For the Year in Review assignment, I chose to do the photo assignment. The 8 photos below represent some of my favorite memories, friends, and places that I experienced as a freshman at Ohio State.

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I took this photo of the Olentangy River one day as I was walking back from class. The complete beauty of it enraptured me, and I had to capture it on camera. However, the beauty of the Olentangy was not the only thing I appreciated. I would often run along the Olentangy when the weather was nice, or go for a stroll with friends. One of the perks of living in Morrill Tower was having the river and the trail right next to me.

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In this photo, I am dancing with my friend Nick at a party. I chose this photo because going to parties can be a huge part of the social scene in college. However, in this photo, my friend and I decided that we were going to hangout in the kitchen by ourselves and swing dance. This year I realized that college isn’t all about partying; its about the people you meet and connect with.

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My roommate Amanda is obviously representative of my first year. We both decided to go random, and I’m so happy that I ended up with her as my roommate. We got along so well, had a lot in common, and I ended up with an amazing friend.

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This is a photo of me and a wolf named Shadow. I met Shadow while volunteering at Butternut Farm Wildcat Sanctuary, where I spent most of my time volunteering at on my Sunday mornings. I loved volunteering here because it cemented my wish to work with wild and exotic animals as a career.

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In this photo I am at one of the football games with my friend Heidi. I knew Heidi from high school, but it wasn’t until after we started at Ohio State that we realized we were in the exact same major. After that, we started hanging out and came to be better friends.

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The photo above pictures me at the Union. Often I would go there to study, meet up with friends, and get food. One of the things I love most about Ohio State is the number of amenities, such as the Union, that we have available to us.

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I took this photo at the concert in the oval at the beginning of the fall semester. The girl performing is Kehlani, and she is one of my favorite artists. She isn’t very well-known yet, especially at the time this photo was taken, so I was beyond excited to hear that she was opening for Big Sean. Another thing that I love about Ohio State is the huge number of free or discounted events that we have access to.

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This is a photo of me and my friend Gabbi. She happened to be in my suite, and for that I am infinitely grateful. Gabbi and I soon realized that we had a lot in common, and by the end of the year she was the closest friend I made at Ohio State. I am so glad I met her, and I hope that we can be friends for life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final Week

This month’s Earth Month Challenge, which focused on my reduction of my meat consumption starting with no red meat in week 1 to eating vegan in week 4, was overall a very changing experience for me. Throughout this month, I have successfully built up my resolve against the temptation that is meat. While that last statement may sound a bit dramatic, I have learned that giving up meat is something that is not that difficult for me. In fact, I have decided to stay completely vegetarian for the time being. For one thing, I have found that I generally prefer meals that are completely vegetarian or in the very least without red meat. I have also found that eating vegetarian has had me feeling a lot healthier. I naturally have high cholesterol, so I am very interested to see the effects of my vegetarian diet on my cholesterol levels.  However, in this month I have also learned that the life of a vegan is not the life for me. The fourth week was by far the hardest for me, and if I am being honest, there were days when I cheated and had something with cheese in it (maybe the fact that cheese was recently found to be as addictive as drugs has something to do with that). If I were to try another challenge, I think I would like to reduce my carbon emissions by cutting back on my driving. I have not had to worry about that this year because I did not have my car and I either walked, ubered, or took a bus where I needed to go. However, next year I will be attending school at the University of Cincinnati and I will once more have access to my car. I would like to challenge myself by walking to where I need to go if possible. If walking is not an option, I will look into public transportation or riding my bicycle. Carpooling is also another great option that I could look into. By eating vegan, my carbon dioxide emissions were reduced by 2,910 pounds and I saved $554. Overall, if my Earth Month Challenge were to be done all year long, I would reduce my carbon dioxide emissions by 6,305 pounds and I would save $1,300, money that could be put towards any number of awesome things. In conclusion, this challenge was a fun challenge for me, where I learned a lot about myself in the attempt.

