Katie and I went to lunch at the Union Market, and it was awesome to sit down with Katie! Katie Taray is a first year student with a Public Affairs major. She is from Canton, Ohio and she has a close family including an older brother with special needs. Originally, Katie and I connected because some of my cousins live in North Canton, which is the rival city to Canton. We know some of the same people, and we both love the alternative band Foster the People! I had never heard about the major public affairs until I came to school, so I’m always curious as to what exactly it is. So, how did she decide on the major she has chosen? Katie has always wanted to be a teacher, and her family had a little influence as well. Her dad and one of her cousins are teachers, yet they persuaded Katie to look outside of teaching as a career to try something else. She believed public affairs could let her go into education policy or non-profit work such as administrative public relations. However, Katie expressed to me that she’s really uncertain about her major, and wants to continue exploring her majors. I told Katie to look into the exploration major program on campus, so she can use her resources to really find the best major for her whether that be something pertaining to education or something outside that field. I felt undecided as well when I came to school, so I think it helped Katie to hear from my experiences.

Currently, Katie is taking mostly general education courses, like myself, but she considers her Spanish class to be her most difficult class. It’s called Spanish pronunciations, and it focuses on vowels and linguistics of the language. I totally understand how this can be challenging when this isn’t even her native language. Other than that, Katie is taking one major course called introduction to public affairs. This course brought up a great discussion for Katie and I. Introduction to public affairs is very political-based she said, and we agreed that it can be hard to contribute to discussions in class if you don’t agree or disagree strongly to the arguments or issues. We discussed how there is almost a privilege that surrounds those that aren’t completely affected by results after people vote on an issue, and we admitted that we can relate to this. It’s hard to understand the weight of issues when we aren’t personally impacted. Although Katie may not like that she is feeling unconfident about her major, I think in the future she’ll be glad that this course has helped her to identify her uncertainty about public affairs.

When it comes to involvement, I asked Katie what kind of involvement she sees herself becoming passionate about. Already, Katie is in three student organizations actually. She joined CHAARG, which is an organization that ignites health and fitness within college-aged women. I think this organization is awesome for creating a positive environment for women to feel comfortable to exercise and surround themselves with others that are motivated to expand their formats of exercise in a fun way. In addition, Katie joined the after school tutoring program for young kids that is at Thompson library, which was mentioned during one of our ACES presentations by the Office of Social Change. Lastly, Katie enjoys Smiles with Style, a program through Ronald McDonald that gives kids with chronic diseases makeovers with eyeshadow, temporary tattoos, or dress up outfits like tutus and tiaras. I really was intrigued by this organization because I’m involved in A Kid Again, which is very similar in giving families and their children with life-threatening illnesses the opportunity to attend social, seasonal events to give illnesses a timeout. Katie admitted that she has attended only one or two meetings for these organizations. I encouraged her to step outside her comfort zone to attend a meeting or event even if it’s by yourself because she might really enjoy it and surprise herself.

During the interview, I asked Katie what she is most looking forward to in the ACES program. To begin, Katie told me she chose ACES because she feels that she has grown up in the education world and loves it. As I said earlier, her family includes a couple of teachers, and they like making an impact on the lives of others. She talked about how in high school she taught Spanish to elementary school kids, and as a kid she loved playing with dolls as I did too. In general, she’s excited to participate in service events, and I told Katie how ACES helped me to first learn about the city of Columbus and the non-profits that are founded and thrive here. Lastly, Katie is eager to learn about ACES and how it can be integrated into her life and her love for education.

Honestly, I think ACES was the best decision Katie could have made in her first semester at the Ohio State University. I know for myself it helped me socially as I almost felt I lived in a learning community as I was so close with my floor mates because most of us were in ACES, and we could discuss events and walk to meetings. As a sophomore, some of the friends I met in ACES are my best friends here at OSU, and I’m glad I decided to complete the Honors & Scholars essay application. I asked Katie, what is your back up plan? Katie believes if something in public affairs or public relations doesn’t work out, she will likely become an elementary school teacher, which I think is a great path if she was to take it. Katie has a love for children, societal change, and is such a positive, awesome person to be around.

College can be stressful, so I asked Katie how she will balance her time especially now that she is in ACES and three student organizations. Katie said she breathes her Google Calendar to prioritize things to do and to see the layout of each day. In addition, Katie showed me her planner, which she writes her due-dates in, and fun fact it’s written in cursive. Lastly, I love to hear about an individual’s freshman year experience, so I asked Katie what has surprised her about campus? Both Katie and I were above average and in the top of our classes, and we were motivated to attend an university that challenged us. However once being here, Katie noticed that everyone was as smart or smarter than her, and she feels as though that it can be difficult to stand out as the leader or the smarter person in the room while being surrounded by such intelligent groups of people. But, Katie and I are both glad we are here because we are motivated to getting out of our comfort zone, meet new people, and have a great four years at the Ohio State University!

