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 information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. 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 information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. 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 information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. 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 is a reflective description of the artifact that attempts to communicate its significance.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

About Me

2015 Graduate of Mt. Lebanon High School

Senior Picture: Sierra L. van Dijk

I was born in Morgantown, WV in 1997 where I lived until I was three years old, after which my family moved to Mt. Lebanon, a suburb of Pittsburgh, PA.  I have spent the whole of my academic career within the Mt. Lebanon School System.  I graduated this year from Mt. Lebanon High School as a part of the National Honors Society and Cum Laude.

I will be attending Ohio State University this fall as a first year Honors and Undeclared Engineering student.  I was leaning towards declaring as a pre-Mechanical Engineering Major, but I wanted to take this first semester to learn about each discipline before I made a choice.

While I am at OSU I hope to take advantage of the Co-op program to gain real world experience before entering the work force, since I believe it will be an invaluable part of my education.  I also hope to study abroad at some point during my four years, hopefully in Germany since I took German all four years of high school.

In high school I was a member of the cross country team, swim team, and was an active member of our Science Bowl Club.  However, the best activity I was ever involved in was a 10-day trip to Brazil with Habitat for Humanity.  I traveled with my Dad as a part of a small group from Pittsburgh and we spent our days building homes in Feira Nova, Brazil for women who worked in the local cassava factories.  I spent the trip doing manual labor and learning about the culture, and it helped me to decide that I want my future job to have an outreach or missions component.  Since this trip I have been trying to find ways to make this a reality and I hope that by attending Ohio State University I will be able to acquire and hone the skills I need to have a career that can allow me to help others.  This is why I am excited to attend OSU, so I can start working toward that future.