As your classic college students, my mentee and I enjoy trying out trends and finding out what all the ‘buzz’ is about in regards to new ideas or places. This led us to want to find out what bubble tea is, and why it has become so popular. Kathy Cordova, my mentee, mentioned that we should go to Chatime, a sort-of restaurant that is known for their unique bubbly and Asian-inspired drinks. I’ve seen countless people walk around campus with their fancy bubble-tea in hand, and I wanted to find out what it was about this drink that was so appealing to college students. So, for our second Explore Columbus event, Kathy and I went to Chatime to investigate why bubble tea has become such a college student norm. Plus, we wanted to expand from our normal habits of consistently going to the same three restaurants (i.e. Panera, Buckeye Donuts, or Bibibop), and instead find out what else Columbus has to offer. Of course, it helped that sipping an ice-cold sugary beverage was the perfect way to relieve a little bit of final exams-induced stress.

To meet up, Kathy and I used differing methods of transportation to get to the restaurant. I drove, whereas she made use of the COTA bus, which definitely showed me that she has learned to be comfortable with the OSU and Columbus transportation system. We (mainly me) made the rookie mistake of not realizing that Chatime didn’t open until 11am, which definitely taught a lesson about the importance of looking up a business’s hours beforehand. Nevertheless, the time flew by, and quickly she and I were inside Chatime and waiting on our beverages. The setting was unique and modern, which was a nice glimpse into something other than OSU’s homologous coffee shops. I was impressed by the number of customers who were passing through to pick up drinks of their own: it really did seem that Chatime had become a priority in many individuals’ lives. Kathy and I were served our drinks, which I soon realized were rather tasty, although I must say the ‘bubbles’ are slightly over-rated. However, I was in awe of all the different options that one could order there, which are definitely numerable enough to keep people returning. While Chatime is just one little dot on the giant map of Columbus, trying out the restaurant definitely gave me a glimpse into the unique atmosphere of Columbus, which is shaped by everything from art galleries to flavorful bubbles.

Looking back at the experience, I’m not sure that I personally would return to Chatime, but I feel that other people would enjoy their bubble tea. This can be owed to the fact that I’m a picky eater, so I guess it can be said that the restaurant was ‘not my cup of tea’. However, for tea-lovers and many others, Chatime is still a place I recommend going! The chance to literally drink bubbles is something that is worth experiencing, as it’s something that I can add to my list of unique opportunities that Columbus has provided me with. If another person told me they wanted to try out bubble tea, I’d tell them to go for it, but to also try and get to know Columbus on a deeper level, such as by spending a day exploring the Short North. When I was making my way to Chatime, I noticed places that I had not been aware of, and the fact that Columbus has numerous incredible hole-in-the-wall type of places made the city seem even more amazing. For example, Chatime is actually underneath another food shop, and next to Chatime is an enormous other area including a Chinese restaurant that I now badly want to try. I really hope that doing something as small as grabbing bubble tea revealed as much about Columbus to Kathy as it did to me, for the city truly is a mix of diversity and wonderful human innovation. Needling out Chatime was something that I believe caused my desire to discover more of what Columbus offers to expand, since I’m sure that there are countless places out there that can do more for me than merely settle a craving (such as land a job or internship). Exploring Columbus (although just a minor fraction of it) with Kathy led me to realize that inquiry and stepping out of a bubble (no pun intended) is crucial to progressing, as making use of Columbus’s resources is vital to maximizing one’s ability to succeed in, and after, college.

Kathy Cordova, my mentee, is majoring in biochemistry with plans to attend medical school after her undergraduate years. She and I met in the Ohio Union so that I could have the chance to be updated on how her first semester went, and how her second one has progressed so far. When I inquired Kathy about how she is liking her major, she expressed that she is likely going to change it due to the difficulty of the required courses, especially because many of them are not necessary for acceptance to medical school. Thus, she will likely change her major to biology, neuroscience, or nursing. In order to succeed in the classes she has been taking for her major so far, she has used practice problems as an effective study method throughout both semesters. Kathy is also consistent in doing the practice problems for all chapters, and she does ‘pre-lecture previews to get to know an overview of the information she is about to learn. As someone who has taken similar courses to hers, her study methods seem to be an excellent way to succeed in her classes.

