My STEP Signature Project was education abroad through an internship in Barcelona, Spain. I worked as a marketing intern for an artificial intelligence startup called No Code Family. I researched the market, learned the marketing strategy, and executed my team’s goals for the new app Magic Tellers. Magic Tellers is an app that allows you to create one’s own children’s books with the help of AI.

I had considered myself a very easy-going person prior to this internship, and for the most part, I think that remains true. But this experience truly expanded what I consider to be my comfort zone and learn how to say “yes” more often. Learning to say “yes” is one of the most important things a person can learn to do, especially at this young adolescent stage. More experiences will be had, mistakes will be made, and lessons will be learned, but it is better to have the experiences and knowledge than to live in the dark without them. Saying “yes” will bring you closer you closer to becoming whoever you aspire to become.

I think the most vital thing that allowed me to say “yes” were my supportive roommates I met on this trip. I did not know anyone in the program when I signed up and I would not have it any other way. I am grateful to have had the chance to live with the six individuals that started as strangers and ended as close, life-long friends.

From my roommate, I learned that if I want something, I can go do it. She had a go-getter attitude and pushed me to have the same. My experience would not have been the same without her. From another flatmate of mine, I learned to take whatever path I want to take and not just follow a group. Group influence can be heavy and at times very comfortable, but just because something is comfortable does not mean that it is right. From another, I learned to be present. The world is so clouded by technology that people tend to forget that you can learn so much by talking to those around you, whether it’s a silly conversation or one deep in emotion. Another taught me to be grateful. These two months very may be the greatest two months I have ever experienced, but because it was so much all the time, I would take the second to appreciate where I was and be grateful for every detail that surrounded me. Another reminded me of the importance of bringing people together. If I was having a bad day, spending quality time with people could always reverse that. I cherish and admire anyone in my life who uses their energy to bring people together because it is so important. Lastly, I learned that the most important influence when it comes to decisions in my life is my own. To let others weigh too heavy into your life decisions makes them not authentic to yourself.

Learning these lessons by simply living with other and seeing how the treat themselves and others was the most influential part of my experience. It reminded me that no one is perfect and you can learn so much by talking to others.

Every interaction I had with everyone revealed more layers of what they could teach me and the power of saying “yes.” I think the epitome of this new attitude was one of my fondest memories of the trip. A day we had with very few plans ended up being one of my favorite days throughout the whole trip. After getting dinner, we decided to hang around this new town we were in instead of going back to where we were staying. By staying a couple extra hours, we were able to attend a local festival we did not know was happening. A beautifully impulsive decision opened new doors to experience. We danced and laughed at our execution of being in the right place at the right time by saying “yes” to new plans.

This was early on in the trip, so it set the tone for the rest of the summer. I learned that you can never plan out being in the right place at the right time, but with an open mind and saying “yes,” you’ll create your own “right place.”

Saying “yes” to new opportunities and creating my own right place right time is something valuable that I will hold onto for the rest of my life. Your life is a compilation of memories, so the more you make, the greater the life you will lead. Learning from those around you is so vital to improving who you want to become. I will forever be grateful to those I met on this trip and how they shaped me as a person. Thanks to STEP, this experience has put me leaps and bounds closer to being who I want to become.

For my STEP signature project, I decided to study abroad in Siena, Tuscany. I was there for 6 weeks, and I had the opportunity to take classes in the Italian language and immerse myself in the Sienese culture. Along with this I was also given the opportunity to do service opportunities as well.

When I was beginning my step project, I had a lot of anxiety going into it. What was the culture like and how did I plan to handle that? Will my host family like me, and what will my environment be like? All these worries were put aside when I was thrown into the program right away. From experiencing the program in this way, with the full immersion aspect, I was able to trust the coordinators and take each day one at a time. One of the largest ways this helped me and showed me a new way in which I could grow was the trust aspect of it all. Before we had flown over the other members of the program, and I were told that we would get no information about our host families and that we would not be able to contact them until we met them in person the first day. This made me so worried, and I never thought that I would allow myself to accept something like this. On the contrary, I still pushed myself to go and give it all a shot. From doing this I had surprised myself and I realized that I was more capable than I thought. Another way this experience has taught me to grow is that it has taught me to have an even greater appreciation for the differences between my culture and that of Italy’s. From being in a culture that treats time differently for example, I have learned, and I have had more opportunities, to take my time and to not let small things worry me.

