My First Semester at OSU

Throughout my first semester at OSU, I have realized that it has been nice to feel totally independent. I visit home regularly but I have found that it’s not quite as usual and comforting as it once was. In fact, I am nearly happier here than I am at home in my own bed. I really enjoy having the freedom to go out and do whatever I want, even if it’s just going up and down High street for 2 hours. I can’t say I feel too much different now than when I started here but I do feel far more comfortable and acclimatized to university life. I like it here a lot, I feel comfortable. I’m not sure if this is my dream college like I may have thought it would be. In fact, sometimes I feel a little lost in the mix of this all. I hope I can find a niche in my second semester. I think this has been an interesting experience and I do feel more grown up because of it. I am very happy to not be in high school, I can say that!

As for my grades, they could definitely be better. I think they’ll be better next semester because I’ve finally gotten the hang of how college and midterms work. It’s been a long journey already!

Humans of OSU: Denise

“I moved to Ohio from West Virginia when I was 11. I’ve never wanted to stay here and yet something’s kept me all this time. There’s so much I could have done in all these years and yet I never did. I want so much more for my kids.”

When I took my strengths test, I was a bit surprised but overall satisfied with my results. For my top five strengths, I got intellection, input, restorative, ideation, and individualization. Intellection overall means I “like to think” and “exercise the muscles of my brain”. It means I am introspective and love to spend time thinking, whether directed in a focused area or about anything at all. My second strength, input, means that I am “inquisitive” and “collect things”. Having input as a strength means that I like to gather information and I find many things interesting. My third strength is restorative and that means that I “love to solve problems” and am “energized by it”. It means that I love to fix things and even “save” them, whether physical or not. My next strength is ideation which means that I “am fascinated by ideas”, thrilled even. This strength shows my creative side and how I am always coming up with fresh, new ideas and concepts. My final strength is individualization. Individualization means that I am intrigued by the unique qualities of each person. It means that I am keen and observant and can find out the best in people.

Overall, I wholeheartedly agree with the strengths test and my results. I think all of my strengths go together and suit me incredibly well. I utilize my strengths often and, with the new knowledge that they are actually strengths of mine, I plan to focus on them and further them even more. I love to think and be creative and inquisitive so I know that building upon those qualities and finding them within others will get me very far. I will find ways to suit these to my schooling and my choice of major and really find my talents and abilities within these five areas. I think that through college and discovering myself I will be able to see my strengths growing stronger inside of me as well. I am pleased with this outcome and plan to utilize my strengths in my day-to-day life from here on out.

first week (in document form if needed)

My First Week at OSU

My first week at OSU just finished. I have never been so apprehensive and terrified in my whole entire life. I have not yet really gotten into the swing of things; I’m always tired, I always have too much to do, and I’m almost always in my dorm room. It wasn’t a bad first week, not at all, it’s just a crazy new experience that I haven’t really learned how to deal with yet. So far, I’m trying to stay excited. I’m excited that I have all this new freedom but, at the same time, I’m not really sure what to do with it. This first week has shown me that I can really spend my time doing whatever I want but I’m not exactly sure what it is that I want to be doing with my time! I go to classes, I find places to eat, I explore High Street occasionally, and I spend copious amounts of time napping.

Along with my excitement, however, I do feel quite a bit of fear and trepidation towards this new event in my life. It’s scary! I’m so afraid of not doing well and even potentially failing and it terrifies me. Ohio State is scary in a lot of aspects, including its size. I fear that there are so many people here that I actually won’t be able to befriend anyone. I hope I eventually find my niche, I probably will, but in the meantime I’m trying to put on a brave face in front of the storm. My first week was awkward and weird and a sort of out-of-body experience, really, but I’m hoping it gets better with the passage of time.

I’m hoping with my humanities community that I’ll be able to open myself up to a broad array of people and things that I otherwise would not open myself up to. I hope I can find a sense of home away from home with my scholars group and I hope I can have an amazing time here.

[Artifacts are the items you consider to be representative of your academic interests and achievements. For each entry, include both an artifact and a detailed annotation.  An annotation is a reflective description of the artifact that attempts to communicate its significance.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]