G.O.A.L.S. Spring Semester Project Plan

Over this past Thanksgiving holiday break, I had a few people ask me what my plan for the summer was. That was when I realized that I really didn’t have a clear and decisive plan set in place yet and that I needed to make one soon. I knew I was either going to work or take on an internship but I had the least idea about where or what exactly I was going to do. Luckily, the research it will take to make this decision is a perfect extension of the Academic Enrichment section of the Honors and Scholars G.O.A.L.S  acronym. For my scholars spring semester project, I plan on developing a plan for working and interning in the land development or construction sector in order to begin to gain real world experience in my majors topic.

For step one, I plan to make an immediate effort to research possible job and career paths for the summer during the upcoming winter break. For one, most internships have pretty early application deadlines which would leave me sufficient time to send in my applications on time. Before sending any applications however, I need to get a clear picture of what opportunities are out there. It is possible that there will be many good internship opportunities that appeal to me but it might make more sense to take a regular job this summer rather than get started on internships immediately. All of these questions and hypotheticals need to be answered during step one, the research phase, of my project. As a general deadline for completion of this step, I hope to be finished by middle to late January.

As for the second phase of the project, I must make the decision on the path I want to take not only for this summer but the next couple of summers as well. Here I will need to decide which path makes the most sense and commit to it. Whether that mean I begin interning right away this summer or start with a regular job to earn some money and build my resume, it will be important that I am fully committed to my choice. The deadline or step two will be set at the end of February. This is when I should make my decision at the latest and in some cases I may find out that in order to meet application deadlines, I will need to decide even earlier.

Once I complete these two important steps I can then focus on being fully prepared for the busy summer ahead and put myself in the right spot to have success. If all goes well, my career path plan for the upcoming summers should be the perfect compliment to my major.

Clintonville To-Do list Part Two

Following up my visit to the Clintonville Park of Roses and Lucky’s Market I decided to continue the outdoor theme with our next couple of adventures. To begin the day, I stopped at Clintonville outfitters, a store that specializes in camping gear and outdoor apparel. Even though I’ve never taken a huge liking to camping, searching through some of the higher tech and higher quality gear was pretty fascinating to see. Some of the neater objects I saw were the massives kayaks and tents, some of which could hang in the air on near vertical slopes. In addition to the larger camping gear, the selection of jackets, gloves, and thermal wear was top tier. While at the time I didn’t have a real need to purchase anything in the store it was cool to consider what a true camping trip would be all about. Maybe one day in the near future I will look at getting some friends and spending a weekend in the mountains.

For lunch, I went with our group to the legendary Hot Chicken Takeover. Never living in Ohio before, since coming here I have noticed that the chicken and beef offered here, is noticeably better than where I come from in Virginia and Hot Chicken Takeover is no exception to that observation. I decided to get mild chicken, known in the restaurant as warm, for my meal with a side of mac and cheese. The restaurant also scores points with their customers for offering free iced tea. We enjoyed our meal during the stressful Ohio State vs. Maryland game. Since the restaurant had no TVs to show the game, each of us had to rotate using the free ten minutes of live streaming on the ESPN app on our phone. Of course, since the game went to overtime we had to exhaust all our resources in order to catch the exciting ending.

After the football action, we transitioned to a more peaceful walk through the Glen Echo Ravine, which was by far my most favorite activity I did in Clintonville. The first thing that struck me about the wooded area was the fact that since coming to Ohio State I had not spent any time at all in nature. We poked around the stream for a bit and examined the steep cliffs that trapped the creek on the other side. One of the cool features of the ravine was the houses built high on the hill overlooking the wooded area. As a kid, I couldn’t help but think about how fun it would be to have the woods and the stream running right through my backyard. As an unexpected surprise, on our way out we saw and, practically walked with, a huge deer with fully grown antlers. Even though where I grew up there were a ton of deer, it was one of the biggest ones I’ve ever seen and closest I’ve ever been as well.

In the end, the visit to Clintonville was a nice getaway from the Ohio State campus. I realized that since I’ve been on campus most the time, I haven’t been able to experience and learn that much about Columbus yet. Visiting Clintonville definitely taught me about how some of the awesome look and feel.After the Clintonville experience I definitely hope explore some more of the neighborhoods such as the German Village and Victorian Village. As for my recommendation to someone else hoping to explore Clintonville too, I’d say to try and experience their green spaces and nature attractions as much as you can. For me, it was the perfect getaway from the crowded, concrete campus.

Scholars Family Interview

As I have settled into college life and have tackled a month of classes to this point I have begun to think about setting a minor. At this point I am leaning towards a minor and City and Regional Planning but wanted to find out more information about the program first. Meeting with my scholars mentor Jaime was perfect because being City and Regional Planning major herself, she was able to provide great first hand information about what the subject entails. She provided me with the answer to the most important question I had; what types of classes will I be taking if I choose CRP as a minor? From this I learned that most classes are reading and lecture based. In addition, there is usually field work in the courses which requires students to get off of the main Ohio State campus area and visit other parts of Columbus. We also talked about the remainder of my time in the scholars program and what that might look like.

Having Jaime’s experience to draw from was a good surprise for me and made me feel more confident with entering into City and Regional Planning. I currently am not expecting to meet again any time soon but if I come up with any more questions regarding CRP I can always reach out to Jaime for the answer.

 

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.]

Columbus To-Do List: Clintonville

With the hopes of learning more about my new community in Columbus I have chosen to explore the Clintonville neighborhood for my Columbus To-Do List project. Initially I was drawn to exploring Clintonville because of its community vibe and close-knit ambiance that it portrays. The community attractions that I am most excited to explore are the many large parks and gardens that the community offers. Being in a city for the first time, green space and nature access have become more valuable to me. With these visits I am hoping to better understand the community dynamic in Columbus. That has been one of my biggest goals since coming to Ohio State since it is the first time I have lived in a region outside of where I grew up.

The first attraction I saw in Cintonville was The Park of Roses. The park, even in the beginning of the cold days of winter, was filled with dog walkers, frisbee games, and families enjoying the outdoors. It was clear the entire park and more specifically the rose garden plays an important role in the surrounding neighborhoods, especially in the summer months. Beyond the rose garden the parks many sports fields were occupied with youth soccer games, filling the air with a family friendly atmosphere during our visit.

We then stopped for dinner at Lucky’s Market, a futuristic looking grocery store with an emphasis on natural and organic produce and food. I got pizza to eat at the deli stand and a homemade cream soda to go with it; both of which were delicious. The market seemed much more inviting to customers than traditional grocery stores and offered a selection of food that could easily be prepared at home for a cost effective, great tasting meal.