This entire first year has been one to remember. I have made it through all the challenges thrown my way from classes to life events and am so glad to say I made it. I learned so much in my classes, but mostly from my agricultural communications class. This class has been one of the few classes that has kept me going throughout the semester as it has been both fun and intellectually stimulating. There was not one moment I was not looking forward to attending this course and walking to Kottoman Hall. The class taught me the important aspects of giving a speech, writing formal letters to businesses, and going through interviewing processes for a job or internship. I felt that my professor and the TA’s did a wonderful job at keeping materials brief and informational while also finding fun ways to keep lectures exciting. 

Aside from class settings there were some important things I learned about myself. I learned that the best way for me to study is by reviewing lectures thoroughly before reading the textbook. For the first few exams I took I was not performing where I expected and found myself struggling to learn new materials after exams. After meeting with TA’s, professors, and others within the class I eventually found that my study methods were to blame as I was not studying in a way that benefitted me. I began experimenting and playing around with my study methods for the next exams and found myself improving after changing my order of review. I found myself to recently open up to change and adapt in order to move forward with my life and succeed more. Another thing I learned was that outside of classes was that there are many benefits to self care and taking time to relax. Through doing minor research I found that there are many gains and improvements of overall welfare that can be achieved through doing self care practices. I recently began balancing my diet and developing a sleep schedule and, through doing so, found my health seemed to improve, I had more energy, and was overall happy.

Along with the challenges and discoveries I’ve made about myself and other materials, I made some great memories. My favorite memory by far this year, while there are so many to choose from, would have to be enjoying time with my suitemates in the common room watching TV shows and talking about the most random things. My suite and I have been close throughout the entire first year of college and have made so many great memories. We could most likely be found spending time with one another or talking to each other at most hours of the day. We found that we wanted to live together in the upcoming semesters and decided to get dorms right next to each other so we can continue seeing each other. My first year of college has been one to remember and I have them to thank for making things so easy on me when times were getting tough. I am looking forward to seeing them again next year and being able to actually drive to different places with them so the fun can continue.

For this month I have learned and struggled, with more of my time spent struggling rather than learning. This semester I have picked up more credits than last year, expecting a hefty workload but realizing it is harder than I thought. Two of my courses in particular have been a struggle, leaving me to question whether or not I chose the right major, however, I have decided to push through it and stay with my major no matter how difficult it gets. I have known my career path since I was a little kid and don’t plan on changing it anytime soon. I am determined to get through these classes this year no matter how many challenges come my way. 

While I did struggle with my classes I did have some positive things happen during March. One of my accomplishments this month has been getting an interview for the Animal Science Community Association. This was a large accomplishment because they only accept 16 students into their program and I made it into the interviewing stage. If I do make it into this program I will be able to help and mentor other animal science students and organize events for the CFAES community. This will also serve as an excellent addition to my resume for application to veterinary school. 

Along with my accomplishment I have also learned new and interesting material in some of my classes. In my history of art class I learned a lot about sacred and religious buildings and monuments such as the Dome of the Rock and the manuscripts from early Arabic and Christian books. I took my exam on these amazing art pieces and felt good about the amount of information I reciprocated. I also learned how to give a convincing speech in my agricultural communications class and learned the most common mistakes that people make in their visuals and presentation. I made sure to utilize this information when I presented my speech last week in hopes that I got a good grade. 

Overall, this month has had its ups and downs. The struggles I faced this month have been greater than any that I have faced this entire first year. The accomplishments have been great and I am proud of myself for actually making it through the majority of my midterms. I hope to continue learning and utilizing my knowledge for the remainder of these classes. 

This month has been an interesting and exciting start for the spring semester. I decided to take 17 credits which is proving to be quite a challenge but is also beneficial to my program. I am excited to start my labs for both chemistry and biology but fear that covid will have a negative impact on my learning experience. Because we started classes from home for the first two weeks I was able to learn that I do better with classes from my dorm rather than from home. I find there are too many distractions at home from family members to pets. While I did find better ways to do classes from home I am glad to be back at school where I can focus on my studying and classes. During the past month I have struggled to find a good way to study for my chemistry and biology courses. I find it difficult to remember lecture notes and rules for atoms and bonding when I review my notes and do homeworks. A way I will keep myself up to lecture is by reviewing and practicing review questions as well as reaching out for more help. I know how important this class will be for my future in medicine so I think it is important that I get the best understanding of the material as possible in order for me to be a good veterinarian.  While I may have struggled with study methods, I was able to achieve some things. While home over break I managed to find an internship opportunity. I found a small animal veterinary clinic who called me back and offered me a summer internship that I couldn’t refuse. I am grateful for the opportunity in May and will be sure to keep track of the hours that need to go towards my major. Overall, this has been a very exciting and productive month in which I was able to start classes, find new study methods, and get a wonderful opportunity.