Third Week

For the third week of my Earth Month Challenge, I decided to eat completely vegetarian. This week went by pretty smoothly. I found that cutting meat and fish out of my diet completely was not something that is difficult for me. In fact, I think I am going to try and remain vegetarian for the time being. If I am going to attempt to do this, I should definitely invest in some vegetarian cook books so I have lots of great options to choose from. I also found that Ohio State’s campus has a lot of great vegetarian options to choose from; the vegetarian gyro from the Union in a personal favorite of mine. For the fourth week of my Earth Month Challenge, I am eating completely vegan. As this is going to be my toughest challenge yet, I am worried about whether or not I will be able to complete it. The main thing I am worried about is not being able to eat cheese, eggs, or ice cream. Another thing I am worried about is getting enough protein. I am guessing that I will be eating a lot of beans, legumes, and tofu. Of course, I will do my best to complete this challenge week, but giving up pizza for a week is a challenge in itself. For the third week, I also saved $463 and my carbon footprint was reduced by 2,183 pounds.

Second Week

For my second challenge week, I completely cut red meat and chicken from my diet, and instead ate sea food as my source of protein. One thing that I learned about myself this week is that I get tired of sea food rather quickly, especially if my main options are the places on campus. I quickly found out that, although all the sea food I was eating was edible, it was not up to my usual standards (I would not recommend the seared salmon at the RPAC). Besides that, I had a lot of sushi options to choose from. I love sushi, but I also did not wish to get tired of it in the beginning of the week by eating too much of it. I found that for a few of the days this week, I ate completely vegetarian. I learned that even eating no sea food can still be enjoyable, and that there are a number of great vegetarian options for me all over Columbus, on and off campus. For next week, when I eat completely vegetarian, I do not anticipate it being too much of a challenge. My main concern is that I eat enough protein and get enough iron, two things mainly found in meat. In order to get enough protein and iron, I will be sure to eat lots of black beans, tofu, and leafy greens. By reducing my red meat and chicken consumption, I reduced my carbon dioxide emissions by 1,213 pounds and I saved $283.

Week One

My first challenge week went about as I expected it to, that is to say, it was not too difficult for me to cut red meat out of my diet. When I am in Columbus, I do not eat that much red meat in the first place, so avoiding red meat was not a struggle here. However, I did go home for Easter weekend, and my family members are notorious red meat eaters. That first night that I was home, my dad grilled steaks and chicken and my mom made salmon burgers. So, I contented myself with a salmon burger. I learned that resisting red meat, especially when it’s a nice juicy steak, is something that is not too difficult for me. Next week I plan on eating only seafood as my source of protein, and I do not see this as being too difficult for me. There are a lot of great options for me to choose from on campus and off. I have a strong feeling that I will be eating a lot of sushi this upcoming week as well. By cutting back on my red meat consumption, I reduced my carbon dioxide emissions by 1,213 pounds and I saved $283.

Earth Month Challenge Proposal

Since my Earth Month Challenge is focusing on food and water, I decided to cut back on my meat consumption as a way to lessen my carbon footprint and save money. This first week I am planning on completely cutting out red meat from my diet. I do not see this as being too difficult, as I do not eat too much red meat in the first place. For the second week, I plan on only eating chicken as my form of protein. Again, I do not see this as being hard for me, because I hardly eat red meat, and good chicken is more accessible around campus than red meat. For the third week I plan on going completely vegetarian. I see this week as being more difficult for me because I have eaten meat my whole life. However, if I run into any difficulties, I could always talk to a nutrition coach available through the wellness center. For the final week, I plan on going completely vegan. This will by far be my biggest challenge (cheese and icecream are staples to me). But with all of the options I have available to me on campus, I hope to last for at least a week as a vegan.

