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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.
G: Global Awareness
The first part of G.O.A.L.S is Global Awareness (G). According to the Honors and Scholars Website, the idea behind Global Awareness is that, “Students will cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences”. I do agree with this idea one hundred percent, however, I additionally think this means that I will be able to look at situations from others peoples perspectives and be able to appreciate the fact that every person has their own story and own special gift that they bring to this world. Also, we need to respect everyone one no matter how different they are from ourselves. Throughout my time here at OSU I plan on working toward broadening and bettering my Global Awareness. I plan on doing so by staying involved with the ACES program and by attending a lot of academic and service events. By attending these events I will be able to learn about and get involved with different areas of society and different types of people. Furthermore, I will be able to become more educated about all the diversity and different ways of life that I am surrounded by and will be able to view life from different perspectives and better respect the uniqueness that each one of us has. Lastly, my course work has helped me develop a global perspective because I am learning to view topics of discussion in different ways. For example, in my English 1110.01 class our topic of discussion throughout the course is gender.
O: Original Inquiry
The second part of G.O.A.L.S is Original Inquiry (O). According to the Honors and Scholars Website, the idea behind Original Inquiry is that, “Honors & Scholars students will 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”. I do agree with this idea one hundred percent, however, I additionally think this means that I will take advantage of all the scholarly resources around me to better my education and I will also make an effort to take courses and engage in activities that will help me reach my goals for the future. Throughout my time here at OSU I plan on working toward strengthening my Original Inquiry. I plan on doing so by reaching out to advisors, professors, and employers to help me network. I also plan on volunteering and doing my best to get internships with organizations and companies that spark my interest and could help me with my career path later in life. I also plan on taking courses that grab my attention and will be useful for whatever occupation I decide to go in to. Even though I don’t have a clear career in mind I plan on taking a lot of science and psychology classes to help me along my search for a career.
A: Academic Enrichment
The third part of G.O.A.L.S is Academic Enrichment (A). According to the Honors and Scholars Website, the idea behind Academic Enrichment is that, “Honors & Scholars students will pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom”. I do agree with this idea one hundred percent, however, I additionally think this means that you still challenge yourself academically outside of classes. There are many opportunities to learn and I feel that we can learn new things every day by engaging with those around us and always paying attention to what is happening in the world around us. Throughout my time here at OSU I plan on working toward strengthening my Academic Enrichment. I plan on doing so by not only challenging myself in my classes but by making an effort to get to know those around me and broadening my horizons on the different ways of life others may share with me. My planned curriculum relates to my future aspirations because currently I am studying Human Development and Family Sciences and in the future I want to work with people of all ages to help them overcome struggles in their lives. I chose the major of Human Development and Family Sciences because I enjoyed all the different age groups I could work with through all the different career options.
L: Leadership Development
The fourth part of G.O.A.L.S is Leadership Development (L). According to the Honors and Scholars Website, the idea behind Leadership Development is that, “Honors & Scholars students will develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and that prepares them for their future roles in society”. I do agree with this idea one hundred percent, however, I additionally think this means that we are able to become a leader for ourselves and take control of what we need control over in order to ease our stressors. Throughout my time here at OSU I plan on working toward strengthening my Leadership Development. I plan on doing so by not only staying involved with the ACES program but branching out to other school organizations that can help me get into leadership positions more throughout my years here. The activities I am involved in are the ACES Scholars Program and The Ohio State Club Gymnastics Team. My involvement in these activities contributes to my development as a leader because the ACES Program offers opportunities to go out and help the Columbus community and I am able to be a leader by taking part in activities that facilitate growth and improvement for the community. My involvement in these activities relates to my personal goals because as an Ohio State student I hope to be able to reach out and help the community throughout my years here, and the ACES Program allows me to be able to. Furthermore, my involvement in these activities relates to my career goals because I want to work with all age groups to help everyone overcome struggles they may face. My involvement in these activities has also contributed to my personal, professional, and intellectual development. They have contributed to my personal development because I am growing as an adult in this world by being exposed to all different types of living standards. They have contributed to my professional development because I am getting to dip my feet in the water to see exactly what area of life I want to work in to help people better their lives. They have contributed to my intellectual development because I am broadening my horizons about the world we live in by seeing ways of life different than mine and learning about the different parts of society. Lastly, I would describe my leadership style as commanding and powerful when needed while still upholding respect and compassion towards everyone.
S: Service Engagement
The fifth part of G.O.A.L.S is Service Engagement (S). According to the Honors and Scholars Website, the idea behind Service Engagement is that, “Honors & Scholars students will commit to service to the community”. I do agree with this idea one hundred percent, however, I additionally think this means that you not only go out into the community to help those in need but to also to help your family, close friends and yourself by making sure everyone is living a life they are satisfied with and helping those close to you with any problems they may be going through. Throughout my time here at OSU I plan on working toward bettering my Service Engagement. I plan on doing so by not only getting involved with community service opportunities but also by making sure my friends, family, and myself are doing well mentally and physically. We need to love not only those around us but also ourselves. Some activities that I am involved in are the ACES Scholars Program and The Ohio State Club Gymnastics Team. I plan to continue engaging with the community by taking part in all of the service opportunities the ACES Program offers and by attending the service events hosted by the club gymnastics team. Lastly, my service has contributed to my understanding of poverty because I am able to see first hand how much people in poverty are truly in need of basic life necessities and it has also opened my eyes to some of the things I take for granted.
