Through my scholars program, Mount Leadership Society, I have learned a great deal thus far. Although I have only been involved in Mount for a short amount of time, I can already see the impact it makes on our community, my peers, and myself personally.

Recently, I chose to volunteer at a community Halloween party for children. Though this may seem like a small task, I could tell it had a large effect on the kids, families, and even the staff. I worked carnival games, which gave me a surprisingly great opportunity to talk to the children and family members. They were all incredibly excited to participate, some even coming back three or four times, which meant we had many opportunities to chat. I felt an increased sense of joy upon seeing the kids and their families laughing, playing, and having a good time together. In our current day’s society, sometimes it is hard for families to simply join together and have fun. Through this small community event, I know I was able to put some smiles on faces, along with the candy in their bags. With our world being so full of hate of late, it was refreshing to see pure goodness in the form of happiness in families, that I gladly know I helped provide.

In high school, I was involved in a club called the Leo’s Club. This club is very near and dear to my heart, as it is what got me started on all of my community service that I performed throughout my high school career. Throughout my time in this program, I made many friendships and connections, while also performing community service tasks that were for the greater good of the community. Though I conducted many projects through this club, there are a few favorites that stand out among the rest. For example, one project we performed was Feed My Starving Children. Through this program, we packaged food that created nutritious meals that were to be sent to countries in need. Packaging food may sound like a tedious task, but when turned into a competition, it was extremely fun and fast paced. Another example of a great project we created was called Girls Day In. During this event, we provided free toiletries, makeovers, nail painting, and clothing to girls/women in our local community. Makeup is a very large part of my life and something that brings me great joy, so being able to provide this service to girls and women in my community was incredibly special to me. I believe a simple makeover can absolutely change someone’s whole outlook on their day, week, or life, so I was proud to have partaken in this project. Community service is a large piece of my life and this club allowed me to reach out in more ways than one.

[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 includes both a description of the artifact and a reflection on why it is important to you, what you learned, and what it means for your next steps.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]