              Kathy mentioned that she is involved with PASS, MSP, and MSP LC in order to expose herself to new things that weren’t at her disposal in high school. PASS is Program for Advancing in Scholarship & Service, and MSP is the Morill Scholars Program. In order to balance out her college involvement and academics, Kathy is very careful that she does all of her work, normally doing assignments right after class. Furthermore, she reviews lecture notes and new material following the lesson. To keep her academic and extracurricular involvements structured, she uses a planner to jot down all commitments and homework. Furthermore, she plans out her assignments in advance, so she can keep her weeks balanced out in terms of papers, midterms, volunteering, studying, and more. I am going to emphasize to Kathy that while it is important to be involved on campus, there is a certain point at which one can become too involved, allowing grades to slip, which I want to make sure she avoids happening.

              I was pleased to find out that Kathy is really enjoying her time in ACES thus far! Being engaged with the surrounding community is something important to her, and she appreciates that ACES is a great way to get more connected with various service (or other types of) organizations. She was immensely surprised by the diversity of her fellow ACES members, as she was expecting a large number of education majors. Instead, she has made friends who have all sorts of different career goals, and thus, she has gotten to meet many types of people she would not find in her normal (science) campus buildings. However, there are a few areas that she feels the ACES program can improve in. Kathy has noticed that at many events, especially (ironically) the social events, people do not socialize much, such as at one of the bingo sessions. Additionally, even when people are socializing, they only talk to people they are close with, so many of ACES’s members are strangers to one another. For example, Kathy admitted that I am basically the only second-year she knows, and I myself realized I know very few of the first year-members. Thus, at future events, I’ll try to make sure both of us engage with new people we are not as familiar with.

              As she mentioned in the beginning of our meeting, Kathy’s career plans may potentially shift depending on what she decides to do with her majors. Upon entering college, she was planning on going to medical school to become a doctor, but now she may be pursuing different options, such as becoming a different type of doctor or following a nursing path. This shift in career aspirations is due to the fact that she is realizing how extremely difficult the biochemistry major courses, particularly the pre-med ones, are. Kathy knows that in college, it is important to keep many options open. When I inquired about whether or not she has had the chance to shadow or have an internship with someone of her career goal, she said yes, she has had multiple opportunities to. In high school, Kathy said she did research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and she also got to shadow numerous physicians. Furthermore, she got to go to an OSU MD camp before college. These experiences helped her to confirm her passion for medicine, and she is planning to utilize the Arts & Sciences College career services to pursue this passion. OSU’s career services, Kathy said, would be very helpful for her to narrow down her ideal career as well as in looking into applying to medical school.

              To gain an idea of how Kathy’s college experience was going in ways other than academics and extracurriculars, I asked her what her favorite memory was so far in college. She mentioned that it is the small things that have meant the most, such as going to the theater, coffee shops, and on Target runs with her close friends. Her close friends, two of whom already knew each-other, have similar majors, thus allowing them to face many obstacles together. The people that she has gotten to bond with are what has made Ohio State feel so special and home-like for Kathy, as her most treasured memories have occurred with them. To continue to make her time at OSU as valuable as possible, she set a few goals for herself for the spring semester. Because maintaining a high GPA is important not only for graduation but also for getting into a graduate school, Kathy is aiming to pass all of her classes with A’s, with the exception of general chemistry 2, for which she is okay with a B. I concluded after meeting with Kathy that she seems to be handling college very well and responsibly, particularly in the areas of maintaining academic success while being involved within the surrounding community, something that is of upmost importance in ACES.

Questions I asked (answers are above):

·       Are you enjoying your major? Why or why not?

·       What kind of study habits have you developed? Did they work successfully in the fall?

·       How have you gotten involved on campus?

·       How do you manage your time between your involvement and your academics?

·       How was your first semester in ACES? What has surprised you about the program?

·       What recommendations do you have for improving the ACES program?

·       Have you career plans changed since your first semester? Why or why not?

·       Have you had the chance to explore your desired career through internships, field experience, etc.?

·       Does your college have a career services office? How do you plan to utilize this office in the future?

·       What is your favorite memory from last semester?

·       What kind of goals have you set for yourself for this semester?

