Year in Review

Coming to Ohio State from a different culture and country, with no friends initially was really difficult, but the past year has been a wonderful year even with its ups and downs. I had accepted and the  campus had accepted me over the course of the year and there is nothing I would change about the last year. I always wondered that commuting to campus would be difficult as I won’t be much connected to the campus and make connections as one would like their freshman year. But I was fortunate enough that through the scholars program and joining a dance team on campus, I came across an amazing group of friends. Although living on campus would have elevated my freshman year experience, but still I could take away a lot due to the constant involvement Ohio state offers to its students.  I came in as a really indecisive student about my major and changed my major three times, starting from engineering to neuroscience. Although during my first year, I didn’t find at peace with the route I have taken of being a pre-med, through volunteering and service opportunities and interacting with others already in the major, it helped me stand firm with my major and to strive on. Even though neuroscience is a really demanding major, I like many aspects of it and hope to continue my interest within the major.

      Joining a dance team my freshman year was a joyous event in my life as I could share my passion for dance with 17 other talented ladies. Being part of the team made me more involved with the campus and also help studying skills as I had to balance both academics and dance practices. It helped me manage time efficiently, although there were days when things would fall apart, it taught me to strive and not to give up. Although during the course of the year, there were hardships like spraining my ankle and having a hairline fracture, I learnt to rise above those hardships and strive through. When our freshman on the team came to know that this was the first time the team was placing when competing with other university dance teams, we were really excited to have contributed in creating this history. Joining the team also instilled in me working with a team qualities that I would cherish the rest of my life.

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     Also, through the scholars program, I got to meet an amazing group of students who are passionate about the environment just as our scholars motto claims to be. I was fortunate enough to get know some of them in either scholars activities or during lectures. Mostly, during scholars field trips i got to know them better and it was wonderful to know their take on sustaining the environment through our ENR course. I also enjoyed the columbus to-do list assignments that helped me explore the downtown and the city, which was very vital to someone who cam from a different country and knowing about a new city was really helpful. I got to take the COTA  several times to go to downtown through which i get to learn more about the COTA transportation routes. That helped me discover that COTA runs till a bus stop near my house and from then on I used COTA to commute to campus, and also fulfill my EarthMonth challenge of reducing ecological footprint by not using my car to drive to campus. The bus system is really effective and takes you one to almost anywhere on north high street which is really helpful to go around and explore the different stores.

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     Also, I could come across meaningful service opportunities through ENR and outside that helped inculcate in me service values and helping the society by giving back what it gave me.The services I participated this past year were cleaning up the Olentangy river bank and trail, the first ENR scholars service event, apple picking at waterman, volunteering with AID Columbus for both fall and spring semesters,volunteering at Columbus Alzheimer Care Center, cleaning up invasive species along the Olentangy river to plant trees. The service events helped built characters in me that is required of me as I embark upon my journey of saving lives. I also learned a lot of things out of my experiences like when volunteering at Waterman farm, I came to know about the technological advances in agriculture that would ensure proper, healthy disinfected apples to be donated to hungry people through the mid Ohio food bank initiative. Also, while volunteering with AID Columbus, I came to know about the existence of widespread downtrodden communities in India which could be developed into safe communities by the help of funds generated through volunteering with the organization. I was glad to be part of all the service opportunities I was able to be a part of this past year, which helped me grow into a more mature, understanding and responsible person to the community around through service.

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        One other highlight of my time here was the football game I got to go to as a token of service for the campus parc volunteering I did last semester. It was really worth to see a real football game and knowing more about the game from friends, since I had no clue being an outsider. Overall, I loved my freshman year at OSU and can’t wait to start my Sophomore year beginning fall.

