Throughout my life, I have always been a devout Catholic and followed my faith. As a part of Catholic tradition, each member goes through Seven Sacraments to show commitment to the church. One of these Sacraments is one’s First Communion, where a Catholic student consumes the Body of Christ for the first time. My First Communion was when I was in the second grade and it was a fun day that I will always remember. However, my artifact has more to do with than just my experience through First Communion.

During my First Communion during 2009, I was extremely lucky to have my grandmother in attendance to witness me on my special day. Unfortunately, her days were numbered at this point and this was something that I didn’t know would be certain. However, on this day, my grandmother gave me a necklace with a crucifix on it. A crucifix is a symbol that depicts Jesus Christ on the cross to represent the day that He died for our sins. This necklace is extremely important to me as I am reminded on a daily basis how lucky I am that Jesus died for my sins.

This symbol doesn’t just have a spiritual connection to me, it also serves as a representation of one of the last memories I have with my grandmother. Not even a month later, on May 9th, 2009, she passed away at the age of 76. This necklace will forever serve as a reminder of who my grandmother was as a woman and how she positively impacted my life in the short amount of time that I had with her.

To this day, I have my necklace hanging on my desk at my home. I don’t really wear it that often as I am too afraid I will lose it, but I still get to see it everyday when I am home. Overall, this artifact means a great deal to me as it reminds me to stay devout to my faith while also providing sentimental value as it was given to me by my grandmother. While to some it may just be a piece of metal on a chain, to me it represents something so much more meaningful.

On Christmas morning, most people my age are looking forward to opening something physical. Whether its the new iPhone, headphones, a new computer, almost everyone I know always asks for something that can be wrapped under the Christmas tree. For me, however, it’s a little bit of a different story.

Ever since I was young, I have always loved vehicles. Not because they looked cool or were fast, but because they could take you places that otherwise wouldn’t be possible. However, the airplane is the most impressive one of all. Instead of asking for something that I can physically use, I ask for an experience for Christmas.

I have always loved traveling. I think that it is the coolest thing that at one hour you can be in one city, but after hopping on a plane, in just a few short hours you can be across the country, or even the world. The airplane connects the entire world, and as someone who wants to see the rest of the world, I believe that it is appropriate to assign the airplane as an artifact.

One thing that I am passionate about is Earth’s natural beauty. Being able to hop on a plane and travel to see something that most people only see in pictures is something that I hope I can do in the future. As for that, Earth’s natural beauty and carbon emissions from airplanes don’t really seem to go hand in hand. That’s why, as an engineering major, being able to solve the problem of inefficient planes and protect the environment is something that I am studying for here at Ohio State.

Overall, the airplane plays a big role in my life. As I am passionate about Earth’s natural beauty, having the airplane makes it possible for me to witness these works of art in person. Not only does the airplane help me see these amazing sights, it also provides me a potential career opportunity as an engineer to solve the issue of airplane inefficiency.

Throughout my senior year of high school,  I participated in the Ambassador program. This program usually consisted of seniors traveling to other campuses in our school district to be a student aide to teachers who taught from Kindergarten to eighth grade as a class. While I went into the program thinking that I was just getting an extra bell to get some homework done, I left realizing that I had joined something that would not only open my eyes, but also help me realize my true passion.

Everyday, for the last bell of the day, I would travel to our middle school and help our Mrs. Rudisell, an eighth grade science teacher who I had never met. However, after attending the class for a couple of weeks, it became apparent to me that her last class of the day consisted of many students who had learning disorders. Instead of being a student aide, I slowly became these kids’ tutor and teacher. While Mrs. Rudisell would teach the rest of the class, my fellow team members, Jordan and Lexi, and I would teach these kids at a slower pace with more one-on-one attention in the tutor room, which is what is pictured below.

This tutor room represents a whole experience where I feel as if I made a positive impact and I found out my passion. This is the first time that I was really exposed to people who learned differently than me. Also, these kids had a special place in my heart because it was apparent that they were not  fortunate to have the good home life that I always had. Therefore, I felt the need to make their school experience even better as they needed to have a place where they could be themselves and enjoy their time. This is exactly what we did.

It was always so rewarding to see them light up as they walked into class as well as see their scores go up on tests and assignments. Throughout this experience, I learned that everyone has their own situation and their own way of learning. It was very eye-opening to see how these kids would go day to day without the motivation to improve or try because this was something that just came naturally. Instead of giving up on kids like this, people need to embrace who they are and give them the tools and attention necessary to grow as individuals. Just because they don’t learn like most kids doesn’t mean that they can’t.

Not only did this experience open my eyes to diverse perspectives on learning, it also helped me to find my passion. I have realized that I love working with kids and helping those who are not as fortunate as I am. In my future, I can definitely see myself working with kids because it is something that I genuinely love to do. When I can make a serious impact on another’s life, I feel complete and like I made an improvement in the world.

[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.]