Going to college at a school with over sixty thousand students can leave one desperately searching for both a sense of smallness and home. Despite feeling comfortable at OSU throughout my first year, I had nevertheless yearned for getting that feeling of individualism and belonging that many people have claimed is only found at a small school. Because I wanted Kathy Cordova, my mentee, to get to start off at OSU with a feeling of it being a “small world”, I wanted our first Explore Columbus event to be more low-key and relaxed, as well as for it to be something more up our alley. Thus, after getting to hear a little bit more about her interests, I found out she loves coffee and coffee shops, so I figured going to one of Columbus’s unique small coffee shops would be something she would enjoy. I, too, love coffee shops (despite not being a coffee person), and thus, trying out a new one seemed like a great choice for our Explore Columbus event. After communicating back and forth, we decided on going to Fox in the Snow Café, a coffee shop that was just a little ways out from the Short North. As someone who grew up with only two coffee shops near me, I had yet to get a feel for what many people refer to as the ‘coffee shop vibe’, so I was very curious to see what the Fox in the Snow Café would be like. It also helped that I, along with Kathy, was looking forward to trying out their beverages and baked goods. Despite living half an hour away from Columbus, I have only had the opportunity to visit a small fraction of the restaurants and small businesses that are based there, so the chance to get to know Columbus even better was incredibly appealing.

Because the coffee shop was a distance away from campus, Kathy and I met at the bus stop near the Union. There, I found out that she already knew far more about campus and Columbus than I had when I was beginning my first year, for she knew exactly how the bus system worked. Thankfully, the bus was timely, and our ride to the coffee shop went by briskly. Upon entering The Fox in the Snow Café, I was in awe of the quiet, stylish, and welcoming atmosphere. The employees were kind, and I basked in the aroma of pastries. After observing the menus options, Kathy and I each purchased one of the mammoth-sized cinnamon rolls, and she got a coffee. We talked about how the year was going, how it was nice to get to travel off campus, and Kathy brought up how she and some friends had gotten these booklets that were a sort of Columbus coffee treasure hunt, and by completing the ‘quest’, they would get free t-shirts. Once again, I admired how despite being such a large city, Columbus has such unique characteristics that make it feel like home. I asked Kathy about her classes, about how she was liking the dorm-life, and about the ways in which ACES was impacting her involvement at OSU. Explore Columbus was not only beneficial in that Kathy and I got to know Columbus better, but also in that I got to appreciate my time at OSU more after getting to reflect upon my experiences by talking to Kathy about hers.

Nevertheless, I can’t say our Explore Columbus trip went by perfectly. I was slightly disturbed in the coffee shop when I saw at least a dozen flies swarming around the pastries. Especially because by that point, I had already purchased one. I do recognize that after sitting out since the early morning until the time we arrived (late afternoon) it was nearly guaranteed that flies would be attracted to such a wonderful smell, but still, that left a slight taint on my memory of the Fox in the Snow Café. For this reason, I would advise anyone who is debating on visiting the café to proceed cautiously. The only other issue we faced was our return to campus. After walking over to the Short North for a short time after visiting the café, catching a bus back proved to be harder than we would have thought. Nevertheless, the minor difficulty of transportation was definitely not enough to stop either one of us from wanting to return to the Short North again. While our experience in the Fox in the Snow Café may not have been perfect, the modern yet comforting atmosphere and wondrous scents that filled the coffee shop made it a place I look forward to returning to, and it made me have high hopes for other Columbus cafes as well. Thus, I would recommend for other people to visit the coffee shop as well, although I would also let them know about the multitude of other coffee shops that are waiting with doors opened (and ideally, fly-less pastries)!

It was incredibly interesting to be the one offering advice and asking questions about a first year student, rather than being the one in their shoes. I interviewed my mentee, Kathy Cordova, in a coffee shop so that we would have the chance to talk in a relaxed setting. While I learned general information about her, such as her major (currently biochemistry but potentially soon psychology), I also had the chance to hear about her values and the ways she wants to become involved with OSU and Columbus. We talked for a long time about academics, majors, and the responsibilities that come with college. It was odd to be the person ‘in-charge’ due to seniority, but it was great to be able to help out and answer any questions that arose.

One thing I asked Kathy about was which class has been the most challenging so far. She (understandably and unsurprisingly said chemistry. She mentioned that the material is difficult, and the lack of personal assistance in the lab portion of the class doesn’t help. Furthermore, the labs themselves are very hard and take up a lot of time. What Kathy said resonated in my mind, for it is exactly how I felt last year when I took chemistry. When I asked her about how she studied for her classes, she said she learns best when studying alone in Thompson library. She re-reads her notes and rewrites them, as well as completing any suggested practice problems. This seems to me like a great way to study, as I can recall many of my professors saying how important it is to go over lecture notes later and rework the problems.