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Earth Month Challenge – Week Four

The last week of Earth Month Challenge I tried to look up for recipes that are dry and require less water and to take a step back from the authentic dishes that my mom would normally make. We still tried to make Indian dishes that are tasty and dry like Poha, which is like a cereal with peanuts and spices which washy personal favorite for the month. Other dry recipes we explored were mushroom baked with dry spices with bread for lunch and many more. We tried to go as much dry food we could eat and kept us hydrated by drinking lots of water and eating fruits and raw vegetables. This challenge made us healthy as well as getting our goals accomplished. I would like to continue this trend for a while as we all as family like the routine.  Overall, I liked the Earth Month Challenge. It made me consider how to live my life in an even greener way!  I will continue with these challenges in the future. It will be easier to do some, now that I’ve started them. Since it is summer, it will be even easier to do the food based challenges, since I can make more of my own sustainable (vegetarian, optional), in season, foods to reduce my carbon footprint from food transportation and the packaging of individual foods. I commute to campus by taking the COTA since the beginning of the semester,but to get to the stop i used to take my car. so beginning summer, im going to bike to my bus stop and board my bike on COTA to commute to campus for my summer courses. . I walk everywhere, unless I have no choice but to take the bus, recycle as much as I can, turn off the lights, take the stairs, and wash laundry in cold water. With the Earth Month Challenge, I still learned of more ways to be green though, and I now have a full list of even more than the four I picked for my challenges this month.

Columbus To Do List 2 part 2

For the remainder of my list, I explored more ice cream shops around Downtown area and up North High street.

2. Graeter’s Ice cream

Since the advent of going to Graeter’s, everyone had told me to try the famous Black Rasberry Chocolate Chip, the personal favorite of many. And for some reason, I had never tried that out, so this time I kept in mind to try the flavor whatsoever. And it was the best thing ever,the chocolate chip was more of like a chocolate chunk and it had all the flavors that savored my tongue. Since that day, I have only been ordering that flavor and recommending others the same.

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3. Diamond’s ice cream

Diamond’s is known for their Aguas frescas, paletas and numerous flavors of popsicles. There were so many of the vibrant flavors. Other than that this place also offers ice creams, yogurts and other savories like corn cobs etc. They also let me to try the aqua fresca samples which were an absolute delish.  I wanted to try all the numerous flavors but limited myself to a papaya flavored pink pop and a corn cob, and it was the best thing ever.

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4. Rocket Fizz Soda Pop and Candy Shop

This shop is located amidst short north and sells numerous types of pops and candies. although Im more of an ice cream fan, I liked this place for the fabulous colors and flavors this place had to offer. They had the normal root beer and colas flavors and several other authentic ones too. The ambience is pretty cool too, its very colorful, have dope signs on the wall, the usual candy bars and several imported ones too. I found the gourmet candies like the bacon infused in chocolate really interesting, but since I’m not a great fan of bacon, I didn’t try it.  I tried out some Japanese kit-kats and called it a day.

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5. 39 Below Froyo

This is the best go-to place for frozen yogurt and i absolutely loved it. Since Im a chocolate fan , i tried the chocolate and cake batter and loved it. This place too offers samples for people to try on and can have as many shots as one likes. The prices were cheap as it was based on the ounces of yogurt one gets and it also offered n number of toppings. The staff are non-existent for most of the time and just appear when we about to pay, so its on self chose self serve basis. But overall I really liked the yogurt flavors.

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Earth Month Challenge Week 3

In the third week, this challenge went fairly well. My goal was to make my own food and make it more sustainably, to limit the waste. My family helped me throughout to come up with less water using recipes and making foods that are less authentic like resorting to a bowl of cornflakes in the morning rather than the authentic south Indian dishes my mom is so fond of making . I also went to the Lucky’s trip and cooking workshop held by scholars and it was a  good opportunity to learn more about sustainable foods/cooking/recipes. I ended up having enough sustainably cooked foods this week to eat most of my meals and strived to produce less waste. Since it was also lent the past month, we didn’t eat meet at all, and strived to maintain that throughout the month, that too as a family, which I was very proud of. I believe that doing the challenge with my family was really helpful to keep me on track as they won’t let me stray away from my goal and keep track of what im eating. I would like to continue this challenge going forward into the future, as being vegan for  a stretch reduces my carbon footprint by a substantial amount, knowing the food and water resources to raise up livestock and poultry. Next week, I will be taking this challenge a little further by looking out for recipes that help use less water and utensils.

