year and show how you have evolved as a person and as a student. You may want to focus on your growth in a particular area (as a leader, scholar, researcher, etc.) or you may want to talk about your overall experience over the past year. 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. Reflection
The foundation of the Honors and Scholars program at The Ohio State University is built on the G.O.A.L.S. This stands for Global awareness, Original inquiry, Academic enrichment, Leadership development, and service Engagement. Global awareness represents each student’s ability to cultivate and develop his or her appreciation for diversity. Original inquiry revolves around the research process and students understanding it; as well as, students engaging in a myriad of research experiences. Academic enrichment is the facet of Honors and Scholars that encourages students to pursue excellence in the classroom through rigorous coursework. The Leadership development and Service engagement aspects help prepare students for their future as it provides a foundation for leadership skills and community service. Two of these facets that I believe are the most applicable to me are Original inquiry and Leadership development.
Original inquiry is all about understanding the research process and getting involved in research opportunities. This category of G.O.A.L.S. is applicable to me because of the interview assignment that I had to complete as a STEM EE scholar. This assignment consisted of three interviews that I conducted of an upperclassman, a graduate student, and a professor. As a result of these interviews, I gained a myriad of information on the research process from the graduate student and the professor. Also, the interviews helped establish possible connections to the people who I interviewed which will assist my future endeavors in searching for research opportunities.
In addition to Original inquiry, another section of the Honors and Scholars G.O.A.L.S. that applies to me is Leadership development. One of the characteristics that I value most is leadership, and STEM EE scholars have helped tremendously in the development of my leadership skills. For example, I am currently filling my community service requirement for STEM EE through the Wonders of Our World program. As a part of this program, I travel to elementary schools, perform science experiments, and interact with the students on the wonders of science. This experience has enabled me to refine my leadership skills as I lead a small group of elementary school students through a different experiment each time I visit. These leadership skills that I have developed will surely benefit me in the future as I will apply my leadership to my future career in the workforce whenever I cooperate with or lead a group of co-workers.
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.]
WOW Program Volunteer
This past month I have been heavily involved with the WOW program. WOW stands for Wonders of Our World and it is an immersive program that engages elementary school kids with the wonders of science. We travel to and volunteer at elementary schools where we work with the students on multiple different science experiments. These experiments that we do really impact the students’ passion for science because they are much more excited to do these fun experiments than they would be doing a boring worksheet.
As well as having a positive impact on the students that I visit, the WOW program has also benefited me tremendously. For example, this program has definitely improved my leadership skills as I am instructing my small groups of students through the completion of each experiment. In addition to fulfilling the Leadership aspect of the G.O.A.L.S., the WOW program also enables me to engage in Service outreach. This service outreach is very enriching to me because I am volunteering at inner-city, low-budget schools that can greatly benefit from positive reinforcement of the wonders of science. In sum, this experience has really given my life and my academic career a “WOW” factor.
About Me
Hello everyone! My name is Alexander Secrest, but people call me “A.C.” for short. I am a first year student at The Ohio State University, and I am currently pursuing a degree in Aerospace Engineering. Ohio State has always been my first choice to continue my academic career ever since I was a little boy in a small town in North Carolina called Wilson. Although I was born and raised hundreds of miles away in Wilson, the state of Ohio has always been where my heart lies. Most of my family is from Ohio including my dad who was a member of the Ohio State marching band. Other than being passionate about Ohio State, I also developed a great passion for sports. Whether it is playing or watching football, basketball, baseball, and any other sport, I am totally engaged. In addition to athletics, I also developed an interest in many academic fields such as science and math. As a result, I had a great aptitude for these fields throughout high school which encouraged me to pursue a career in engineering. So, I believed that the best place for me to do that was the distinguished Ohio State University. Additionally, after the past couple of weeks on campus, I have already begun to realize that The Ohio State University is the best place for me and will launch my future to new heights that I could not have even imagined.