This past Saturday, October 19, I did service at the Heart to Heart Center in Columbus, Ohio. Doing service with this organization was an overall amazing experience, as I had not previously been familiar with their work prior to my work there. I would categorize this event as a non-IA event because I was able to touch base with this organization that works heavily within the Columbus community, not specifically Ohio State.

Heart to Heart’s mission involves giving back to the community through their shared faith ideals. While the organization mainly acts as a food pantry, it also acts as a thrift store, gardening center and has many volunteers who can connect visitors to outside resources if they are in need of them. Overall, I was touched by the mission of Heart to Heart because it was very fourth coming about the commandment that is the focal point of their organization, to love one another.

Much of what we did involved tidying up the property and helping out in the thrift store. I was proud to know that many of the volunteers had worked with this organization for many years and their efforts extend way past their advertised boundary of central Ohio. Lamar, our service leader for the day, told us that he’s met families that have come as far as Baltimore, Ohio, which is typically way out of their jurisdiction, but they are happy to help anyone that comes by in need of help.

This event relates to International Affairs Scholars in its mission. Heart to Heart aims to help as many people as it can with all the resources that it has. It acts as a connective landing base for volunteers, families and overall those in need to connect and find solace in those who aim to help and through their faith. Much of what the world needs today is to find common ground. We all need to understand how and what makes us mutually similar and to value the things that make us different. There are many instances when the volunteers have come in contact with people who feel ashamed of their situation and find it hard to ask for help. They make it very clear that their main goal is to help as much as their guests need. Hearing stories, such as these, touched my heart and made me proud to know that so much good was being done so close to Ohio State. It also encouraged me to visit again, as these volunteers do so much for their community and encouraged coming back to help out.

Overall, I was proud and grateful to have been part of such an amazing effort with Heart to Heart even if it was for a short time. They made us feel so welcome and I could not begin to imagine how welcome the people they serve feel.  Their three day food supply program has helped so many people throughout Central Ohio as well as throughout Ohio in general. I hope to return to gain more of a hands on experience in terms of community outreach.

I attended the Education Abroad Expo on Thursday September 13, 2019 in the Ohio Union.  I am using this event to qualify for the academic event requirement.  After having attended this event for the second time, I was a lot more engaged with the areas of study and regions being offered to visit. As a second year, I am getting closer to the time I am planning to study abroad so I took this expo to heart more than my first year experience.

I started at booth’s similar to my majors now under social and behavioral sciences. At the table I saw opportunities to visit Greece, England, Rome and even Japan. It has always been a dream of mine to visit Japan, however this program was only being offered as a may-mester program, where I had intended to go abroad for an entire semester. The only other way to attend a study abroad experience in Japan would be if I were to start taking the language. However, the person offering me information on this trip directed me to a booth close by. This was the most memorable part of my experience at the expo because it brought me to someone who was offering a study abroad most similarly connected to my majors and closely related to the study abroad experience I had envisioned for myself.

The CET program in Italy was a pretty all encompassing program for my shared academic interests. The program would allow for me to take communication classes related to my major as well as get a full on immersive Italian experience. The grad student at the booth explained that this program is special because it requires an American student to pair up with an Italian student who also desires to have an American roommate.  Having an Italian roommate that wants to be paired up with an American student is key, explained the grad student, because sometimes there is animosity when kids are paired with Americans in a different environment and are forced into these roommate situations. Having an Italian roommate would be the coolest of immersive experiences that would help me branch out of my American bubble, so as to not be surrounded by my American peers for the entire program. This booth also informed me of how to plan for and go about my study abroad experience. He explained that it is crucial for me to start speaking with advisors now to really narrow down programs that work with my educational trajectory as well as set me up to graduate in a timely manner. I scheduled a meeting with my advisor shortly after I learned about this information.