Kathy is hoping to be involved in Buckeyethon, and in the meantime she is partaking in organizations to help the homeless. She is very involved in one of these organizations, and she said it has exposed her to people that she previously did not know much about, so it has been a good way to learn about their lifestyles and the ways that they need help. When I inquired about what she had been involved in during high school, her response impressed me. She was in Key Club, three different bands, NHS, student council, Speech and Debate Club, LinkCrew (a leadership club to help incoming freshman), and more. I could definitely tell that has always been a student that acts as a leader and wants what is best for others.

When I asked what Kathy was most looking forward to in the ACES program, she mentioned the idea that it would broaden her horizons. She said that as a science major, most of her classes are spent with people who are very similar to her, so ACES would be a great way to be around a more diverse group of people. Living among and attending many activities with a group of individuals who have different majors, such as education, would help her to connect with people who have different ideas, backgrounds, and focuses. Reflecting upon my first year and living with other ACES members, I can see the definite truth in this. Two of my best friends in it are education and special education majors, and I learned a lot from them, such as the depth of today’s school system and the types of issues that many students are facing. ACES has been a great way to become more aware of new ideas and places for improvement in society, and I hope Kathy also has the eye-opening experience I received.

While Kathy is likely going to change her major from biochemistry to psychology, she is definitely planning on going to medical school and continuing to become a doctor. After completing her residency, she would like to specialize in either fetal medicine or cardiology. When I asked her about how majoring in psychology would help her after completing her undergrad years, she said that it would help her to understand patients on a substantially better level and it would allow her to work better with patients who have mental illnesses. Thus, she would be able to come to conclusions such as diagnoses on the patients that other doctors would fail to think of.

Nevertheless, she knows that becoming a doctor is far into the future, and there is a lot that she must accomplish before such a feat. In order to achieve her goal, she knows that balancing academics and involvement is crucial. When I asked her about how she plans to do this, she mentioned having a calendar that she uses to set up dates of when she has commitments, and then she marks the time in between such events as times to study. She knows that time management is critical in college, and that she needs to be sure not to overcommit. Rather, it is best to stick to a few clubs that she can get to know well.

Upon asking what has surprised her most about OSU, she said she is in awe of how much there is to do and how much opportunity is here. She said that there are always events on the Oval and all over campus, and there are new clubs and organizations she hears about every week. Furthermore, she is surprised by how much she likes being here, for she was not expecting to truly enjoy OSU after growing up next door. She was expecting that this would be nothing more than the place she attends classes and studies, and said she only chose OSU because it had the best financial aid offer. Back in high school she was heavily involved in music, yet had a poor impression of OSU’s music department, and thus, didn’t have the best impression of OSU. Now however, she sees that there is opportunity around every corner, and she has met many close friends. Kathy is excited for everything OSU has to offer, such as the great science department, and hopes to make the most of it. I couldn’t agree more with her, and I recommended she continue taking advantage of the opportunities here. Nevertheless, I also said she must be sure to not overcommit, which is incredibly easy to do. However, as long as Kathy continues doing exactly as she has, I believe her time here will be very successful and enjoyable!

At OSU, I have had experiences that are all around wonderful, and have learned from these memories too. Despite my tendency to be reluctant about using the COTA bus system, my ACES mentor and I decided to take a trip into Columbus to the North Market. And it was absolutely worth it. I fell in love first with the Short North  area as we passed by, then with he North Market upon arrival. The were countless people and unique stands set up, exposing me to characteristics of Columbus I had not been aware of. Granville, Ohio, is the small village that I am from, and it is quite the opposite of Columbus. There are limited opportunities in Granville and a lack of much cultural diversity, so coming to OSU was quite a change. It was the trip to the North Market that helped me realize that in spite of different ethnicities, beliefs, and backgrounds, a community of people can unify  and successfully thrive, and this is what is so special about Columbus. For this reason, I have chosen the North Market as one of my artifacts, and it changed my outlook upon the Columbus area. At the North Market, I was awed by all of the possibilities: lavender waffles, raw fish of hundreds of varieties, and authentic Vietnamese were just a few. Not only did I conquer my distrust of the bus systems when we visited the North Market, I also was able to build upon my cultural awareness and appreciation.