When it comes to the usage of time, one of the best experiences that I had in Italy had to do with this. The experience is based on the Palio. The Palio is an annual horse race in Siena that is one of the most important traditions that was kept from medieval times. During the time when the horses and the riders were being paired up, my class and I went to go watch. We had arrived early and were waiting for it to start, but it did not start for 3 hours. This experience showed me how different our cultures are. I really enjoyed how there are more important things than just time and getting things done. Things like, spending time with others and, just enjoying an experience for what it is, really do show a difference between how people view the meaning of spending your time well. The way time is seen is more wholesome compared to the American culture, and I have come to know that time is precious and that we should use it to the best of our abilities.

Another experience that challenged me a lot that I would like to dive deeper into is my host family experience. Through my interaction with my host family, I was given an opportunity to get an immersive experience to be surrounded by the culture. From seeing how they interact with each other to how they handle different situations my eyes were shown yet again how different our cultures are. While I was in Italy, I was given a large opportunity to practice my patience. This had a large part to do with my host family, and a small piece was that I did not have Wi-Fi in the house of the family I was staying with. This factor would not have tested my patience and understanding so much if I was able to get reception within the house, but I was sadly not able to. I understood that it was during the time of the Palio, and during this time everything stops for people. They truly did run on different time schedules. My host family was upset that I still did not have access to the internet, but it pushed me to use my problem-solving skills. It made me anxious, but I was able to put that aside and figure out a solution with the school. For the last week I was there I had Wi-Fi and I was able to laugh about it later, but I am grateful for this experience and how far it pushed me into situations I had to figure out how to resolve.

One last way that my trip challenged me was not just in the tangible factors, but also in the relational factors as well. From having the chance to meet so many people from different parts of both Europe and The United States I was able to see more cultural differences than just those between the United States and Italy. The way that the program was set up was that there were multiple universities and colleges that they partner with. There were students from multiple colleges in Ohio and some from New York and Georgia. It really opened my eyes to how big the United States is. It sounds funny to say, but I have made so many friends from these different states and I never realized how different cultures are even within the United States. For example, I knew that there were so many differences between the northern and southern parts of Italy. Even the central part of Italy is different from the north and the south, but from being able to form friendships and relationships with people from these different states I came to this realization. It was very enjoyable to meet so many different people from the United States. From these relationships too I was able to go out of my comfort zone and relate to people from my country too. I was also to form a friendship with a girl from the Czech Republic which made my experience a lot happier as well.

All these changes have honestly changed me in such a positive way. I have gained so much more confidence in my language skills and my relational skills as well. It reminds me of the intercultural competence idea that we learn about in all my language classes at OSU. I remember someone saying that learning a language change who you are, and even though I have been learning Italian for many years, this was the first time I have been fully immersed. I have come back, and I can say that it is true, and I am very grateful for it all. My understandings have expanded and the way that my experience has allowed me to thrive will forever be a part of me.

1. Please provide a brief description of your STEP Signature Project. Write two or three sentences describing the main activities your STEP Signature Project entailed. 

In my STEP signature project the main focuses were improving my Italian language proficiency and obtaining a better understanding of Italian culture. Both of these goals were obtained by going to class everyday, which was taught by a native speaker, learning verb forms, vocabulary, and culture in the classroom. Outside of class I participated in extracurricular activities, practicing cooking, papier-mâché, dance and exploring the Puglia region of Italy. 

2. What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your STEP Signature Project? Write one or two paragraphs to describe the change or transformation that took place. 

Throughout my project I began to learn more and more about myself in relation to others. In the past I have considered myself introverted and shy, but this experience pushed me completely out of my comfort zone in many ways. I didn’t know anyone in this project previously, so I had no one to lean on which forced me to build new relationships. Ultimately I was able to do just that, cultivating meaningful and close knit friendships with everyone around me, drastically improving my confidence in myself and my abilities to relate to others despite substantial differences. I also noticed an improvement in my confidence as I was willing to be wrong. In many interactions with local Italians I had to get help from them, my friends, or others around me in order to communicate with them. It proved to me how willing others are to help someone who is learning without judgment but rather appreciation for the curiosity and aspiration to learn more about the world. 

3. What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your STEP Signature Project led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you? Write three or four paragraphs describing the key aspects of your experiences completing your STEP Signature Project that led to this change/transformation. 

Living with entirely new people really forced me to go out of my comfort zone and actively take measures to make new friends and build relationships. I would make plans for the group and needed to invite new people when going to do something, whereas I typically just have a group of friends that automatically come with. While this initially seemed slightly intimidating for fear of rejection, I soon got over that and felt much more carefree. 

I also learned what challenges come with being independent, and the precautions one must. When I traveled to Rome for a day with my roommate, initially I thought I had everything planned out perfectly, but we ended up missing the train because my phone broke. So not only was it a lesson to print out tickets but also to think of what could go wrong and do my best to prepare for those situations. I also realized how much I have to learn through experiences and that while I can prepare, many things will be out of my hands or won’t cross my mind until I’ve experienced it firsthand. 

