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Thinking About Law School? Get Your Questions Answered with IA 4th Year Layla Khalid

Zoom Reflection

2 April 2020, Zoom, 7-8pm

This event was not incredibly relevant to me career-wise, but there was a lot of valuable information that was given during this. Personally, this was interesting because I have never done any research about the LSAT, and there was a lot to learn about that test. I originally started college planning on going to medical school, although that changed, so I got to see the similarities of the LSAT and the MCAT which I never gave much thought to before. There were also some helpful studying and grad school tips. She mentioned that it was helpful to take practice tests timed just like the LSAT and gave a lot of information about letters of recommendation and personal statements.

If I were to want to go into law, I would be really interested in the legal part of education and childcare. I have always loved working with children, so I think that that would be interesting for me. That legal profession would actually work well with my major and minor since I focus on education (major) and developmental psychology (minor). I decided not to think about law school mainly because I do not like arguing, I know that’s a stereotype, and I never could see myself being all that invested in all of the things that go into being a law student. If I did plan on going to law school, my career trajectory would definitely be more policy-oriented because I do have a little bit of interest when it comes to the policy side of law.

Summer Research Opportunities with IA 3rd Year Joselle Carrillo

Zoom Reflection

31 March 2020, Zoom, 7:30-8pm

This event was about Joselle’s experience with summer research and some tips that she has based off of that experience. She also gave us reasons why we should do undergraduate research and specifically summer research. Some of these reasons included allowing us to delve deeper into certain topics that we are interested in and also to build meaningful connections with faculty and students who are interested in the same topics. Doing research in the summer specifically is helpful for people who would like to dedicate more time to their research and to become more familiar with research methods before the academic year starts.

If I were to pursue undergraduate research, I would like to do research on developmental psychology, likely focused on adolescents. This is because I am majoring in middle child education and plan on minoring in developmental psychology. It would also be interesting if I could somehow link that with IA. I would go about starting the research project by first forming relationships with professors who teach about either (or both) of those subjects and have some knowledge about how to go about that kind of research. The potential challenges that I could face would first be how busy I will be due to changing into an education major, which is basically fully mapped out to take 4 years to complete. Another challenge for me, personally, would be my struggle that I have interacting with professors. I would also have the common issues as well such as funding. If I were able to use my focus and tie it into IA, that would be great because I am not too knowledgeable about the differences in adolescent development and education in other nations.

International Perspectives on the Coronavirus Pandemic

Zoom Event Reflection

22 April 2020, Zoom, 9-10am

This event was incredibly interesting, and I was really looking forward to it once I learned that it would be happening. I loved how there were so many different perspectives included. Similar to the current events convo that we had, this really made me realize that everyone in the world has not experienced this pandemic in the same way. Although I already kind of knew this, hearing how people in different countries have been responding to the virus really opened my eyes to how stubborn people in the US are as compared to people in other countries. This definitely contributed to changing my bias about how great the US and its priorities are. This event related to the topic of international affairs very well since we got to hear international perspectives as well as how the US has been interacting with other countries (aka snatching masks). I gained the most personally from this event in the ways that I mentioned before. This loosely related to a project that I did in my sophomore English class in high school about whether the US is the “best” country in the world. There was always a lot of debate surrounding that since I went to school in a rural, conservative area where most people are extremely patriotic. Although I was already aware of this, this event really proved that other countries definitely have ways that are better than ours, like their government and citizens’ response to this virus. After attending this event, I wish that we would’ve gotten to hear even more international perspectives. I would also like to know what people from other countries believe would be a solution to all of the issues that we have with our own government and people.

