Career

As of right now, I want to pursue a career in biostatistics. My major is in mathematics with a concentration in biology. Medical research was always an interest to me. I have been taking mainly math, biology, and chemistry courses which I truly enjoy. I have also exposed myself to medical research during my summers at Washington University in St. Louis. I have been working on clinical studies that deal with lung transplant patients. I am excited to continue this summer and expose myself to even more within medical research. 

I am also involved in Mirrors Sophomore Honorary at Ohio State which is an organization where members volunteer at The James Cancer Hospital in Columbus, OH. Volunteering has been a highlight of my college career. Through the Mount Leadership Society, I participate in a Year of Service where we select a service site and volunteer 75 hours during our second year. I chose to volunteer as a Greek School teacher at my local Greek Orthodox Church in my hometown in St. Louis, MO. I teach kindergarten students the Greek language virtually every week. During my freshman year, I was a private tutor in Columbus for the Greek language and decided to teach in a classroom setting the following year. Mount has also offered me the opportunity of being an AARC (Advancement and Alumni Relations Committee) Co-Chair. We host events for Mount Alumni and our fellow Mount scholars. This has allowed me to grow my leadership skills and build new connections with former and current Mounties. 

I am excited to see where the next two years will take me. Ohio State has allowed me to strengthen my skills as a scholar, leader, and individual. As a result, I know I can handle anything that comes my way. 

Artifact 3

Being involved in Mount Scholars, I had the opportunity to become a Mega which essentially is a first-year’s mentor that is also a Mountie. Given the circumstances this year, I am taking classes online from home which brought a challenge in connecting with my mini (the first-year that I am mentoring). However, through Zoom and Facetimes, we always try to stay connected. Every other week or so, I’ll check in with her making sure that she is doing well with everything going on. There are planned events every semester in order for the minis and megas to connect and bond with one another.

This opportunity has allowed me to meet a new Mountie which is always exciting and also strengthen my leadership skills. It also helps me keep myself in check as I remember that I am a role model for other Mounties. In addition to being a Mega, we have Mount families that has helped me meet another Mountie and gives me double the opportunity in becoming a stronger leader and role model.

G.O.A.L.S.

  • For global awareness, I am volunteering at my church in my hometown this year teaching students the Greek language. This has given me a strong appreciation for my culture and working with a diverse group of students is eye-opening. I hope to study abroad in my college career too. 
  • I am taking advanced course work this semester and over the summer participated in statistical research. It is important to not only challenge yourself in the classroom but also outside of it. 
  • I am involved in many things on campus like  my Greek youth group, teaching Greek, research, volunteering at The James, and I am a committee chair for alumni in my scholars group. All of these extracurriculars help me be a better student overall. 
  • I have definitely made an effort to strengthen my leadership skills. One way by doing this is being a committee chair for alumni in my scholars group. I have learned to work with other committee chairs with different strengths and weaknesses  in order to create a successful committee atmosphere. 
  • I am volunteering at my church this year and teaching kindergartners the Greek language. I am also a volunteer at The James. It is important to not only volunteer, but to also reflect while committing to service in the community.  

Year in Review

During my freshman year, I grew a lot in ways unimaginable. I made many great friends not only in Mount, but in my classes and other organizations. Some of my goals coming into college were to become more independent and confident in myself. I definitely think I have worked on those goals and have become a better version of myself. First semester was a little rough adjusting, missing my friends and family from home. However, once winter break was over, I was ready to come back to campus. My freshman year went very well. I didn’t think I would like college as much as I do, and I’m excited for what the future holds. Academically I have become more comfortable studying with my peers, and asking professors questions. I am working on maintaining a balance between my studies and social life too. My brother was a fourth year here at Ohio State this last year. I wanted to make sure that I could stand on my own two feet and not depend him for much. I am glad that I established my own friend group and have my own experiences while still having fond memories with him. 

I also have good things planned for my sophomore year. I am in an organization called Mirrors in which we volunteer at The James. Also, I will continue in my Greek youth group as I have made many friends in that club. I was selected to be an AARC chair for Mount which makes me very excited as I get to work on my leadership skills and work with first years in the fall. I also have the privilege to be a Greek school teacher at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Columbus which is nice to have something that is off campus. I definitely think I have become calmer in general especially towards my academics. I have surrounded myself with positive and strong people that want to see me grow and succeed. I couldn’t have asked for a better freshman year. Even though, it was cut short I am very grateful that I had all the memories that I did on campus.

