[The Home Page will show a running blog of your recent posts, which are categorized and show on that category’s page. Please delete this post or edit with your own information.]
Posts
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.
Goal: Global Awareness
Through my coursework in the next four years, I plan to study the Arabic language and take several GE’s in the Arabic department. This will ensure my study of Arabic goes beyond reading, writing and speaking. I will also have knowledge of the culture and literature canon of the region. A well-rounded understanding of a culture that is not my own will expand my worldview and make me a better-informed global citizen.
Goal: Original Inquiry
I hope to develop relationships with the professors who teach my classes, particulraly the classes that go towards my major. This will lead to opportunities for research with faculty in my major area. Research experience will show me how my classes apply to the real world; I will be able to realistically picture what a career in data analytics will look like. Previous experience as an undergraduate reseracher will also be useful when I begin the senior capstone project required for my major. Advance exposure to the research process will ensure my capstone is a project I can be proud of.
Goal: Academic Excellence
As I was choosing my GE’s, it was important to me that most of my selections fit into two or three specific focuses. I do not want GE’s to draw my time away from my areas of study, but to supplement and expand my knowledge in a meaningful way. Most of my chosen courses are in either the Arabic or Psychology departments. My corsework in the Arabic department will supplement my study of the language. My Psychology coursework will be a chance for me to explore a potential major without offcially switching. Taking the extra time to focus my GE’s means I will have a well-rounded education, along with a deep understanding of the topics I have chosen to study. Selecting honors sections for many of these courses will be an extra challenge and will also contribute to this goal.
Goal: Leadership Development
Even though I have attended OSU for less than a semester, I have already found a comfortable spot in the communities at the Newman Center and within my Club Ultimate Frisbee Team. The Newman Center has several opportunities for leadership, including planning and leading reatreats and social events, and being a role model to other students. Leadership is also important on my Ultimate team, from the team captains, to the girl who oragnizes rides for our tournaments, every role is essential for the team to function. As a freshmen I have been impressed and inspired by the roles students take on in both of these circles. The seriousness with which they take these positions is something I have not seen before; it shows the genuine pride that they have in their respective community. I hope that I can one day be a just as effective leader for freshmen like myself.
Goal: Service Engagement
As I gain more finacial and personal independence, I have begun to recognize the need to take intiative and engage myself in service. I have either received information or attended sessions for various student service trips, abroad and domestic. I have found that I would prefer a long term service opportunity that I can be involved in for a longer than a week or a summer. This means that I need to change my focus and begin looking at organizations that serve the community within Columbus (or Ohio in general). Honestly, I am not yet sure what this will look like for me. I plan on continuing to ask fellow students and attending service and involvment fairs on campus. The less-stressful winter and summer breaks will also be oportunities for me to find a service project that interests me.
Career
[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career. Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated. For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]
Artifacts
pronounced “baab”, the Arabic word for door
After spending freshmen orientation hearing about Ohio State’s wide variety of majors, clubs and organizations, I decided to take advantage of the vast selection and begin learning an entirely new language. After four years of high school French, I took a risk and enrolled in Elementary Arabic. My academic advisor cautioned that this language would be “completely different from everything I had ever learned before.” When I received my “backwards” opening-textbook in the mail, I realized she was absolutely correct.
Learning the Arabic letters and their sounds was a challenge that required dutiful, nightly practice. I was back in pre-school making “a” and “b” sounds as I wrote line after line of letters (starting on the right side of the page of course). The word for door, “baab,” was the first actual Arabic word that I ever wrote and read. Though “baab” only utilizes the first two letters of the Arabic alphabet, this small accomplishment at the end of Week One is something I will always remember. The sense of pride I felt, however small, was confirmation that embarking on this new challenge was the right decision.
About Me