I was really happy to meet with Katie, one of my two awesome mentees. I’m excited to see how she determines her course of action for deciding her major decision, how she grows as a person, and how she becomes more comfortable within her first semester. As her mentor I’m committed to checking in with her as a mentor, advice guide, and friend.

Hannah and I met for dinner at Scott Traditions, and we had a great time chatting! Hannah Vondohre is a first year student with a Special Education major. She is from Cincinnati, Ohio and she is the oldest of three siblings. So, how did she decide on the major she has chosen? Since she was younger, she has developed this older sibling, role model character. She has always loved people and especially little children. When it comes to her career aspirations, it was a personal experience that prompted her to consider her current major. She has two friends with younger siblings with special needs, and they all had a very inclusive relationship beyond their disabilities. When Hannah went to high school, however, she was dismayed by the fact that her high school’s special needs program lacked the inclusion for the special needs community she was used to. She is a strong believer that each individual, although different, should be treated with the same respect no matter their disabilities. She enjoys all her classes, yet she described her math class to be most challenging. She is enrolled in math for elementary teachers and asserts that it’s difficult because we take our elementary math skills for granted.

When it comes to involvement, I asked Hannah what kind of involvement she is interested in on campus? Already, Hannah has loved her time at the Ohio State University. Only being at school for over a month, Hannah is involved with Best Buddies and Students Supporting People with Down Syndrome. With the non-profit organization Best Buddies, Hannah will have the opportunity to enhance the lives of individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities. She will participate in an one-on-one friendship, and is excited to meet her buddy pair this weekend! In addition to Best Buddies, Hannah joined Supporting People with Down Syndrome. She is excited to not only fulfill her ACES service requirement with their service activities at the Union, but also raise awareness and educate students on behalf of individuals with down syndrome. Overall, Hannah is extremely motivated to join organizations that cater to her major and help her develop an idea of what she might like to do with her career, and I believe she has taken a great step toward this goal by joining two clubs.  I’m really excited for Hannah, and I’m eager to see how her involvement grows throughout the semester, school year, and the rest of her time at Ohio State.

I asked Hannah what she is most looking forward to in the ACES program. In general, Hannah was extremely happy to be accepted into Ohio State’s Scholars program in addition to the fact that ACES specifically is a great fit for her major. As the year progresses, Hannah hopes to get involved on and off campus, volunteer, and she is most excited to get acquainted with different causes and nonprofits. Not from Columbus, Hannah and I both agreed that ACES is a great way to get acquainted not only with great organizations, but also the city of Columbus.

As a college freshman, I was honestly really impressed with how driven, positive, and passionate Hannah is as a person and with her studies. During our interview I asked Hannah what she plans to do with her major after graduation, I learned that Hannah aspires to become a special education teacher or intervention specialist. When I was a freshman, I was pretty undecided about my major; however, Hannah is very tenacious in her major decision. Overall, Hannah dreams to work with people and especially a younger audience with her role model background. I’m certainly interested to see Hannah’s growth academically, and I think this career industry is a great choice for her.

Lastly, Hannah and I discussed freshman year, the transition from high school to college, and life at the Ohio State University. Hannah and I, although she is from Cincinnati and I’m from Cleveland, both attended small high schools with graduating classes of less than one hundred people. We both considered Ohio State to be one of our top and reach colleges when applying. Both excited to challenge ourselves at a large school environment, I was curious to learn what has surprised Hannah about Ohio State since arriving on campus. Certainly, Hannah knew that as much as she could prepare herself for it, the huge campus and student body size would overwhelm her. She underestimated small things like walks to classes, walks to dorms on the other side of campus, or travels there and back from workout classes. We both agreed how different it is to transition from going to being dependent on your parents to being completely independent. Although it can be difficult and uncomfortable at times, there are many things you have to learn to do on your own like remembering to do laundry each week, planning out your day with travel time, or going to a professor’s office hours.

I really enjoyed interviewing Hannah and I feel like I know her personal, academic, and career-intended life more deeply. I’m really pumped to form a closer relationship with her through this program. As her mentor, I’m making it my responsible to check on her periodically about her classes, how she is, and the college transition. And my hope at the end of this is that Hannah can come to me whenever to chat about life, stress, or our new friendship.