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
Artifact 1: ACES Pillar Film Project
This is a PowerPoint presentation that was made as a group about the documentary Playground which discussed the topic of child sex trafficking. It was created during my first semester of college at The Ohio State University for the ACES Scholars Program class. It was created as part of an assignment to analyze how the documentary relates to the pillars of the ACES Program. It was created by our group via the Google Drive application so that we could all work on it at the same time. I selected this artifact because it was a large part of the ACES class and the ACES Scholars Program is an important part of my academic career at Ohio State. It is worthy of inclusion in my e-portfolio because it represents how I can connect current events to the pillars of ACES. This artifact represents my experience of learning more about the sex trafficking business because before watching the documentary I did not know too much about it. It is significant to me because it reminds me that we need to make a change to stop the business and get all the kids involved out and to safety. Something I learned that I did not already know is that once kids get out of the business, sadly it is easy for them to go back into the business. By working with a group to complete this project I will be able to use my skills of dividing up work equally among members when I need to complete group projects for other classes. Lastly, this work was challenging because the topic at hand was very sad and at times it was emotionally taxing, although I have learned to persevere through hardships in order to complete the task at hand.
ACES%20Pillars%20Film%20Project
Artifact 2: Design a Lesson Plan
This is a lesson plan to teach first graders about the base-ten system that I designed completely by myself. It was created during my first semester freshman year of college at The Ohio State University for my Educational Psychology class. It was created via Microsoft Word for my final assignment of the class to demonstrate how we could relate the psychology behind teaching and learning principles to an actual lesson plan that could be taught. I selected this artifact because I feel it is a great demonstration of my creativity and organization skills, both of which were needed to create a thorough lesson plan. This artifact represents my experience of acting like a real teacher to create my lesson plan. It is significant because being an educator interests me a lot and I love helping kids grow through learning. Something I learned that I did not already know is that it is very difficult to divide the lesson into the perfect time increments to make sure that every part of the lesson is covered. If I do decide to become a teacher then the process I used to create this lesson plan will come in handy throughout my career. Lastly, this work was challenging because I wanted to make sure that I was able to organize the lesson in a way that gave the clearest explanation to the kids.
Artifact 3: Analytical Research Paper on How Gender Stereotypes are Portrayed in Food Advertisements
This is a research paper that analyzes how gender stereotypes are used throughout food advertisements. It was created during my first semester freshman year of college at The Ohio State University for my English 1110.01 class. It was created via Microsoft Word for my final assignment of the class to demonstrate how we could integrate primary and secondary sources into an analytic research paper. I selected this artifact because I feel it is a great demonstration of my analytical and organization skills, both of which I used to craft this cohesive essay. This artifact represents my experience of in-depth research and a lot of personal growth in my analytical thought processes. It is significant because being able to clearly analyze something is a strength that I need to have in order to succeed throughout the rest of my college career. Something I learned that I did not already know is that it is very difficult to analyze instead of summarize and that I need to continue to work on that when it comes to my writing style. Lastly, this work was challenging because I wanted to make sure that my thoughts were coming across in the most concise way without being too broad or repetitive.
About Me
My name is Rachel Spohr and I am from Cincinnati, Ohio. I am currently a freshman at The Ohio State University main campus. Originally my major was Early Childhood Education, but in the middle of my first semester I changed it to Human Development and Family Sciences. Before coming to college I thought that I wanted to be a teacher, but now I am realizing that I want to do more than be in a classroom setting teaching children their ABC’s. I still want to work with kids, but I also want to broaden my horizons to be able to work with other age groups as well. Furthermore, I want to help people overcome adversity and the struggles they may face (whether that be physical or emotional or both) throughout life.
Throughout high school I took multiple AP credit courses and advanced Math and Science and English courses. By taking challenging courses and starting college with a fair amount of credits, I felt prepared to handle the workload of college. Also, while I was a junior and senior in high school, I taught gymnastics to girls ranging from first through eighth grade at Kids First Sports Center. After being a competitive gymnast for eight years, I loved sharing my love and knowledge of the sport of gymnastics to other young girls. It was so rewarding to help kids achieve their goals and complete new skills, and teaching children gymnastics has caused me to want to continue working with kids throughout the rest of my careers.
While I am here at OSU I have many professional goals. Currently, I am in the process of getting hired to teach gymnastics classes in the early evening at Integrity Gymnastics (which logistically works out well because I am on The Ohio State Club Gymnastics Team and we practice there in the late evening). Also, on breaks and on the weekends when I go home, I frequently teach gymnastics at Kids First Sports Center. I hope to continue teaching gymnastics throughout my years of college. Also, I hope to take many science, psychology, and developmental studies classes in order to broaden my horizons to expose myself to a lot of different career options and in order possibly go to graduate school. Even though I don’t have a clear career goal in mind right now I am excited to take a lot of different classes and learn a lot about myself and my personal goals.