The Education Abroad Expo opened my eyes, even more, to the benefits of studying abroad. As I am already an International Affairs Scholar, I am eager and curious to explore outside the country. I feel as though going abroad would allow me to fully develop into more of a global citizen and grant me perspective on a region that isn’t Americanized, like what I am used to.

On Friday April 12, 2019 in the Ohio Union, I had the opportunity to do service for those attending the AIDS Memorial Quilt Conference. Initially, when I had signed up to do service for this event, I had no idea what to expect. I had been excited because I, in the past, only participated in service directly related to either my major or International Affairs. This service event had exceeded my expectations more than I ever thought it could.

After spending about a half day at the conference, I came to understand not only the importance of this event, but how this it related to the topic of International Affairs and the human population as a whole. I started working at the welcome booth on the third floor of the union where I encouraged people to sign in and directed them to the 3 separate rooms each showing different quilts. After previewing the rooms themselves, I had come to understand that the quilts commemorated those that had passed away from AIDS. Each patch represented a different person detailed with the state they were from, usually, things they enjoyed as well as their hobbies and other interests. I felt as though I had been only a small help due to the fact that this event was put on by a group of caring driven and extremely organized people. I had only been welcoming people and directing them to specific rooms, at first, however, it was about one hour in that I realized that it did not matter how large or small my time spent at the conference was. What made me feel so at home were the people visiting their loved ones’ patch on the quilts, which I knew must be such a mix of strong emotions in general. However, each and every single person I greeted thanked me for being there. It almost felt like they were allowing me to be a part of this special memorial of their loved ones. I was so grateful to come in contact with the families and friends of those being celebrated and it was then that I felt I had been involved in something so much bigger than myself.

Next, I had changed shifts. It had been my responsibility to be a quilt monitor and make sure everything had been going well in the round room as well as prohibit people from being food or drink inside. I had been monitoring this room for the rest of my time at the conference. Again, I was able to meet the sweetest most compassionate people who so cared for their loved ones and allowed me to take part in this emotional experience. I remember a group of about 10 people, friends and family of a member on the quilt, had all been embracing each other and crying as they remembered their loved ones. It was so touching and I felt honored to be allowed to witness such vulnerable moment in someone else’s lives.

Overall, the importance of this event and its relationship to International Affairs revolves around the issue of bringing awareness to those who may not have information about illnesses others deal with around the world and taking measures to prevent these illnesses. For example, whilst working the welcome table I was told to encourage people to take condoms provided by the organization. Additionally, the organization provided free testing in order to encourage people to be knowledgeable about the risks of unsafe sex and to be comfortable with their sexual health. While I have never met someone who has dealt with HIV or AIDS, I do understand, after working this event, how critical it is for us to understand and be educated about matters that don’t just immediately affect our lives but all of humanity.

I attended the current events debriefing on Monday Evening, March 7, 2019 in the glass classroom in the Smith-Steeb Dorm. This qualified as an Academic Event. This event was extremely useful because as an International Affairs Scholar, it is essential that I am apprised of events that affect people across the world. This event was lead by Samantha Stelnicki and she started off her event by letting us play a Kahoot that allowed us to show how much we were keeping with the world’s current events. Sadly, I had not been keeping with news as much as I should be, however this talk was helpful in reminding me that those events that affect me immediately in my own life and community do not represent the happenings of the rest of the world.

Following the Kahoot, we discussed England and Brexit, North Korea and even how one of the smallest babies in the world was recently born in Japan. I was obviously aware of the event regarding North Korea as it involved the United States’ involvement in discussing the use of nuclear weapons with North Korea. At first, my initial biases got in the way as this is a somewhat controversial subject for Americans because it revolves around whether or not you see the president making progress in the discussion of nuclear weapons. However, other students in the class made valid points that altered my perspective from seeing progress not being made quickly enough to, instead, being happy there were a series of discussions to begin with. Instead of viewing this negatively and, in a way, taking for granted that I do live in a nation where the rest of the world looks to see how we act in our relationships with other nations, especially those that have been historically problematic, I should’ve also looked at this event more positively. A few of my peers explained that at least there is a dialogue being had about these dangerous and deadly weapons of mass destruction. In that moment alone I understood the importance and learning about current events as they help to shape the perspective I form about not only foreign nations but my own country.