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Throughout my high school years, I participated in cross country and track. I enjoyed cross country a lot more than track. Looking back, most likely because it was more challenging, and it had a lasting impact on me. Going into cross country my freshman year I never ran before. My brother did it in high school and I wanted to do a fall sport, so I chose running. All my best friends from high school were on the team and still to this day we talk every single day. This sport was physically tough, but also mentally tough. It taught me how to make the best out of a situation, how to finish strong even if it was a bad race or day. I truly believe it taught me or uncovered the strength within me today. There would be days were I’d have exams and would rather be studying than working out for three hours. Or I’d tell myself this is impossible. But in reality, it really wasn’t.

I didn’t expect to miss cross country so much in college. Even when I work out now, I use all the same workouts and intervals from my senior season which is pretty cool. Cross country even helped me outside of working out. I would perform better in school because of it because I’d stay so busy and focused. I even think I can handle personal situations with a lot more strength and because of that, I have become much wiser. Running also helped me with my stresses and made me feel so much better about myself after a workout. During my junior year, I got into a car accident the night before and could not run at Districts which ended my season early. I remember I was so upset, but looking back everything happened for a reason and I came back faster my senior year.

I am very glad that I did cross country. It pushed me outside my comfort zone not only as an athlete, but as a person. Life is all about challenges and the only way out is through which cross country taught me. I know everything I have learned and all the challenges that I faced as a runner is a part of who I am today and will propel me forward in my ambitions and my future.

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All of these photos are from my Greek dance group back home in St. Louis. Greek dancing has been such a big part in my life. It has taught me a lot about myself, others, and my heritage. It has introduced me to my life-long friends. It also helped me connect with my grandparents. Growing up, they Greek danced in their villages in Greece, so it’s nice to share a hobby with them. I know Greek dancing doesn’t really relate to academics, but it has helped me grow as a person. It has brought me closer with my Greek church back home and my Greek background. I never felt like it was difficult connecting with my grandparents who don’t speak English because I had a lot of similarities with them because of this hobby. Here at Ohio State, I am involved in a Greek youth group, and also I am taking language classes to keep up with my Greek. I’d like to continue my involvement in the Greek community not only for myself, but to continue the hard work my parents did for my brother and I to have what we have today. I definitely want to continue Greek dancing for as long as I can. Not because it is just fun, but because it opens so many doors to things I never thought existed.

I wanted to share these photos because my Greek heritage is a big part of my identity. I spend a lot of time speaking Greek, traveling to Greece over the summers, tutoring in Greek, Greek dancing, etc. One year, I led a dance from the Greek island, Zakynthos. My mother is from this island and I got to perform the dance in front of my grandma and my mother. It made them so happy. I remember that day I was wishing that my grandpa would be watching me as well.

Learning Greek dance came pretty naturally to me. There were a couple of songs that at first I needed a lot more help than the other kids. However, eventually I caught up. There are a lot of new dancers in our dance group. In middle school and high school I had to learn to be patient with other dancers if they didn’t understand how to do a certain dance or are not understanding a certain technique. Sometimes we would break into smaller groups and help teach each other. This helped us with our teaching skills as well. Collaborating with others is something I learned about through the process of Greek dancing. Because it is a group activity, teamwork is a necessity.

About Me

Hi, my name is Athena Stamos. I am a math major and am excited for the next four years at Ohio State. Some of my hobbies are traveling, running, hiking, and spending time with my friends and family. I have an older brother who’s a fourth year at Ohio State. He is majoring in physics. I enjoy statistics and plan on pursuing biostatistics. I’m not entirely sure of what I want to do with biostatistics yet though. I was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. I enjoy helping others and I’m excited to meet more people during my college career. In high school, I ran cross country and track. I also became the Editor-in-Chief of my high school’s newspaper.

One of my favorite things I did in high school was Ferguson Youth Tutoring. Other students and I would travel to Ferguson, Missouri and tutor underprivileged children twice a week. It was such a fun activity and I loved tutoring the students in math especially!

I also Greek dance with my church friends back home. I am a member of my church’s youth group too. Both of my parents are from Greece, so that is a huge part of my identity. With my family, I speak Greek. This semester, I’m actually taking Greek language classes. Every summer, my family and I try to visit our family in Greece. Most of my cousins live in Greece, so it’s nice to see them at least once a year. Visiting Greece every summer has opened up so much to me. One of my favorite memories was from summer 2017. I met my second cousin who currently lives in Australia. It was a coincidence that we were both in Greece the same time. I had the opportunity to meet a family member that I probably wouldn’t have met otherwise. Now we talk almost every day. I definitely will maintain my level of commitment to my Greek culture throughout my college years. I’m super excited to see what these next four years has in store!