On another note, I also witnessed the inherent helpful tendencies people tend to have. Though it seemed to me initially that most people might be annoyed because I was an American tourist it was really quite the opposite, many people were curious about life in America and when I would have trouble navigating a situation because of the language barrier a bystander would almost always try to help translate or describe.

4. Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life? Write one or two paragraphs discussing why this change or development matters and/or relates to your academic, personal, and/or professional goals and future plans.

Personally, the transformation of becoming more extroverted among entirely new people was the most valuable to my life, as I’ve struggled to build new relationships when I have other friendships I could lean on, but that comfort of already having reliable friendships seemed to hold me back, and now I’ve realized that. Staying there and experiencing the lifestyle of the country affirmed my belief that I will revisit and explore more of the country and culture. 

1.            My STEP Signature Project was a study abroad through the College of Engineering to Tanzania. The purpose of this study abroad was primarily community engagement and overseeing the drilling  of a borehole (water source) within a community faculty within the College of Engineering have been working with for some time. Towards the end of the trip, we also traveled to two conservation areas within Tanzania and went on safari.
2.             I feel like my understanding of myself, my assumptions, and my view of the world changed a lot while I was studying abroad. One of the biggest things I took away was the gift of learning that there are such intelligent individuals studying in University on the other side of the world that care about the same issues I do. Another thing I learned is that such deep friendships can be formed in such a short time span. I don’t think I had ever met people for two weeks and made lifelong friends before, but after this trip I feel like I made several lifelong friends from Tanzania. Since I’ve gotten back, we’ve stayed in contact and have gotten to continue learning from one another. I also learned that nothing is as black and white as it seems. Everything is actually very complicated…and to truly understand something much time and care must be taken in learning about it. A final thing I learned is to ask many questions of the ones I love, and to love them freely.
3.               I had the opportunity to work with several students from the University of Dodoma, one of the largest cities in Tanzania. They taught me so much while I was there and are responsible for a lot of the transformations that I think happened. They were open to getting to know me, shared Swahili words with me, included me in their games after dinner, asked me so many questions about my life and culture, sang karaoke with me, took silly photos with me, and the list goes on and on.

   These wonderful individuals impacted me as a person in so many ways. They were challenging how I viewed my culture, my country, the world. I was extremely grateful for their friendship while I was there, and we were so happy to be able to spend time together. We worked together in the community we drove into each day by questioning the community how a new water source would impact various parts of their lives (gender roles, culture, daily life, having extra time). The students from the University of Dodoma were so helpful in these interactions. Many of them were sociology majors, so they were able to bring a human side to our otherwise engineering-based project. And of course, they helped us with Swahili.

   Saying goodbye to the students from the University of Dodoma was extremely difficult. It was one of those things where I knew it was coming…but it didn’t make it any easier. We promised to stay in touch, took photos together, exchanged social media and phone numbers. Unlike the end of most trips, though, we’ve actually followed through and done that. I still talk to someone from Tanzania every day and it brings me so much joy to hear from them every time I see their names on my phone. I’ve continued to learn from them since I’ve gotten back as we’ve continued our deep discussions about world politics and culture. I’m so grateful I was able to participate in their experience and meet them through this study abroad experience.

4.               The changes and experiences I discussed previously are extremely important to me both as an engineer and a person. As an engineer, I feel like I learned such valuable things about humanitarian engineering and people-oriented design that will help me to bring a human side to whichever industry in engineering I choose to go into. As a person, I feel like my new friends have challenged me to think so much bigger than I had previously, on a global scale. I’m so grateful for the perspective they bring to me and what I learn from our conversations. Overall, I believe I have become and will continue to become a more well-rounded and globally aware individual.

1. For my project, I conducted research for seven weeks in Glasgow, Scotland. I studied the effects of aluminum on callose deposition in Arabidopsis seedlings, and I learned several laboratory procedures including fluorescent microscopy, seeding agar plates, and sterilization protocols. When I was outside of the lab, I had the opportunity to explore major cities, lakeside villages, and the beautiful highlands.

2. After visiting Scotland, I realized that the outside world’s view on Americans was profoundly different than what I expected. For example, I believed that Europeans, like a majority of the world, held a negative image of Americans. However, Glaswegians did not mind the origin country of the tourists that were visiting their city, and they only asked about your origins if you prompted them to. In the U.S, people use their citizenship and origin country to define themselves, and there is a lot of emphasis placed on this status in politics. These identities seemed “looser” in Glasgow, with different people and cultures freely interacting to produce a unique atmosphere. The Scottish people welcomed all types of travelers. Moreover, in America, people with certain citizenship statuses or origin countries are often alienated from the rest of society. The U.K, on the other hand, held very little of this animosity, and I met people from all around the world, from Singapore to Turkey.

