Welcome to my e-Portfolio! My name is Joseph Song and I’m a first year student at the Ohio State University studying Aerospace Engineering. I am also part of the STEM Exploration and Engagement Scholars Program. I hope my portfolio will help you learn a little about me and my experiences here as a first year at OSU!
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.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.
Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc .
Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]
Career
The Ohio State University is comprised of 64,868 people. With a campus so large, it is crucial for students to find close peers and mentors. This STEM Scholars project has been carried out for this very purpose; to expose undergraduate students to the lives of upperclassmen, graduate teaching associates, and professors. I interviewed fourth-year student Angela Lee, GTA Matthew Digman, and professor Dr. Kecskemety in order to get a grasp of their experience at OSU, as well as their own individual journeys through college and life.
It was not particularly difficult to find three people to interview since I know a number of upperclassmen and there are plenty of GTAs and professors to interview from the classes I am enrolled in. The upperclassmen I know on campus attend the same church I do back in my hometown. As for my GTA and professor, I tried to find someone most in line with my major (aerospace engineering) and my future goals. My decision to interview my physics GTA stemmed from the fact that I go to his office hours frequently. Dr. Kecskemety teaches my Engineering 1181 class, and is an aerospace alumnus from OSU so I interviewed her to learn about her experience in the engineering program.
Starting with my upperclassman interview, I met up with Angela Lee, a fourth-year neuroscience major at OSU. She is the treasurer for Kappa Phi Lambda Sorority, Vice President of Internal Communications for Multicultural Greek Council, and has been involved in off campus research as well as running a REP for a cognitive neuroscience lab one semester at OSU. Angela loves to watch TV with friends, bake, find new places to eat, explore Columbus, and play with little animals. Coming to Ohio State University, Angela was not confident with what she wanted to do with her life. She took an undecided track until she attended an intro to engineering class and decided to major in biomedical engineering. Her father is a professor at University of Cincinnati, and lectures on biology and biomedical applications. This had a significant influence on Angela’s career path, but after a couple engineering courses, she decided that engineering was ultimately not for her. Her friend then introduced her to neuroscience, and after another introductory course Angela found a passion in this subject and was encouraged to be surrounded by extremely motivated people who wanted to learn.
Having spent four years at OSU, Angela has had a breadth of good and bad experiences. Although she has not failed any classes, she has come close to it and is not satisfied with the grades she received. In order to do well in difficult classes, she told me to go to all of the free tutoring sessions as well as forming study groups to talk through difficult topics. The writing center can help with essays, and the Younkin Success Center is beneficial for resumes and cover letters. She advised me to work just as hard in the classes that are not as interesting as my favorite classes in order to maintain my GPA. Her hard work in her undergraduate studies has culminated in a worthy portfolio for her application into graduate school.
With regards to graduate school, I interviewed physics GTA Matthew Digman about applying to graduate school and the difficulties that came with it. Matt grew up in Iowa, and completed his undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. At Dartmouth, Matt was heavily involved with research with Professor Caldwell, which fueled his love for physics and space. Matt started his undergraduate career as a mechanical engineer, but took an intro to physics class and loved it. Physics and cosmology were particularly interesting to him, and he decided to major in physics after his freshman year. He states that the more undergraduate research experience, the better the chance you have when applying to graduate school. Matt is currently a graduate student at OSU. He is a graduate teaching assistant for physics 1250, acting as a recitation and lab instructor. Being a GTA helps pay for graduate school, and he intends on applying to be a resident adviser this upcoming year as well. Study skills are also very important during the undergraduate years, and Matt advises students to go to professor and teaching assistant hours to clarify any misconceptions from the lecture. Developing these skills helped him significantly at Dartmouth, and continues to help him here at Ohio State University. Matt is in graduate school now because he wants to pursue a research career in the future.
Like Matt, Dr. Kecskemety also went to graduate school at The Ohio State University. She has written a couple professional articles about wake dynamics on the performance and aeroelasticity of wind turbines and the development of teaching assistants. These articles were found through SCOPUS, a large database of peer-reviewed articles written by professors and students. Utilizing advanced search drop down menus, it was very straightforward to find a few articles from Dr. Kecskemety. However, downloading the articles were another issue. Many of the articles were not available online, and required requesting a separate database / library for physical copies. There were only two articles that were available online— “Teaching Assistant Professional Development through Design: Why They Participate and How They Benefit” and “Influence of wake dynamics on the performance and aeroelasticity of wind turbines.” The first article above was an easier read, it had streamlined syntax and was written in common language. The second article was difficult and filled with technical jargon and mathematical equations. Reading this article required extensive knowledge of the material and extreme attention to each tiny symbol association. SCOPUS is a great resource for downloading scholarly articles online, and this media is specifically advantageous in convenience and speed. Online PDFs are extremely easy to download and are quick. There is no hassle in physically going to a library and checking things out. However, the disadvantage is when those articles are not online and you do have to go through a time costly and tenuous process to check out the article you require.
