Personal Development

Since the beginning of this semester, I have greatly improved my time management skills. At the beginning of this year, I had trouble managing studying for classes, doing homework, spending time with friends, and then doing activities that I wanted to spend time doing. I would spend most of my time sleeping and working on school. This was because I was very worried about my grades. Slowly as the semester progressed and I started taking quizzes and midterms, I realized that I could spend less time studying. In this time I had also managed to get better at studying, which only helped lessen the amount of time I needed to spend studying. My sleep schedule also slowly adjusted to my new schedule, and this freed up time for me to do other things. As I began spending less time sleeping and less time studying while continuing to get A’s in my classes, I gained a lot of free time. However, when I first started having this free time, I did not use it wisely. I would spend this free time playing on my phone or just doing benign activities. I soon realized that this use of my time was a waste and started pursuing more productive activities, such as spending time with friends and getting involved in clubs. As of now, I am fairly content with how I am spending my time, however I would still like to improve my use of my time. I would like to start working out consistently again. I have been working out off and on throughout this semester, but, hopefully, throughout the rest of this school year I can continue to improve my time management skills so I can meet this goal of working out consistently, while also having time for all of my other activities.

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Midterms

I recently finished my first round of midterms, and was happy with the results. Although, these midterms went well, they were not easy. One of the hardest parts of these midterms was studying for them. In high school, I never studied for any of my classes, so I had to learn how to study for these midterms. For my first midterm, it was easy, the professor and TA gave us lots of material to study and I had nothing else going on that week. My next midterm was similar. The professor gave us lots of material and I was able to look through the material consistently over the week leading up to the exam. My third and final midterm was not so simple. For this midterm the professor and TA gave very little study materials and I was busy with other class work for the week leading up to the exam. I ended up deciding to completely focus on the exam and not put any effort into my other classes that week. I learned that was a mistake since I ended up being over prepared for the exam, and received poor scores on the classwork I did in the week leading up to the exam. From this I learned that although exams are stressful and important, it is also important to balance other classwork with studying for exams. Also, since there was little study materials provided for this exam, I had to learn what to study. I figured out that it was best to go through old homework, and also talk to friends from different sections about any study materials that their professors provided.

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Physics Club Meetings

Since the second week of school, I have been attending physics club meetings once a week. These meetings host different speakers who talk about different topics related to physics. Listening to these speakers has helped me in multiple ways. At one of these meetings, the speakers were a panel of undergraduate students who were involved in research. We were able to ask this panel questions that we had about research. By listening to their answers, I was able to learn about how to get started on research, what kind of research I could get involved in, and what professors were good with undergraduate researchers. Also, at these meetings there have been multiple speakers that talked about their research. This allowed me to see what kind of research was being done in different branches of physics. This helped me feel more confident about my major choice and also my career path. After going to these meetings I am now more ready to contact professors to start research and I am more informed about what topics I should research.

In the future, I hope to remember the specific tips I received about contacting professors regarding research. These tips included using databases to find professors doing research at OSU, and to read their recent publications to see if their research is on an interesting topic. The next step after identifying a professor to work with, is to contact the professor through email. This email should mention the professors work, be concise, and mention times for a possible meeting to discuss working with them. I have also learned not to let the fact that I am a freshman keep me from reaching out to professors. Additionally, I would like to remember the interesting research being done in the condensed matter field in hopes of incorporating it into my research in the future.

About Me

Hello, my name is Nathaniel Taylor, and I am a freshman at Ohio State University. I plan on pursuing my undergraduate degree in physics and then precede to graduate school and obtain my Ph.D in physics. After my Ph.D, I want to do research at a university, which is part of the reason I decided to join STEM Exploration and Engagement scholars. I hope this scholars program will put me on a path to start research. Also, this scholars program allows me to explore my passion for all fields of science. Overall, I am excited to start my freshmen year of college and my first year experience as a STEM Exploration and Engagement scholar.

Year in Review

[ “Year in Review”  is where you should reflect on the past year and show how you have evolved as a person and as a student.  You may want to focus on your growth in a particular area (as a leader, scholar, researcher, etc.) or you may want to talk about your overall experience over the past year.  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.]

G.O.A.L.S.

[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. 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.

  • Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc.
  • Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
  • Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
  • Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
  • Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]

Career

[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career.  Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated.  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.]

Artifacts

[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.]

About Me

[Your “About Me” is a brief biographical statement that might include your intended major, your academic interests, your goals, as well as the things that make you unique.  Definitely include a picture! Also, remember that you can always update this post at any point. 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.]