1. Ohio State football has got us like
2. Learning how to study is tough
3. Hogwarts is Harry’s home and Ohio State is beginning to feel like our home
4. Living with roommates can be challenging, but it can also be fun
5. Tutoring services on campus are extremely helpful
6. Midterms, will they ever end?
Drake loves the change of pace “Summer Sixteen” brings!
I know that we are all getting excited for spring break (2 more days, we can do it!); trust me, the sunshine and sand are calling my name right now. In addition to lounging on the beach, I also want to finalize my summer plans over break. I know summer may seem so far away, but it’s really not–it’s less than two months away. It’s time to start planning now, whether you are heading back to your hometown to spend some quality time with your family or to work a summer job, or studying abroad or traveling, or if you are staying in the great town of Columbus to take some summer classes, do research, or work.
If you are looking for summer employment, make sure you start searching early and send those job applications in. You can search for opportunities through Ohio State’s student employment site.
If you want to spend your summer engaged in research, reach out to a professor who is performing research in an area that interests you. Or, you can start your own research project! Information about funding for the summer and getting started in research is available through the Undergraduate Research Office.
If you want to have a Buck-I-SERV experience there are some summer trips happening, and the deadline to apply is Sunday, March 20 (the tail end of spring break).
Many people will be taking classes during the summer (I will be taking a few classes too!) and those classes make occur through another institution. I wanted to spend some time talking about how to make sure that you are taking classes that will transfer and steps to take to have a successful experience.
First things first, decide if you will be taking classes at Ohio State (either at the Columbus campus, a regional campus, or online) or at another institution.
If you are taking classes at Ohio State:
If you are taking classes at another institution:
Drake knows it’s a bad idea to not think about your summer plans.
Regardless of how you are spending your summer, take some time to reflect on your first year of college and your Ohio State experience thus far. During my summer after my first year I made a list of things that I wanted to accomplish or experience during my time at Ohio State, kind of like my own Ohio State bucket list! Make sure you are planning ahead because summer will be here before you know it!
By now (for better or for worse) fall semester grades are posted. You may be less than thrilled with how your courses turned out. You may be panicked that you did not achieve that perfect 4.0. This may be the first time in your life you have ever had to study, struggled academically, or even gotten a grade lower than an A.
A “Perfect” 4.0
This was me. Entering my first year at Ohio State I had never gotten anything less than an A- and I was bound and determined to make sure it stayed that way. Yes, I knew that college courses were more rigorous, but I had always succeeded academically…so why should anything be different once I got to college?
What I didn’t know was that on top of all of my course work, I had to teach myself how to study. This was a skill I had never truly developed in high school and I was finding it a difficult skill to acquire. I thought that spending all of my time reading and “studying” was what it would take to be a successful student. It took me a while–actually, my entire first year–to learn what worked best for me when it came to studying and that what works best for other people doesn’t necessarily work for me.
I spent an excessive amount of time my first year studying and focused mostly on my studies. And while I did achieve a 4.0 my first year at Ohio State, I didn’t feel as accomplished as I thought I would. My mother actually told me that she wished I would get a B because she thought it would take a lot of pressure off of me. I thought she was crazy, I was doing fine at Ohio State; I had a 4.0 for goodness sake!
Fall semester of my second year I was enrolled in an Honors accounting class. It was the toughest class I had ever taken; the material was difficult and I was thoroughly confused. I spent many hours trying to decipher the information and went to office hours regularly. I had gotten a C on the first midterm and I was traumatized. I didn’t know how this had happened. I worked even harder, getting more and more stressed over this class. To this day, I remember taking the final exam and the joy I felt when I got my cash flow statement to balance.
How I felt the whole semester.
I ended up with a B+ in that class and to be honest it is the grade I am most proud of. Yes, it may not have been the A I wanted, but I learned the most from that class and I worked the hardest for that grade. I not only learned the material for the exams, but I retained the information and still use the knowledge from that class in my accounting classes today.
As much as I hate to admit it, my mother was right: getting a B did take a lot of pressure off of me. I realized that the world didn’t end because I no longer had a 4.0 and that everything was okay. Looking back, I realize I had neglected a lot of relationships and missed a lot of opportunities because I was holed up in my room studying all of the time. I now have a much more relaxed attitude toward my academics and spend more time on my relationships. I realize that ten years from now I am not going to remember those two extra hours I spent studying for my law exam, but I will remember that dinner I cooked with my friends and the conversations we had. This more relaxed attitude has actually helped me in my academics because it has reduced the stress and anxiety I often felt before exams.
Getting a B was the best thing that has ever happened to me. It made me realize there is more to my college experience than academics and that the relationships I build are just as important as the grades I achieve.
Everyone has those songs that take them back to a certain time and place. These songs take me back to room 1256 in Taylor Tower circa 2013 (this was before the North Residential District Project, just imagine North Campus without all of the construction–crazy, huh?) and sharing deejay duties with my roommates. For better or worse, these are the songs that will forever remind me of my #new2osu days and my freshman year.