While in Scotland, my understanding of myself also changed. Since I live 20 minutes from my hometown when I am attending OSU, I had felt like I never experienced living alone before. Moreover, my family and I worried about my ability to manage my medical condition on my own. However, my stay in Glasgow showed that I could successfully live and thrive in an independent setting. I was able to plan daily trips for myself, design and carry-out a six-week experiment with little interference from my mentor, budget my finances, and stick to an eating schedule. In the end, my confidence has grown immensely from this trip, and I feel like I can achieve things that I would not have pushed myself to try previously.

3. Since a diverse range of individuals visit Glasgow, interactions between people with different perspectives were common. Regardless of their differences, people were always incredibly friendly. They would happily converse with anyone around them, and they would stop what they were doing to help you out if you were lost, confused, or inconvenienced in any way. Once, when walking to class, I saw a woman help one of the government workers in charge of cleaning out the storm drains by holding an umbrella for him. The storm drain infrastructure is very old and the debris that gets swept away during storms clogs the grates, resulting in massive puddles of standing water. As he was working to clear the debris in the rain, a woman came out of her house from across the street and stood beside him, covering them both with the umbrella as it continued to pour.

I encountered this kindness again when I was leaving for a trip to the Northwestern-most point of Scotland. Since I enjoy hiking, I scheduled a visit to the Isle of Skye—a location known as one of the most beautiful in the world. To get to the isle, I bought a bus ticket from a station near my residence. While waiting for my bus, an older woman walked up to me with her dog, unprompted. She took the time to explain that the road was closed for the weekend, and the bus wouldn’t be coming. With that information, I was able to determine that I needed to go to the central bus station and inquire about other lines that were leaving for the day as soon as possible. Otherwise, I might miss the trip entirely. The situation demonstrated the compassion of the residents there as well as increased my confidence in my ability to problem-solve any obstacles I came across.

Lastly, a huge part of my program was getting the opportunity to design my own experiment. I initially believed that I would simply be following the instruction of my mentor, assisting in her project. However, I quickly realized that I would be solely responsible for designing an experiment that would address the prompt and carrying out the study. It was an incredible opportunity and very daunting. With some slight guidance from my mentor, I was able to conduct preliminary research on what has already been studied on the subject and adapt my experimental structure. I was then able to choose a unique condition to test in my experimental groups—one which combined my interests in human health and climate change. The opportunity to conduct an independent study as an undergraduate was amazing, and it gave me a wealth of experience to carry into my future.

4. In the end, I believe that this experience has broadened my understanding of the nature of people and exposed me to alternate methods of solving issues experienced by all societies. I got to see how other countries structure their politics, public transportation, and healthcare. It was particularly amazing to see their solutions to gun violence and pollution, and how their communities thrived from these changes. Glasgow was one of the cleanest and safest places I had ever seen. It was mind-blowing to see the people’s love of green places and how that love manifested as a notable absence of litter on the streets and the construction of community parks.

This program also exposed me to a laboratory setting for the first time and has whet my appetite for research. I learned how to prepare media for agar plates, measure pH, use specialized pipettes, maintain a sterile environment, stain seedlings for fluorescent microscopy, handle a microscope, record data, and perform analysis on that data to determine if my results were significant. I also learned how to design an experiment from the ground up, account for limitations in time and resources, write a scientific paper, and present my findings to other researchers. With more lab experience and more confidence in engaging with scientific personnel, I am looking into labs offered on campus. Ultimately, I think I would like to pursue research as a part of my career in medicine.

For my STEP signature project, I spent eight weeks in Florence, Italy to participate in the Fisher Global Internship program. During my time, I interned at Florence Food Studio and attended various professional development programs. At Florence Food Studio, I was brought on as a marketing intern and helped them with their social media accounts. 

After spending two months in Italy, I was able to gain a deeper understanding about a different culture and myself. Having been living away from home for the first time, I was forced to learn skills to be independent. The internship aspect of studying abroad allowed me to connect with my coworkers who were locals and really brought me into the culture of living and working in Italy. In addition to the cultural aspect, the Fisher Global Internship program was transformational to my academic and career goals. I was able to take what I had learned in the classroom and apply my knowledge to real world scenarios.