My college experience has been challenging and has helped to shape me into becoming the person I am today. I went from driving everywhere to walking everywhere, home cooked meals to campus food, and living with my family to rooming with strangers. These changes allowed me to adapt and change the way I would normally live. I soon enjoyed walking everywhere, found campus food that I enjoyed, and became friends with all my roommates. I love living with my roommates and exploring the beauty of campus with them. We would walk everywhere with one another and find new things to do. A newfound hobby some of us took up was boarding. We all found variations of longboards, skateboards, and penny boards so we could all skate around campus. I enjoyed learning with them and eventually we all became good enough to skate all around campus. Another thing I found was that game day with my roommates was fun because we would all make lots of food and watch the game in the common room and occasionally see the field from the tower. Games were never boring and we could all be heard yelling and cheering during the game.

While there were many enjoyable things about college there were also some struggles I encountered during my first semester. Developing a schedule was critical for me to keep track for everything I had to do during the week. I would find myself stressing about assignments throughout the week because I would forget about them or not remember when they were due. I soon found my solution to be planning and writing assignments down in a planner and would refer to it when I was uncertain about classwork. The planner helped to keep me organized and prioritized to complete all my work. I also struggled to study for class midterms and quizzes but eventually found a good routine to help me prepare for my exams.

Although I did encounter some challenges in college there were some things I achieved. Something I achieved was a better understanding of other cultures. Where I come from there is not much diversity which limited my experience and exposure to cultures and their traditions. Most people from around me are farmers just like my family so it was interesting to explore my roomates traditions and different outlooks on subjects. I was jokingly deemed “exotic” when I would try something new as they were aware of how little exposure I had at home and would usually get a good laugh when I encountered something new. In return I would talk to them about agriculture and we would share our views on different subjects leading to good learning experiences. As for the spring semester I would like to try more new things and broaden my horizons. I feel like it is always a good thing to try new things and expand my knowledge. I would like to participate more in my clubs and maybe even take up another. It is important to me that I am involved and doing something for others as well as myself. Overall, my first semester at college was amazing and has taught me so much through both classes and experiences.

My October has been one to remember! So many new and exciting things have happened during the past few weeks. With the semester coming to an end there is much that I have learned about myself and my classes. I Have been fortunate enough to finish one of my seven-week classes with an A as well as take away some useful animal handling skills. While I did not enjoy gathering some of the experience, such as handling and working with pigs and chickens, I am grateful for all the opportunities that were provided. An interesting thing I observed was a piglet go in into anaphylactic shock. Apparently, treatment calls for a shot of epinephrin to boost the adrenaline in the piglet to ‘kickstart’ functionality as it falls into a state of decreased blood pressure that causes motionless. The recent observations and information I have been taking away from my class has allowed me to realize that I chose the right major and track necessary for becoming a veterinarian. I find animal systems, history, and handling practices intriguing and find myself excited to open the new modules posted every week.

Through the past month I have had my ups and downs with both classes and my day to day life. Each morning I reluctantly wake up and do my classes for the day. I am becoming more unmotivated as exams approach which leads me to procrastinate my work and put it off until I have the will to do it. While I am struggling with it, I am also finding ways to eliminate the need to procrastinate. My suitemates and I will often push me to do my work by having group work time in the common room. This may not seem like a lot, but it does help me to finish those last assignments so that I may enjoy the weekend ahead. In terms of my day to day life I have achieved a good workout routine with one of the girls in my suite. We push each other to actually go to the gym and work out, even when one of us doesn’t want to. My month has been wonderful, and I can only hope that November will be the same way.

As I reach week six of classes I have come to realize there is much that I’ve learned. My classes, both online and in person, have been going well and I am learning so much. In my animal science classes I learned about the domestication of animals. As animals became domesticated, they developed signature traits such as white markings on the chest and face, droopy ears, curled tails, and various others. I thought that was an interesting observation and now I find myself watching for these traits in modern day domesticated animals. Along with learning new things in my classes I discovered that I am a great fish mom to my new beta fish. I enjoy taking care of him and watching him flare at everything I place near his tank. I also realized I enjoy physically going to classes, which many would argue is not an enjoyable experience. While I don’t particularly enjoy some of the materials in the class, I do like the change in scenery being able to be out of the dorm. Something I struggled with is figuring out the online class system for school. It was confusing to figure out as many teachers use different platforms other than carmen to teach their courses. It is a hectic system that I eventually figured out. While I did struggle with the figuring out the classes I managed to learn how to skateboard in my free time. I now go out and about throughout campus every other evening with my suitemates who are also learning to skateboard. As I reflect on the past six weeks it is clear that even with Covid restricting some activities, I am finding different ways to enjoy my time here at Ohio State University.  Overall, everything is going superb and I hope to continue being this positive throughout the year.