My roommate was obsessed with Macklemore, so this song could often be heard playing in our room. Whether you love or hate this song, you have to admit that it is catchy and can easily be stuck in your head for hours. It managed to be named Billboard’s #1 hottest song in 2013. I’m still not sure what all the lyrics mean, but hey, who doesn’t want to “wear your granddad’s clothes” while looking incredible?
Miley Cyrus was having a moment my freshman year. She left her Hannah Montana days behind her (sadly) and smashed into the pop music scene “like a wrecking ball.” Her VMA performance with Robin Thicke and that foam finger was a hot topic of discussion around campus for two straight weeks.
I absolutely LOVE this song, probably because of my obsession Nelly (I may or may not know every word to “Grillz” and “Air Force Ones”). It’s such a feel good song and when you add NELLY to the track it makes it that much better. This was one of the first times, and arguably the most successful time, that two completely different genres were combined to produce a top hit.
OneRepublic makes my list due to their free concert at the Schottenstein Center that was absolutely amazing! I went to the concert mostly because my friends wanted to go, but I left a OneRepublic fan. “Counting Stars” really hit it big (I like to believe that my roommate playing it at least 100,000 times helped) on the charts and in the hearts of Ohio State students.
I had to include at least one of my boy band favs, so this choice is extremely biased. This song was released my freshman year and is still probably my all time favorite 1D song (their new album, Made in the A.M. dropped today though, so this may/probably will change because this is their best album yet). Nothing creates a bond between people as instantaneously as talk about a boy band; I have debated the best parts of the “Story of My Life” music video with many people and made quite a few friends doing it. Reminiscing on my freshmen year is not complete without this song!
Ask anyone and I am sure they can think of at least one song that defines their freshmen year of college. What songs will be on your list? I have a feeling that Shut Up and Dance may make your list because it definitely defines my summer of orientation with y’all!
How many times do you check your Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook in a day? I check most of these accounts at least five times a day (if not more).
What do you see there? I see picture after picture of high school friends “absolutely loving” their respective colleges or having the “time of their life” in exotic places for vacation. I see friends at Ohio State tweeting about their amazing sorority sisters, or sharing great experiences and opportunities afforded to them.
Do you know what I don’t see? Struggles–the tough days, the inescapable stress, homesickness, the feeling of not belonging or not having true friends. Why do we only go to social media with the good stuff? We paint an unrealistic picture of our lives and we only see the unrealistic picture of others’ lives. No one’s life is as perfect as they make it appear on social media.
Peer Leader Lauren- How I Actually Felt: My grandfather had just passed away the weekend before and I was still upset. I was wishing that I could be back home in Michigan with my family to go through the grieving process. I wasn’t sure if Ohio State was right for me or if I had found any true friends.
In May, an ESPNW article profiled University of Pennsylvania student, Madison Holleran, who committed suicide. The article talked about how her life looked perfect if you viewed her social media accounts; she was a varsity athlete at an Ivy League university with many friends and a supportive family. What it did not show was that she was battling depression and was extremely unhappy. She felt like she was the only one struggling with the transition to college and she did not want to show weakness, so she did not admit how hard of a time she was having.
Peer Leader Julia- Original Caption: All I need in this life of sin is me and my girlfriend. How I Actually Felt: Me and my childhood best friend of 13 years are now complete strangers who don’t even like each other.
Her friends were struggling, too. They just tried to hide it through Instagram filters and “everything is great” tweets. They have recently started an initiative to show their bad days as well as the good and share their positive and negative emotions in their captions on social media. They share these pictures and thoughts with the hash tag #LifeUnfiltered.
Peer Leader Julie- How I Actually Felt- What you can’t tell is that I’m freaking out over the decision to go to law school – Is it a mistake to not go into Engineering? Can I handle more debt? What if I’m terrible at it? What if I don’t get in anywhere? Do people judge me for being a fifth year senior? Doubt and insecurity is underneath that smile.
One of my favorite lines from the article is, “It’s OK to not be OK. It’s OK to show people you’re not OK.” This is something I still struggle to accept to this day. This quote comforts me in knowing that I am not the only one who is struggling. If only more people would open up and say, “I am not OK,” we would realize that we are not alone in our struggles.
Peer Leader Inah- How I Actually Felt- Rethinking if Ohio State was right for me, deeply missing my family and my friends from back home, worried that I wasn’t fitting in and wasn’t finding meaningful relationships, concerned that I wasn’t involved in anything, stressed out over passing Chemistry.
Throughout this blog my fellow Peer Leaders and I have shared with you examples of things we have posted with the original captions and then we rewrote the captions to show how we were actually feeling or struggles that we were facing at that point in time. It is our own take on #LifeUnfiltered. I hope you all know that you are not alone in how you are feeling and that you may consider also participating in this initiative, posting your own photos using the hash tag #LifeUnfiltered.
Peer Leader Sarah- How I Actually Felt: Super nervous and wondering if deciding to move over 2,000 miles away from the place I had always called home was a mistake. I was questioning whether I would ever fit in at a place where I knew no one else.
If you are struggling with mental illness, please do not hesitate to get help and support from the university. Learn more about Counseling and Consultation Service through their website.