This program has had an immense impact on my personal, professional, and academic development in the two years that I have had the opportunity to be a part of it. I will break down each of these areas to share how I have changed with the assistance of this program.
STEM EE Scholars has had a large impact on me from an academic perspective. Coming out of high school, AP Biology was my favorite course and I wanted to pursue a career in life sciences because of this course. I was especially interested in genetics and Ohio State is one of only a handful of schools around the country that has a department that is dedicated to this rapidly-evolving and expanding area. My original major was Molecular Genetics with a minor in Music. I wanted to pursue a career in academic research with a focus on plant genetics. The STEM EE program allowed me to get involved with undergraduate research my second semester of college. This was only possible because of our first semester interview project and the gracious assistance of my mentor, Mikayla Bogan. Although I found the work to be fascinating, it was not meant for me to pursue as a full-time career. I discovered this towards the end of 2018.
Since then, I have changed my major to Health Sciences. This major much more closely reflects the career path that I would like to pursue following graduation and will provide me a substantially more relevant background for my intended career. I have also decided to not pursue a music minor and instead pursue minors in business and leadership, both through the Fisher College of Business. The STEM EE program has allowed for this type of flexibility just for this purpose. I was able to explore a career that I initially thought I wanted to pursue, decide that it was ultimately not the right path for me, and the program provided a platform that supports and encourages these types of changes.
I would argue that the largest impact this program had on me was not from an academic lens, but from a personal and professional development lens. Coming into college, I was “set” on what I wanted to do and had not considered other options. I was also a bit lost within the program and Ohio State initially. I had participated in the OWL program, which I enjoyed getting to welcome others to this incredible campus, but it did not provide a strong enough base for me to get to know everyone in the large program. It was not until second semester when I joined the leadership council that I felt I had found my place in the program. This opportunity allowed me to plan and shape events that I felt would strengthen and broaden the overall goals of the program. Our team’s development of the requirements, curriculum, and events would not have been possible without the significant support of each member on the team and the guidance of our program advisor.
I had the opportunity to lead the leadership council for a year-long term and plan over 30 events for 170+ STEM EE Scholars. This past semester, I have taken on the role of Leadership Council Consultant. This is a unique role that I am excited to be able to shape to the goals of our new leadership council. My role is to advise the new team based on my experience, as well as assist them with setting personal and organizational goals through individualized coaching sessions. Coming into college, I thought that leading student organizations was something that only much older students got to do. Scholars gave me the opportunity to have real impact on a program while developing my own leadership skills.
Coming into my second year, I had shifted what I wanted to pursue as a career. I wanted to go into consulting. This was/is an exciting field for me because I am given the opportunity to solve some of the most pressing challenges for large organizations with limited knowledge of the issue. This requires quick learning, adaptive thinking, and strategic leadership.
Resiliency is BY FAR the biggest item that I have learned since being at Ohio State. I applied for the Buckeye Undergraduate Consulting Club the first semester of my second year. This organization directly related to my career interests and would allow me to build skills that I could use in job interviews. I applied, moved to second round interviews, and was told that I would not be able to join that semester. Looking back, I was nowhere near prepared to join the organization that semester.
At this point, I was still a Molecular Genetics major and was still taking the courses for that major. I was taking Organic Chemistry Lab, Organic Chemistry Lecture, participating in concert band, pledging a fraternity, and running the leadership council all at the same time. This was a dangerous mix that led to me not doing as well as I would have hoped in my courses.
I refocused the next semester after changing my academic interests officially. I took a step back and looked at what would do me the most good, not what should I be taking because my curriculum guide says that I should. College is a time for personal and professional development more than anything; the academics are there to guide this. The next semester, I took what I called a “personal development” semester. I enrolled in five leadership courses and a course for my business minor. I also re-applied to the consulting club and was accepted to that following extensive interview preparation. I also made my student organization official and began the Buckeye Biotechnology Association.
This past semester has been the best semester of my time here yet. I have had the opportunity to define what I want to get out of being a student here, where I want to go, and what I need to do now to get there. This summer, I will have the opportunity to travel to Brazil with the assistance of the STEP program. I will also be taking an internship in Tel Aviv, Israel for two months.
In my next two years at Ohio State, I have several goals that I would like to accomplish. I would like to take on a leadership position in the Buckeye Undergraduate Consulting Club. I recently had the opportunity to attend a conference in Chicago with the organization and meet leaders from student consulting organizations from across the Midwest. At this retreat, we were able to exchange ideas with other organizations about how they recruit students and run projects.
Another goal that I have is to obtain an internship in consulting during the recruiting season in the fall for next summer. To prepare for this, I will need extensive preparation for case interviews, behavioral interviews, and network with industry professionals. The STEM Industry Interview assignment kickstarted my networking to get an internship. Through the STEM interview, I now have a firm connection to a major technology consulting organization. Over the next several months, it is my goal to have a firm connection to each company that I am looking to get an internship at next year.
I would like to continue my personal and professional development through courses at Ohio State, professional conferences, and exchanging ideas with industry professionals. This will give me a well-rounded approach to development that will hopefully set me up for success as I begin to search for careers following school.