My personal experience with COVID-19 was at first really negative since I had a lot of things that I was looking forward to at the end of the semester that were cancelled, like getting to perform in the spring game and go on a summer mission trip to Brazil. After I “mourned” the loss of the experiences that I was not able to have this year, I was able to get used to how life is currently. After moving home, I have gotten to spend a lot more time with my family that I wouldn’t have while at OSU, and I have also gotten to start learning a couple of new skills. Despite all of the negative that has come from this pandemic, I have tried to find the positive in all of this and how we can use this experience to grow. I am still in contact with my friends from OSU and have some student organizations that I have zoom meetings with, so that has helped me to not feel so lonely in quarantine. I know a couple of people who contracted the virus and recovered, so I am grateful that no one in my close circle has had any complications. Though, it is really upsetting how some people do not take the virus seriously despite how many people have died. My immediate family’s routine was not heavily affected by the virus because they are either retired or essential workers, so that helps us keep some aspects of normal life. I wish that some people would realize that what they do can really affect everyone and reconsider some of their actions, but I realize that it is hard for some people to understand due to our society being very individualistic. I also wish that we would have approached this more like the countries that we heard about (China and Germany), except maybe France since Aubin and Elsa seemed like they did not agree with how Macron has handled some of this, though I do believe that the US has done a bit worse. I just think that the US should take note of how this virus is being handled in the parts of the world that are doing well.

Getting Caught up in the Headlines (Current Events Convo with IA TA Sam Stelnicki)

Zoom Event Reflection

9 April 2020, Zoom, 7:30-8:30pm

This event really helped me put the coronavirus pandemic into a worldwide perspective. I have been so invested in what has been going on here in the US that I haven’t really looked much into what is going on in other parts of the world. This event was really helpful for me as an IA scholar since a lot of the news here just focuses on what is happening here. This event definitely changed how I now view this pandemic. This event related to the topic of international affairs by bringing up what has been going on in different parts of the world relating to COVID-19. Personally, I just realized that even with all of this going on, there are still different things happening in the world than exactly what is happening here. There were a lot of interesting things brought up in this event. One thing that really stood out to me was the information about Turkmenistan. Personally, I do not have much knowledge surrounding the government in Turkmenistan, but it was really interesting to see how they have been reacting to the coronavirus. I also could not imagine how it would be if the US made talking about the virus illegal even though the US is also known for having a lot of censorship. I also found it incredibly interesting to see that there were (at the time of this presentation) three countries who had reported having zero cases of the coronavirus. I just kind of assumed that everyone in the world was being hit by this pandemic. The only part of this event that related to a topic that I have learned about in other coursework was the part about the US prisons. I have learned a little bit about how the US prisons are and during this time, it is interesting to see what other countries are doing about their own prisons as compared to the US. I do not have any specific questions for the speaker, but I do hope to find more information about how the coronavirus pans out in other countries because of this event.

Honors and Scholars Wellness Workshop

Academic/ Professional Development/ Campus Event Reflection

26 January 2020, RPAC Meeting Rooms, 4-6pm

This event had many different parts to it, and although I have been to many different wellness sessions, there were a lot of new things that I learned and got to do. First, we took the wellness assessment which I have taken before, but I got different results. I found that I really need to improve on my career and creative wellness. After the assessment, we went to different rooms and focused on different dimensions of wellness. Some of the activities were making trail mix, painting succulents, and making a vision board. This event helped me to understand ways that I could improve upon my wellness. This did not necessarily relate to the topic of International Affairs, but like other wellness sessions, it relates to human wellness which is still a big part of International Affairs. I mostly just gained a better personal understanding of wellness. Since wellness is such a big part of life, improving my wellbeing will help me academically and professionally in the long run. This really only related to the other wellness sessions that I have attended. I also had a wellness session in one of my classes last semester, so a good amount of the information overlapped. After attending this event, I wish that I could’ve gotten more information about improving my career wellness since that is what I struggle with the most, but the information that was there was still relevant to the other dimensions of wellness.

Final Friday Dinner- Lavash Cafe!

Social Event Reflection

31 January 2020, Lavash Cafe, 5:30-7pm

This event was basically just going out to eat together and trying new ethnic food. For me, it was only my second time eating Mediterranean food, so it was a good experience. I also really like trying new food, so it was a great event for me. After this event, I just want to try more food at Lavash Cafe and also at the other places that we were able to vote on. It didn’t really change any of my beliefs or perspectives since it was food. I also knew about some of the food like the grape leaves since my roommate’s family sometimes makes that kind of food, and my roommate has brought it back from home after breaks.

