Month: August 2017

G.O.A.L.S. Reflection

G.O.A.L.S is an acronym for six concepts that further students’ success. The ‘G’ stands for Global Awareness. This is the understanding and openness of differences around the world. ‘O’ stands for Original Inquiry. Original Inquiry is the search and curiosity for knowledge. The ‘A’ is for Academic Enrichment. This is the hunt for different ways to learn, such as research.  ‘L’ stands for Leadership Development.  Leadership can be developed through many activities, including internships. Finally ‘S’ represents Service Engagement. This is being active in the community and helping others through volunteering.

The two facet of the G.O.A.L.S that I feel most connected to are Original Inquiry and Service Engagement. Original Inquiry connects with me because I feel a personal drive for knowledge. I know that I will be a life time learner, always seeking to understand the world around me. This is easily seen through my internet habits; I watch many educational YouTube channels in a diverse range of subjects from Physics and Math to Woodworking and Civil Engineering. It is exciting to learn new concepts and then see those concepts in my everyday life. I learned through YouTube that Civil Engineers have to account for the expansion of soil when designing buildings and other structures. This is something I didn’t know and allowed me to view the world from a different mindset.  Service Engagement is also very important to me. Currently I am volunteering through W.O.W. a program that allows OSU students to travel to local unprivileged elementary and middle schools and demonstration different Science concepts.  W.O.W. is an amazing program as I get to help spread an excitement for Science. Spreading this curiously and love for Science and other topics is important because the next generation is able to further are understanding of the world and bring improvements to society.

In the future G.O.A.L.S. will still be important to me. I will continue to learn and search for new ideas during college. Additionally, I am planning to volunteer for W.O.W. the rest of my college career. However, I will graduate college and will most likely move into an industry job. This change will allow me to apply the G.O.A.L.S in a different way. I will continue to learn to stay competitive in my job and may even go back to school to further my knowledge. In addition, I hope to inspire others in the future to discover STEAM. STEAM is the combination of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. I will complete this dream by servicing my community and volunteering with organizations such as Girls Who Code and Engineering for Kids. These organizations focus on spreading original inquiry in kids through service.

Image result for STEm and STEAM

 

 

Artifact #1

First Trip with WOW!

I was given the opportunity to volunteer as a part of STEM EE Scholars, with Wonders of Our World. WOW is a 14 year program that takes OSU students to teach at Columbus City elementary schools. So far I have gone on two trips to Salem Elementary. Both trips were exciting and inspiring. I traveled with 4 other students to the school to teach the students about the scientific method. The first lesson was creating a boat out of clay that could hold the most marbles. I thought I was prepared to lead my small group of 3 students but keeping the attention of the young students was difficult. One of the students didn’t want to participate in  the experiment, another wanted to play in the water instead of creating boats. Thankful I had the help of Jessica Caton the coordinator for WOW. She was able to help focus the students on the task at hand.

Through this trip I learned that teaching is more than just reciting information, it is a process that takes effort and time for both parties. I already subconsciously knew this from doing experiments like this in elementary and middle school. I remember those days when school was based purely on fun and curiously, not grades and expectations. I am so grateful to past the excitement and joy for learning and discover in STEM to another generation. I can’t wait to see where my discovery with WOW will take me.

About Me

I just finished my second year as a Computer Science and Engineering major at the Ohio State University. I am focusing on art and technology as while as computer science. I am further exploring my passions by taking classes at the Advance Computing Center for the Arts and Design, (ACCAD). I commute to OSU, this can make classes and extra activities a challenge at times but I have found a balance. I was even able to manage being a TA for a computer science class. I am also currently an active member for the ACM-W, a group for women in computing. Over the summer I am finishing my capstone project and going on vacation. Starting next semester my little sister will be coming to OSU as well for a computer and information systems.