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Columbus To-Do List Part Two (Electric Boogaloo)

Hello there! Tis yet another assignment turned in late, and may I say I am only like 65% disappointed in myself. I recognize the risk of allowing these patterns of lateness to continue- while also recognizing that yolo is a very very fun life motto. AnywhoI believe it is now time for the Columbus To-Do List part two electric boogaloo. 

To start, not only did I fail to complete a full list but I also failed to do more than like three things off any list. But it is also important to add that while I was not the most dutiful in completing the to-do list, I have been very dutiful in my internship on the Morgan Harper for Congress campaign, which has led me to experience many unlisted Columbus experiences. As instructed, I will describe each experience! 

The first experience I’m going to talk about is the Olentangy trail, I talked about it in the previous post, but I didn’t give my boy enough love. I run this guy at least twice a week and it has a fat place in my heart. My favorite thing about the trail is that it’s along the river. 10/10 would recommend it to anyone. (Pic is of me on the trail lmao)

 

The next experience I did was visiting the Scioto mile. When I go on my long runs, I take the Olentangy trail to the Scioto Mile and use the Scioto fountain as my turn around point. This is by far my absolute favorite view in Columbus and take all my flashiest photos here. I think across from the fountain is COSI, so that’s cool.

 

At the beginning of the year I visited the North Market with my family to explore the city. We went after all the food places had closed, so no food- however my family did enjoy the giant cock on the sign. 

 

And finally, my favorite Columbus experience so far has been my internship on the Morgan Harper campaign. On this campaign, I’ve learned a lot about the city through researching and organizing information about cbus, and through canvassing and talking with various peoples of the community. The office is downtown, so I every time I go to the office, I explore the city. Also, I’ve had to become super familiar with the bus system. 

 

Overall, I haven’t explored Columbus as much as I wanted to, but I’m satisfied. There’s always next year, I guess!  

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.]

Columbus To-Do List Part One

This assignment may be very late, BUT it has been written with tender love and compassion- how could one deny a grade to such strong human elements? (I also didn’t see any policies regarding late work, so I hope you accept this!) 

The list I chose was Nature and Outdoors Recreation. Back in St. Louis, I used to go trail running and hiking a lot since there was so many cool sites near me; I’m hoping to continue that trend by following this list. I’ve ran on the Olentangy Trail at least twice a week since starting, and have ran to the Scioto Mile twice so far. It’s such a convenient place to run on since it’s right behind the tower and I love how it takes you straight downtown. 

But the experience that’s not on the list that I’m writing about is the Columbus Marathon. This was my second half mary with the first being in STL in April with a small group from my school. Even though I ran alone this time, I still got to meet a whole bunch of new people. During the race I got to see a lot of the city I hadn’t explored yet and a lot of smaller townish areas which was a good distraction because my ankles felt like they were about to explode the whole time.  

I ended up shattering my goal pace of 8 min, for an average pace of 7:25 which was so rewarding. This was definitely a good course to race on compared to how hilly STL was. I can’t wait to run the full marathon there next year.  

Here’s a horrible quality picture right after the race 🙂

ENR Scholars Alumni Interview

The scholar I interviewed is named Julia Linares. She was an EPDM major like myself, on the Women’s Rowing Team, involved heavily in research, and currently an AmeriCorps Sustainability Fellow in Chicago. She told me that she really liked the major- which was reassuring- and recommended also taking more harder science classes as well. She also talked about her time researching under Dr. Linda Loboa– which came about through emailing and connecting with her professors. And finally, she talked about her job at AmeriCrops. 

My biggest takeaway is the importance of making connections and networks. That was kinda the theme for most of her answers as that had a big part to getting where she is now at AmeriCorps. I’ve already starting building a network through the scholars program and through other activities like my internship.

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

Hi! My name is Charles Van Leuven, a first year majoring in Environmental Policy and minoring in Spanish (and maybe Sustainable Agriculture). I’m from St. Louis, MO: the home of The Arch, toasted ravioli, and the Blues! I came to Ohio State because of the vast opportunities only available at such a large school, and also because I received the Morrill Distinction Scholarship which generously (so generously!!!) covers all expenses over the next four years at OSU. I will forever be grateful to the Office of Diversity and Inclusion for granting me such a gift.

My passions have always been political. My political journey started my freshman year of high school where I forced myself to get involved with local and national democratic campaigns. I had no experience in politics or friends with shared interests which made for a terrifying entry into the bizarre world of politics, but as I spent more time working on campaigns learning about issues like healthcare, education, and climate change- I only grew more determined to get involved.

After the (heart-breaking) 2016 election, I went all out in my new found passion. I started the Speech and Debate Team at my school to create at platform for my fellow students to express and use their voices in a supportive outlet, I worked to create a more inclusive environment at my school through the Students Fighting Hate club, and during the 2018 election I worked as a paid intern on a re-election campaign for my local state rep.

Now as a Environmental Policy major, I hope to be able to continue being active in politics while also focusing on one of the most threatening issues- climate change. Further extreme developments in climate change will literally just make everything worse for everyone (put crudely), but especially worse for those who don’t have as much political power or privileges as others do in the global society. One day I would like to pursue a political career focusing on curbing climate change as a lobbyist, lawyer, or activist (or all three).

Thanks for reading!

(me and my sister in Short North)