This event was helpful in terms of International Affairs Scholars but also when learning about different types of communication and relational issues that we discuss in my Journalism and Communication courses. I want to be a journalist one day and to be a good journalist it is imperative that I am able to keep up with events around the world, how they effect where I live and how it effects people in the furthest points of the world from me.  Just last week in my communication theory course we learned about the Communication Accommodation Theory. This theory basically describes that when people of different cultures come together to speak to each other they will naturally match each other’s communicative styles in order to minimize discomfort. In terms of the Trump visiting North Korea, I was wondering what a conversation between he and the leader of North Korea would look like. They both come from two very different cultures and I ultimately, was thinking how that would play out, both being on such public stages and so many eyes constantly watching critically.

Last Monday evening, January 28, 2019,  I had the opportunity to attend the Pre-Law School discussion session with Sam Harris who also happens to be my R.A. on the International Affairs Learning Community on the eighth floor of Smith-Steeb. I have used this as a Non- IA event requirement as it touched on a lot of the in’s and out’s of deciding if pre-law might the right decision for me as well as the tutoring, required prep-materials for taking the LSAT.

Initially, I was intimidated by attending this event because I have always heard about Law School and look up to the people I know are attending as extremely academically proficient in their high school and college classes. People who plan to attend law school, in my mind, had been set on this goal pretty much their entire collegiate life. Additionally, as silly as it sounds, actors portraying the roles of attorneys or law students on T.V. are always portrayed as cut throat and unstoppable by any opposing person or legal team. I felt as if I did not have the capabilities or enough of a pre-diagramed map of a decisive plan to attend law school. However, this was not the case with Sam either. While I have always looked up to Sam as my R.A. being the wealth of knowledge that she is and showing immense passion for the various studies and extracurriculars she takes part in, I never saw myself as well versed in a multitude of areas of study or focussed enough to actually follow through with making a decision to go pre-law.  However, I learned that all my preconceived notions were just that and not as intimidating as I had made it out to seem. Sam described that she did not come into undergrad with the knowledge or understanding that she ever wanted to attend law school, but later on in her career, came to the realization that it would be a good fit for where her passions lie. I was inspired by Sam and learned that even making it into law school is a great feat, if you see yourself making a difference or serving others in a way that would be able to benefit someone else, it is worth it.

I benefitted a lot from this talk because I always viewed law school as a very distant, very miniscule interest of mine. Sam made it seem plausible that throughout my time here at Ohio State, I could find myself on the pre-law track regardless of my majors, minors, extracurriculars. As long as I had an interest in law I could declare it at almost any time. I very much related to Sam on this topic because she and I are in the same major, Journalism. A lot of journalists or communications majors find themselves making it to law school, especially when interested in working in government, which I have also looked into prior to being an undergrad Journalism major.

Overall, this event related to International Affairs in the way that law concerns all of the world and much of it is used to keep us informed and appraised of how we can connect and interact with other countries. It helps nations set up boundaries in order to foster healthy and mutually beneficial relationships. I feel as though I have the opportunity to make a huge contribution to the betterment of society and they way our world’s nations interact with one another.

Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to attend the mini involvement fair set up for Scholars students outside of the Smith- Steeb Residence Hall.  This event, which took place on October 25, 2018, allowed me to meet the service requirement for my International Affairs Scholars Program. As a first year on campus, getting acclimated to the multitude of clubs, organizations and extracurricular activities, I have felt overwhelmed by the many great opportunities presented to me by the university. While I am aware that I cannot go wrong with any of these organizations, I do feel myself struggling to hone in on what my true passions are and with which clubs I can further these passions. One of the many benefits of this involvement fair was that it included only a minimal amount of organizations that not only related to the International Affair Scholars Program but my major as well.