My time abroad has opened my eyes to a different culture than the United States. One of the main cultural differences was the language spoken. I went to Florence without any knowledge of Italian and was faced with the challenge of not speaking the language. Although the majority of my coworkers at my internship spoke English, they often spoke in Italian so I would not be able to understand them. One of the main ways I was able to overcome this challenge was by my coworkers teaching me basic Italian so that I could understand more of the conversation. From the beginning of my eight weeks until the end of my program, I was able to understand some of the language while also teaching my coworkers some English. 

Having an internship in Italy, gave me the experience of work culture in a foreign culture. It opened my eyes to many differences from the work culture in the United States. From my experience, the work culture is very laid back compared to the culture of the United States. My supervisor would ask me to do various tasks, but would not check in on those tasks. I learned that the work is very self motivated and my supervisor would expect me to follow up on the tasks. Through my experiences interning in Italy, I believe that there are ideas that the United States work culture can take from Italy and vice versa. 

Not only was the culture transformational, but living on my own for the first time allowed me to learn skills to be independent. Through this program, I was required to live in a completely different environment without the luxury of having my parents nearby to take care of me. Being faced with having to cook for myself while being in a country where I could not understand what the items were at the store proved to be challenging at times. Being thrown in the deep end of living on my own for the first time and making it through provided me confidence and skills to be independent. While I was faced with challenges, I was able to find ways to overcome them and use the knowledge I learned to grow.  

My experiences interning in Italy were transformational to my academic, career, and personal goals. Through the Fisher Global Internship program, I was able to gain valuable life experiences that helped me grow. I was introduced to experience down a field that aligns with my future career goals while gaining a global perspective of the field. I was also able to take the skills that I learned in the classroom and expand my knowledge to real world scenarios. Finally, I was able to grow my independence and my confidence of living on my own for the first time. 

This summer I studied abroad at the University of Oxford for a month. There I studied Intro to Law and Intro to the Anglo-American Legal system. Each day we attended three classes and a guest lecture about a different category of Law. 

As an International Studies major, I have always wanted to study and work abroad. I was initially worried about studying abroad, but assumed that there would be many similarities between England and the United States that would help me acclimate better to England. Additionally, this program reinforced my decision to study International Law after I complete my undergraduate degree. 

I have always been an adventurous person who likes to try and explore new things. Because of COVID-19, I didn’t have the opportunity to travel abroad much before my study abroad trip. The only time I had previously been abroad was during my 2023 spring break trip to Scotland with my father. This short experience did not prepare me much for my study abroad experience on my own. The staff at the University of Oxford were very understanding and did their best to support us during our trip, helping us with anything we needed to acclimate. We did many excursions as part of this program including going to Windsor Castle, London, and Runnymede. Each trip offered opportunities to explore and learn in a new town. I am excited to work or study abroad after graduation.

I have always been on the fence about attending law school. In high school, I did various law related clubs and extracurricular activities such as Mock Trial and Teen Court, but was never fully committed to studying law. I was incredibly excited for the Oxford Pre-Law program because I knew it would help me to make an educated decision about law school. We took two courses in England, each related to Law, and heard from guest speakers almost every night. The guest speakers were particularly fascinating and each spoke about their specialized law fields such as Space Law, Cyber Law, Criminal Law, Tort Law, etc. We also went on excursions to destinations such as the British Museum where we learned about Cultural Heritage Law. Between the courses, guest speakers, and excursions, I am incredibly confident in my decision to attend law school. 

Many of our classes, guest lectures, and excursions focused on International Law. Our professor at The University of Oxford specialized in International Law and taught most of her lectures on the subject focusing on the Russian/Ukraine conflict. I loved learning in her class and found the subject especially fascinating. As an International Relations and Diplomacy major, my favorite excursion was to the Japanese Embassy in London where we learned about the close correlation between diplomats and international law. This trip not only helped me decide to attend law school, but also helped me decide to specialize in International Law.

This experience was significant to me for many reasons. Now, I am confident in the career field I’ve chosen, my ability to succeed in the field, and my ability to study and work abroad. This course completely solidified my decision to attend law school and work in the International Law field. Before the course, I had many friends studying to take the LSAT or entering their first year of law school. They all made the process seem incredibly confusing and difficult, making me doubt if I was capable of following in their footsteps. This program helped me understand the process to attend law school, how law school works, and how to succeed there. I am more than confident that I can attend and succeed in law school. This course also proved to me that not only do I enjoy working and studying abroad, but that I am more than capable of doing it professionally through my career. Since I could not travel as much due to COVID-19, I have always felt a lot of anxiety about having limited travel experience. I am now certain that I can work abroad, and that I want to in the future. This program was incredibly rewarding and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to learn and grow through it.