About Me

Name: Ryan Stark

Hometown: Brookville, Ohio

Age: 19

Graduated: Brookville High School as a valedictorian with Honors

Currently Enrolled: pre-chemical engineering at OSU Main Campus

Accomplishments:

Valedictorian with honors

Eagle Scout

Buckeye Boys State Delegate 2017

My name is Ryan Stark, and I am a second year student at OSU.

For years people have known me as “the smart kid,” “the one who reads a lot,” or “the quiet one.”

I’m not athletic, nor extremely coordinated. I’m socially inept, often not knowing what to say or, when I do, how to say it. I prefer mild isolation, but get anxious when alone. When I speak, I try to say as much as I can in as few words. I am the student everyone tends to believe to be the innocent one, with not much knowledge of the darker sides of humanity. They are then shocked when I reveal how much information has corrupted innocence into practicality. I tend towards a more pragmatic world view, one I can breakdown to a couple hard and fast rules, from which I can then make decisions.

This practical world view is heavily influenced by my interests in STEM. I love figuring out how things work. I grew up playing with LEGOs, building ever more complicated structures and designs.For the longest time I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer, designing planes and then testing them, then I reached my senior year of high school. Here, my physics course turned me off to the field, whereas I fell in love with chemistry thanks to my teacher, as well as the relative ease of understanding I had in regards to the two years of chemistry I took. Using these experiences, I determined the best future field of study for me was chemical engineering.

To be honest, the first thing I heard about the Honors and Scholars programs in general was that they have priority dorm placement in certain locations with certain groups. I first looked at the engineering focused groups that were available, as well as their locations in regards to the north campus, where I anticipated much of my future classes would occur. From there I looked deeper into the program to figure out which groups I would best fit in with, with STEM EE being the best match. While I was in Scouts, I found teaching the newer members to be a rewarding experience, and decided I would like to continue the education of new minds in the sciences. I am currently seriously considering a backup plan of chemistry education in the event I decide to change majors.

And now for the token statement of intent:

I am looking currently for an internship opportunity for the upcoming summer in the field of general engineering. I want to acquire more work experience to gain a better chance of employment come the end of college. I am currently enrolled in the pre-chemical engineering program on the main campus. I have had some training in beginner level cad and coding software, and numerous leadership experiences from both school and Boy Scouts. I plan to develop my current skills and acquire new ones through further education while at OSU.