This event related to International Affairs because food is a big part of cultures, so we were, in a way, learning a little bit about Mediterranean culture by trying the food at Lavash Cafe. Personally, I was able to learn about foods that are in other parts of the world and got to try some of them. This did not relate to other topics that I have learned in other coursework since I have not taken classes about food. It loosely relates to any of the times that I learned about food being part of culture, but other than that, it doesn’t really relate to anything that I have learned before. After attending this dinner, I just want to learn more about where the specific foods were first created. I know that Mediterranean is a term that is used for a large area, so it would be cool to know more about where exactly the food is from.

A Day in the Life of a Harvard Law Student

Academic/ Professional Development Event Reflection

16 January 2020, Hagerty Hall Room 180, 5:30-6:30pm

This event was basically a video chat where we got to hear about a current student in Harvard’s law program’s experience. She talked about how she got into Harvard and what it’s like there as a student. This confirmed some of my biases and changed others. It confirmed my belief of Harvard students being incredibly intelligent and successful. Although I still see Harvard students on a whole other level than me, this session showed me that they are still people who struggle like I do. Also, getting to hear from someone who graduated from OSU and continued her education at Harvard showed me that going to Harvard isn’t that unattainable. I still believe that people have to work really hard to go to school there, but now I see that the people there aren’t superhuman. Overall, I just got to see that everyone is really similar no matter what school they do/ don’t attend.

This event related to the topic of International Affairs because many people in IA are interested in policy and want to go into law in the future. Law has a lot to do with International Affairs because often people in the law setting go into government positions and work with International Affairs. I just gained a better understanding of what it means to be a Harvard law student from this. If I was considering having a career in law, this would have helped a lot professionally, but I mostly just went to this event for personal gain. I gained a better understanding of people by going to this event. This did not relate to other coursework that I have had. After attending this event, I would learn about other people’s experiences in law programs and other professional/ graduate programs to be able to compare them better.

Let’s Taco About (Growth) + Failure

Academic/ Professional Development/ Campus Event Reflection

11 January 2020, Smith-Steeb Hall Sky Lounge, 5:30-8pm

This event was really laid back, and we just did a Kahoot about our wellbeing and how we deal with failure. After each question, we talked about solutions to common issues. For the people who signed up ahead of time and wanted food, they had Chipotle that they could eat. This activity was nice due to the relaxed approach to this topic. The advice that we were given was also useful. There were questions about our time management skills, involvement, support groups, and more. Since this was put on by upperclassmen, they had good advice about the things that we struggled with because they relate to them as well. This event was mostly just good for my well being and did not really relate to International Affairs much. The only way that I could see it relating to International Affairs is by relating it to us all being human and having similar struggles no matter where we are in the world. Our struggles are different, but our basic needs are the same.

This does not relate to any other topics that I have learned about in other courses, but it relates to life and the many wellness presentations that I have been to. After attending this event, I was not left with any specific questions. All I could really use is a summary of all of the information that we talked about there, so I could refer back to the advice that was given when I need it in the future.

Food Insecurity and Mental Health: An Under-explored Global Health Concern

Campus/ Academic Event Reflection

2 February 2020, Ohio Union- U.S. Bank Conference Theater, 3-4pm

Although this event was interesting, the information wasn’t very surprising to me because it was incredibly similar to, if not exactly the same as, one of the IA meetings that we had in the past. Professor Barbara Piperata spoke about her research that she did in Leon, Nicaragua on the impact that food insecurity has on the mental health of women, specifically mothers. When we first heard about this research, I was surprised. I knew that food insecurity would affect the mental health of everyone involved, so it wasn’t surprising that mothers really suffered. What I was surprised about was why they struggled with mental health. The point about women feeling isolated was interesting to me. I have thought that people come together in times of need, especially in places that food insecurity is widespread. Because of this assumption, I was surprised to learn that women do not like to ask people in their community for assistance because of their fear of being seen as a failed parent.

This event relates to the topic of International Affairs because food insecurity is an issue around the world. Nicaragua is just one of many countries that have areas with an issue with food insecurity. In this session, we were told that a quarter of the world is affected by food insecurity and that Haiti and some countries in Subsaharan Africa have the highest rates of food insecurity. Also some may not know that the United States also has some areas where there are high rates of food insecurity; 44% of households in the US, 14.5% of households in Ohio, and 16.5% of households in Franklin county are affected by food insecurity as stated in this session. There are many reasons for food insecurity, and in many cases, it isn’t because of the lack of food. Most households struggle with accessing food, often because of a lack of money due to underemployment, stagnant wages, and the rising costs of living. This is what this session mainly focused on.