Columbus To-Do-List Part 1

For part one of the Columbus To-Do List Assignment, I chose option one’s coffee and tea theme. With this choice, I am most looking forward to finding some awesome coffee and tea places around Columbus, because I am an avid coffee and tea drinker. I hope to find a new favorite coffee shop for me to enjoy through this assignment. So far I have only been to the Roosevelt Coffeehouse. I really liked this place because it is partnered with organizations to fight hunger, human trafficking, and for clean water. So when I bought my cappuccino there, I knew my money was going to a good cause. I also really liked the layout of the place; one wall was made almost entirely of huge windows, letting in lots of natural light, which I absolutely love. The inside was also very open, which was nice, but it could have been a little bit more cozy. Pictured below is the hazelnut cappuccino that I enjoyed. This is one of the best cappuccinos I have ever had; I didn’t even have to ask for them to put cinnamon on top! I will definitely be going there again to try out more coffee and teas

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Earth Month Challenge Commitments

For the Earth Month Challenge, I chose to focus on food and water. I chose food and water because I am a very health conscious person, and I am also a very environmentally conscious person. Some things that someone could do as a challenge to decrease their impact on the environment within my challenge area are:

  1. Become a vegetarian
  2. Become a vegan
  3. Use a re-useable water bottle
  4. If not vegetarian or vegan, try to buy meat from free range farms without added growth hormones
  5. Or buy seafood that has been responsibly and sustainably caught
  6. Buy food or drinks in packages that can be easily recycled
  7. Buy food without any plastic packaging
  8. Shower every other day
  9. Take a bath instead of a shower
  10. Or cut down showering time by 5 minutes
  11. Turn off the water while brushing your teeth
  12. Only flush the toilet after a bowel movement
  13. If eating at a restaurant, save any leftovers
  14. If drinking something other than water, make sure it comes in bottles or cans that can be recycled
  15. Turn off the shower when washing your hair

Three campus or Columbus resources related to my challenge area are:

  1. The Wellness Center located in the RPAC, because they have nutritional coaching for those who wish to be vegetarian or vegan. They are very helpful when it comes to letting you know all your resources on campus to maintain this sort of lifestyle while at the same time ensuring you get enough protein and are being healthy.
  2. Students for Recycling is another great resource: it is student-run organization that is dedicated to furthering recycling on Ohio State’s campus and in Columbus, as well as educating people on the importance of recycling.
  3. A final resource is the student-run organization Growing Green, which is dedicated to teaching young kids about the environment and about their food, such as sustainably growing it through at home gardens.

Four websites that are helpful resources for someone trying to decrease their impact in this area are:

  1. https://www.osu.edu/search.html?query=recycling This is helpful because it includes many clubs and organizations dedicated to recycling.
  2. http://www.chooseveg.com/ this is helpful because it has numerous tips on how to become vegetarian, plus much more.
  3. digdeep.org/ is another great resource with many tips on how to conserve water
  4. greenkidsnow.org/ is a great resource with many tips on how to recycle more

Ted Talks & My Career

The first Ted Talks I chose to listen to was “Your Health Depends on Where You Live”, by Bill Davenhall. I chose this because it personally interested me, and before watching it I assumed it would have something to do with the environment you live in, such as the amount of pollution in that area, as well as access to healthy, fresh food. I selected this this Ted Talks because I have lived in a metropolitan area my whole life, and I am also a very health-conscious person. In this Ted Talks, I learned that areas with the highest concentration of air pollution typically see the highest rates of heart disease. I thought Bill’s idea that medical records should also show a person’s place history extremely interesting as well as relevant. As for my future interests, I will definitely be more aware of how bad the pollution in an area is, and use that information to decide where I should live.

The second Ted Talks I chose to listen to was “The Economic Injustice of Plastic” by Van Jones. I chose this one because it interested me personally, as sustainability is something that has always interested me. Before watching it, I assumed that the video would talk about how plastics, especially the harmful chemicals in it, negatively effects people who are the poorest. In this Ted Talks I in fact learned that poor people are the most negatively impacted by plastic and its harmful chemical because it is often the cheapest option for them and what they can afford. I thought Jones ideas about sustainability, especially biomimicry, extremely interesting and relevant to today’s world. His thoughts and ideas on living in a more sustainable world are something that I hope will be accomplished within my lifetime.