My passion for International Affairs, or more specifically, doing service internationally to gain an understanding of the many countries that make up the world around us and how they interact with one another would fit some of the groups I met with last week.  I was able to share my story with a few girls who seemed to be especially interested in why I joined the IA program and what led me to be interested in service. I explained to them my involvement in high school and how much of it was service based. Going to an all-girls private Catholic high school really instilled in me the value of giving back not to feel the self gratification, but to better understand and relate to others who live completely different lives than us. What drew me to this table in the first place was their involvement in South America, or Guatemala to be more specific. They are invested in a multitude of sustainable projects in order to better the lives in the community they work in. I was also drawn to the way they regarded the people they worked with in Guatemala as some of their closest friends. They talked about one young man they watched grow up and go to college in order to bring his agricultural knowledge back to the village to help his friends and family build a stronger and more sustainable community. I was so inspired by this and gave them my information immediately.

I was shocked this event could change my beliefs and perspective in such a short time, but it did. I came to the fair with sort of a closed mind specifically because of the involvement fair held by the school in the beginning of the year and how overwhelming it was. With this fair,  I came to the understand that joining a club doesn’t necessarily mean signing your life a way to create some out of the box amazing idea or business necessarily. In can, in fact, be a group of friends who share the same interests and passions, wanting to do good in the world because they feel as if it is their duty. Overall, I’m thankful for the connections I made at this mini involvement fair and hope to join more IA related clubs in the future.

I attended the Education Abroad Expo at Ohio State on September 4, 2018 in the Ohio Union. This expo fulfilled the Academic IA event requirement. This event fell in line perfectly with my interest in the International Affairs Scholars program because it revealed the overwhelming amount of study abroad opportunities that Ohio State has to offer, not only relating to my major but specific language and culture interests as well. In the International Affairs scholars program we focus on concepts that affect civilizations and individuals on a global scale weather it be race, gender, economic inequality, conflict resolution etc. Studying abroad serves as the perfect opportunity to more fully engage in societies that face these issues in a different or larger scale than the United States does.

Being a Journalism major, there were a multitude of Study Abroad options for me to investigate at the expo. Thankfully, I was able to meet with the professors and staff that led many of these excursions. The Arts and Sciences department pairs a course in European History with a trip to Greece which I thought was fascinating. Additionally, I was presented with the opportunity to study in England, with which the excursion paired a specific English course. I find that  my major requires an excellent writing foundation and going to England would not only develop my writing capabilities but allow me to more fully understand the cultures and concepts that come with the country’s history. I’ve always seen myself traveling abroad to begin to uncover what other countries and the world around us face each day, that I may not experience in my day to day life. I believe that being a Journalist requires you to step outside of your comfort zone in order to tell the story of someone who may not have the chance to tell it themselves. By studying abroad, I would be able to immerse myself in cultures that are unfamiliar to me. This will ultimately help me to grow as a student in my studies and as a young adult in our world that is constantly changing and evolving.

My dream study abroad experience would be a mix of traveling to a European nation known for its rich culture and proficiency in the arts and writing and going to a developing nation where people face crippling societal and economic issues such as lack of access to education, poverty, racism and sexism. I feel that this experience would allow me to more fully grasp the extremes of the world we live in and to remember the diversity in experiences people face all around the world. This unique study abroad experience would allow me to put myself in the shoes of people who live similarly and very differently from the privileged life I am grateful to live. Relating to my Journalism major, I would hope that this experience would not only teach me to become a better writer, but to be able to have empathy and relate to the many different types of people living in the world around us.

I feel that it is important to utilize the resources you are given to make the world a better place or more specifically, helping those without the resources to do so themselves. Therefore, any education abroad experience would grant me the understanding and appreciation to more accurately grasp how those different from me live around the world so that I may be able to connect with them on a more real and authentic level.

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