This event helped me gain a better understanding of how widespread food insecurity really is. Because of this understanding, I feel more passionate about this issue than I did before. This event related to other coursework about food insecurity. Since this issue is so widespread, I have heard about it in many different classes in the past. After the presentation, people asked many questions, and one question was about the solutions to this problem. Professor Piperata gave a good answer: pay people the righty amount of money for the work that they do. Many people work long, hard hours every day and still cannot afford to care for their families. Although this answer was great and makes an incredible amount of sense, I am left with one question: if the solution is so simple, why hasn’t the problem been solved yet? I understand that selfish people in control do not care enough to change wages so people can afford food, but I don’t understand why its not such a huge topic when people talk about elections. Many, if not all, of the people in the theater agreed with her statement, and I can totally see why. Since so many people agree on this, I just wonder why this is still such a widespread issue.

STEP Expo

Academic/ Campus Event Reflection

20 November 2019, Archie Griffin Grand Ballroom-Ohio Union, 10:30-11:30am Session

This event helped me to understand how STEP works and gave me some ideas about what I could do when I do STEP. It related to the topic of International Affairs because many of the people there traveled for their STEP project. This event mostly helped me academically since STEP is mostly academic. It did not really relate to other topics that I have learned in other coursework. After attending this event, I wish that I would have looked at more posters so I could know about more ways that people did their projects. Here is my review of the five posters that I chose:

1) Montana Yoga Retreat

This project was done to improve her yoga skills and relaxation techniques. Basically, she went to Montana for a week and did different types of yoga to get a more balanced lifestyle. I found the whole project to be interesting because I never thought about doing a yoga retreat for your STEP project. I really do not know much about yoga, so it was an interesting topic for me to learn about. Personally, I would not do a similar project because I am not really into yoga, but there is a very slight chance that I would do something sort of similar. This project did not really relate to IA at all, but it could if the retreat happened in a different country and had some more cultural aspects to it.

2) Cru Mission

This project focused mostly on the homeless community in San Diego, California. This presenter went to San Diego and ministered and served the homeless community. I found this project to be interesting because I am also in Cru and never really thought about doing my STEP project about a mission trip. I would consider doing my STEP project on a mission trip since there are so many different mission trips that I could go on and different experiences that I could have. I also would consider doing that since I plan on going on multiple summer missions during my time as a student at Ohio State. This specific project did not really relate to IA but since there are many different mission trips that people can go on, it easily could.

3) IES paris

This project was mainly about language immersion in Paris, France. The presenter went to France and took classes there since she is a romance studies major. This was interesting because I have always wanted to go to Paris, and it was nice learning about the experience that the presenter had there. I also found it interesting because I did not know much about language immersion. If I were majoring or minoring in a foreign language, I would consider doing a project similar to this one, but since I am not currently studying a foreign language, I would not do this type of project. This related to IA because the presenter went to a different country and experienced the different language and culture there.

4) Uganda Global May

This project was about the culture and certain issues that there are in Uganda. The presenter went to Uganda and learned about the people of Uganda. This was interesting because I do not know much about Uganda or what there is there, so it was nice to hear about some of the different things that she did when she went on this trip. I would definitely consider doing a project similar to this since I mostly want to study abroad, and I would like to know more about Uganda. Out of the projects that I am reviewing, I believe that this one related the most to IA because it was all about the people of Uganda’s way of life and issues that they face.

5) Bridgeway Academy

This project mostly focused on children with autism. The presenter volunteered at Bridgeway Academy for their STEP project. She has been volunteering there for many years before, so she used her STEP funds to be able to spend more time volunteering with the kids there. This project was interesting because I am interested in working with kids in the future, and it was nice to hear about Bridgeway Academy and what they do. I would consider volunteering at a place similar to this, but I likely would not do this for STEP since I am mostly interested in doing my project in the study abroad category. This project did not really relate to IA.