Dr. Kecskemety wrote those two articles during her time at Ohio State—both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in aerospace engineering were attained through OSU. Although she majored in aerospace engineering, I found it ironic that she had no interest in airplanes. She focused more on renewable energy and wind turbine aerodynamics. She started her journey in aerospace in high school, researching wind turbines at Case Western University. Her interest in aerospace eventually led to her Ph. D. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. Dr. Kecskemety highly values group study and support systems because ideas have the opportunity to bounce, and different students get to teach and to learn. Being a professor of ENGR 1181, she advises students to always read the material before class, and to come to office hours for any questions or clarifications.
The culmination of these interviews has taught me that peer to peer and student to professor relationships are extremely important during undergraduate years and it is beneficial to begin them early. Professors at OSU are very kind and willing to offer help during office hours, so take advantage of these opportunities to clarify material and build relationships concurrently. Even though Ohio State University is enormous school, every student definitely has the chance to find fellow peers and mentors.
Artifacts
STEM Education is a crucial step in the upbringing of young students and should remain a primary focus for educators K-12th grade. I believe teachers have a tremendous responsibility to inspire and manifest a curiosity and adaptability in young minds in order for students to pursue higher goals in academia. As a part of the STEM EE Scholars Program, I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to take part in this movement to individually help students with their math and science skills. I participated in weekly tutoring sessions at the Columbus Performance Academy. CPA is a small, underperforming charter school. The students there have ability but they lack passion to study in STEM fields. In each of the grades I tutored, I asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” While it is expected for students in 4th and 5th grade to reply with stereotypical answers such as “football player”, “artist”, or “dancer”, I was shocked when 7th and 8th grade students responded in the same manner. In a simple survey of future careers, it can be seen that some students at the Columbus Performance Academy are not in an adequate environment to inspire goals in STEM careers. It was also a surprise when the 4th grade students were on a higher math level than most of the 7th graders. The wide range of capabilities at the school also proves that teachers have difficulty enforcing a standardization of material, since there are many students who struggle to keep up with their lessons.
Although I do not want to be an educator in the future, I still find it paramount to volunteer to guide young students towards goals of higher education and paths in STEM fields. It is not fair for students to receive subpar education due to unconducive environments. There are educators out there that are inspirational and others that are discouraging. The disparity between educator qualifications should be minimized in order to create an educated and driven generation for America’s future.
About Me
Hello everyone, my name is Joseph Song and I am a first year STEM EE Scholar student majoring in Aerospace Engineering. I am from Cincinnati, Ohio, and have lived there all my life along with my twin brother, sister, and parents. As a twin, being compared in every aspect happens frequently, and although it sometimes is a nuisance, it actually serves as a catalyst for my personal progression and advancement. Having someone there to push and compete with you every step of the way encourages a spirit of tenacity to be your best. Growing up I was always surrounded by accomplished people–their achievements always seemed to surpass mine, and it made me question why what I was doing wasn’t enough. I asked myself “what am I truly good at?” “Why can I not match my peers?” Reflecting upon these thoughts allowed me to develop a mindset to work even harder and that every minuscule detail counts.
During high school, I was enrolled in a two year college credit plus engineering program. In partnership with University of Cincinnati, I had the opportunity to explore engineering through hands on projects that reinforced fundamental topics and how to help my community. The first year of the program was very basic; I learned how to employ leadership and teamwork skills through the fettuccine bridge, hydraulic arm, and trebuchet projects. However, it was only until my second year that I was able to experience true engineering. Utilizing MATLAB and Solid Edge programs, my engineering class constructed educational manipulatives for a visually impaired student in our school district. Not only were our products approved by the state, they have been extremely helpful in the student’s learning process. Seeing how engineering can make such an impact on someone’s life motivated me to pursue an engineering track at OSU.
My interest in engineering also brought along a passion for community service. Over winter break in 2014, I traveled to Thailand with my church’s mission team to serve tribal people in the mountains. As I surveyed their living conditions, I was impressed by the simplicity but also saw the crucial need for engineering. Many buildings were structurally deficient, the few electrical lines ran haphazardly overhead, and drinking water was unsanitary. Although my love for engineering is specified in aerospace, I saw that I could also learn more about other fields in engineering. I came home and volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, where I helped build houses and learned how construction crews implement structurally sound designs that engineers create. I plan on joining the Engineers for Community Service club at OSU and Engineers Without Borders later on in life.
As an undergraduate student I want to further my education in different fields and build relationships to accomplish the goals I have constructed for myself. Using this time at OSU I hope that not only will I make friends for life, but that I can learn more about myself and be the best I can be. I wish to pursue a career in aerospace, whether it be companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, or Airbus. I believe that all the opportunities Ohio State has to offer will allow me to rise to new heights and achieve more than I could ever dream of.