Chapter 1: The Girl I Mean to Be
When I look back at my freshman year, I think about discovery. The new. New school, new independence, new choices. The decisions weren’t just “hanging out with my friends” vs “doing my homework.” It was “what will my career path be? How much does what I do now actually affect my future? What will I be? Who do I want to be?”
Much of my time was centered on finding the answer to that last question. Academic-wise, I switched majors, finding that my interests were more specific than Biology, and that my home was in Neuroscience. My path on the pre-med tract was cemented after looking further into both it and pre-law. Yet, a majority of my self-discovery came through the organizations I joined.
I first joined MUNDO at OSU, a multicultural organization also focused on service and leadership, because I constantly received the emails. Soon, however, MUNDO uncovered a passion within me for learning about different communities, be they religious, ethnic, geographic, cultural or any other category. I loved the hands-on quality, the interactive discussion about issues that I rarely encountered, the community. I ran for their executive board to become closer to that community, and have a hand in sharing my perspective and learning more about others’. Another part of myself I found was my wish to be a resource. Everything first year seemed so big, so insurmountable, and I wanted a roadmap, a tour guide, anything to help me find my way. I applied for and was accepted into the Honors and Scholars Peer Mentor Program in order to help incoming freshmen with their questions and serve as that proverbial guide, should they ever need it. Lastly, I found that I want to make a difference. I want to leave a mark on Ohio State that says, “I’ve been here.” I came and when I go, I’ll leave something of myself behind for the next person to find, and hopefully, it’ll make them feel something. Whether it’s to laugh, disagree, dismiss or inspire, it doesn’t matter. But I want a piece of myself to stay behind at Ohio State, because I will, always and forever, be a Buckeye.