[The Home Page will show a running blog of your recent posts, which are categorized and show on that category’s page. Please delete this post or edit with your own information.]
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.
G.O.A.L.S
Global Awareness: As of right now, my current scholars class has helped me to develop a global perspective. Through the presentations of the ACES Pillars Film Project, I gained insight of many issues worldwide and in our own nation. One group in particular presented their project on the adoption process for adopting a child from another country. This opened my eyes to the struggles that people go through to get their children in the U.S. and also showed me the poor treatment that these children in the adoption agency were receiving because the resources in that country were not as readily available as those in the United States. The presentation showed me the process through the parent’s perspective as the perspective of some of the children being adopted. It ultimately showed me how lucky I am to live in the United States and also made me open to the adoption process as a whole.
Due to my membership in the Morrill Scholars Program, I am hoping to attend more workshops on diversity in the future. In addition, I plan on getting more involved with Mundo my second semester now that I feel more comfortable with the course load of my studies. Lastly, aspire to participate in a study abroad opportunity in Spain at some point in my undergrad. I believe that all these opportunities will help me to learn more about diversity in different cultures and countries and appreciate the differences of the world.
Original Inquiry: In my current classes, I have come to understand the importance of reliable research. Since coming to Ohio State, I was introduced to PubMed, a scholarly database. To use this database, one can enter a keyword and then use the filters to narrow down the number of articles by different options such as articles written within the last 5 years articles only pertaining to humans, etc. After using PubMed in my first semester, I now know more valuable and relevant information is a result of using scholarly articles and journals. This ultimately has allow me to create a greater quality of work and will allow me to continue to do so in the future. Currently, I am contributing to research by studying topics that are in my field of study and using these articles as support for my own arguments and points of view. For example, I am using the Rowson piece on concussions in youth football to form my argument on what factors cause a concussion and how we can do a better job to prevent it in youth basketball.
Academic Enrichment: I am currently pursuing academic excellence in my clinical settings each day. In my clinical rotations I am applying the knowledge that I am learning through my athletic training curriculum. However, I also use this as a platform to gain more knowledge. At clinicals, I report to a certified athletic trainer each day. I use this athletic trainer as an additional person to learn from other than my professors. During my rotations, I have pushed myself to research other treatment options for injuries and ask my certified athletic trainer to help me practice them. I am constantly practicing my skills to gain confidence. I am enriching my education by learning on my own and utilizing my resources in settings outside of the classroom.
Leadership Development: The athletic trainer program at Ohio State is very focused on leading others. One opportunity I had to lead others was when I had a direct observer. A direct observer is a freshman who is applying into the athletic training program. As a part of applying for the program, students must shadow an older student as well as a certified athletic trainer. Everyday my direct observer came in I would teach her new skills that I have learned over my time in this program. I showed her the qualities that future Ohio State athletic training students need to be successful. Overall, I was happy to be able to lead another student and help to ease their fears.
Service Engagement: To benefit my community, I tutor second grade children at the local Graham Primary School (GPS) twice a week. While at the school, I primarily help the children with reading, spelling, and math. While tutoring, I found that some students cannot be given the proper attention due to only one teacher being on hand in the classroom. When I came to help the students, I was able to help the students who needed extra explanation while the teacher could be helping other students. This allowed twice the amount of students to be helped at the same time meaning no child’s needs were left behind. In addition, I could be used to take children out into the hallway to work with them to aid them in understand concepts that they needed additional attention. It ultimately showed me that my contribution to the community was greatly needed.
Career
Artifacts
My Artifacts
The Morrill Scholars Program
The Morrill Scholars Program represents my in-tuition scholarship to The Ohio State University. Consequently, this program is extremely important to me because it allows me to attend my current school without a large financial burden. In addition, it also exemplifies my academic excellence in high school and my promotion of diversity in my community. When I received the letter in the mail stating that I had received this prestigious scholarship, I can remember hugging my mother crying. To me this scholarship illustrated all the hard work I had put into both my academics and my community. It allows me to be only the second member of my family to attend college. Consequently, I have never been more proud of any accomplishment in my life. This program continues to inspire me to better my new Columbus community by being an advocate for equality among all people regardless of their race, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, age, or religion and to better myself through my acceptance of others.
ACES Pillars Film Project-Race To Nowhere
This project was a meaningful experience to me as a learner. In this project, I was paired with four other members and as a group we watched the documentary Race to Nowhere. We created a powerpoint on the four ACES pillars: Global Awareness, 
Academic Engagement, Leadership Development, and Service-Engagement. Our personal connections, who would benefit most from watching the film, and other reactions to the movie were also included in our presentation. Although it came to a surprise to me at first, I learned that I personally enjoy working individually rather than working in a group. This project showed me that I prefer completing projects at my own pace and breaking my work into small increments to complete each day. In addition, it was challenging to work around each members schedules to find times that worked for everyone. Therefore, I took away from this project that collaborating with others is all about compromise. Sometimes things will not go your way or not everything will go according to plan. To accommodate for this, this project showed me that when working with others one must be not only flexible, but also willing to take input and even criticism from others.
Race to Nowhere (ACES Pillars Film Project)
Khaki Pants
My khaki pants are a representation of my hard work to get into the athletic training program at 
The Ohio State University. I began my freshman year at OSU as a pre-major student. In order to be accepted into the program, I needed to maintain around a 3.3 GPA, receive a high score in my direct observations hours, and complete an application explaining the qualities that set me apart from other applicants. The original applicant pool was then narrowed and I was interviewed to further show my passion for my future profession. Following my interview, I was chosen to be one of thirty students accepted into the 2019 class of the athletic training program. Through this amazing opportunity, I have been able to work with The Ohio State University’s football, women’s gymnastics, women’s soccer, and women’s tennis teams. Khaki pants and a polo are the typical attire for athletic trainers. Everyday when I look in the mirror and see my khaki’s, I see myself living out my dreams. Working with Ohio State Athletics has always been a dream of mine. I would have never imagined standing on the sidelines of the opening Ohio State football game or being broadcasted next to some of the Ohio State greats. Consequently, my khaki pants symbolize reaching one of many goals that I set myself as a young child.
Ankle Sprain Assessments
This project allowed me to asses the different special test to diagnose ankle sprains. I worked with other group members to asses these tests ability to accurately rule out and rule in ankle sprain
s. I began this project by finding research with the correct level of evidence. I worked with two other group members that also found special tests and research to back these tests. This project was beneficial to find reliable research that opened my eyes to the fact that some assessments of ankle injuries are more reliable than other. I will also apply this knowledge to other areas of the body. This project was also beneficial to my communication skills. I had to find my own information and then collaborate with partners to make sure our information matched up. As a future athletic trainer, I will constantly be communicating with my athletes and other health care professionals. Overall, this project was helpful to develop my future professional skills.
About Me
Welcome!
My name is Mikayla Simon. I am a sports enthusiast born and raised in Toledo, Ohio. From the time I could walk I was shooting baskets on my mini hoop. As I grew, my passion for sports grew as well. I continued to play basketball all throughout middle school and high school. In addition, my family could be found outside playing 2 on 2 games of basketball in our backyard or kicking around a soccer ball in our spare time. Sports were extremely important to all of us.
Due to my love of sports, I am an athletic training major at The Ohio State University. I am eager to be in classes that will fulfill my desire for a hands on learning style. In the future, I hope to become an athletic trainer for the NBA or WNBA, while at the same time encouraging families to play and be active together.