Earth Month Challenge -Week Two

This week, my goal was to cut down on water waste. This was a very general topic for me, and I tried to cut down in every way I could for this week’s challenge. The main way I changed my routine this week was to cut my showers down to 5 minutes, since I often take unnecessarily long showers. This was much easier than expected, and I will definitely keep up with this challenge in the future. I also drank more water, and less processed drinks, turned off the water while I wasn’t using it. I also piled up the laundry for an entire week to wash it on a full load. I also washed in cold water and dry at low temperatures to conserve water and energy.  The most important thing to think about is conserving water when you can, even if it’s just when you wash your hands or brush your teeth. I was consciously aware that I should not let the tap running while brushing teeth, I also attempted to rain harvest the when it rained the weekend, but couldn’t collect much water in order to wash off major big stuff like cars. Every drop adds up, and it’s much easier than expected to find small ways to conserve. Next week, my goal will be to eat more sustainably. This sort of relates back to the first week challenge, but I will be trying to make my own foods more sustainably in ‘bulk’ and eat the leftovers throughout the week.

Earth Month Challenge – Week One

My first week challenge was to cut down on food waste and food packaging waste. I feel like I did a little better this week than I usually do. My parents helped me  pack food, mostly fruits and veggies that require no packing materials and other stuff that requires minimal packaging like ziplock that are reusable. In the future, I need to be more careful about the choices I make in the simple things, like taking the time to make a sandwich rather than buy a ready-made one with all the plastic wrap and plastic boxing. This week’s challenge is something I will focus more on in the future as I think this is an important part of reducing my carbon footprint overall. In globally, we waste about 20-35% of the actual food products we buy every year, and the packaging that those food come in is also disposed of, often. To reduce this impact, one should try to go for zero food waste- buy only what you can eat. Buying unpackaged vegetables and fruits will also help reduce packaging waste, as packaging has no effect on how much longer fruits and veggies will stay fresh. Buying in bulk is also a benefit as well, not only is it cheaper, but you only take what you need, or get more of that item at once, and there is less plastic packaging. Next week, my goal is to keep my showers under 5 minutes. I know nearly all of my direct water waste comes from taking long showers, as they are rejuvenating after a stressful long day of classes. But I will make sure to cut down my showering time.

Earth Month Challenge Proposal

The challenge I chose for Earth Month is the Food and Water challenge. I think that this challenge will have the greatest impact on me, over the others, since this is where I have the most room for improvement. Plus, I think that globally, we should be more aware of the waste that comes from water, producing/packaging food, and general food waste itself. I look forward to being more environmentally conscious, and improving my habits in this area of my life. For this challenge, the hardest part will be eating sustainably  and keeping my food waste down to a minimum. Since I commute to campus, my parents helped me out to carry out my challenge by packing healthy food like fruits and vegetables .My first week I will reduce food waste. I will do this by not wasting food, since i pack lunch and use a reusable container everyday, I wouldn’t generate waste by buying packed foods from outside. Since it was also lent, we didn’t buy meat and strived to be vegan for a month. it was surprising as my family as a whole were supporting the Earth Month challenge and we were accomplishing goals together.   In the second week, I’ll focus on reducing the impact made by processing drinks/sugary drinks, and I will use only my water-bottle to drink and refill water. In the third week, I will limit my showers to 5 minutes or less. This might be the biggest part of the challenge for me, since I like to stand in the shower for a while, but it’s also the biggest way I can reduce waste water. In the fourth week, I’m going to research for recipes and easy to cook meals that are far from the extensive traditional stuff my mom cooks and uses lots of water and resources for, but something simple that would use up less utensils therefore less water to wash them.

Earth Month Challenge Part 1

The area of focus I was drawn into for the march Earth Month Challenge was Food and Water. Fifteen ways I proposed on reducing the impact of food and water wastage were:

  1. Using less water at home by taking shorter showers like 5mins and sticking to the schedule.
  2. Reduce overall consumption, like my family is a traditional Indian family and does a lot of cooking with so many utensils to wash at the end, and that too we hand wash utensils. So maybe modernizing our meal approaches and making salads for dinner rather than going authentic daily.
  3. Avoiding purchase of bottled water and getting filling water bottles.
  4. Reducing meat consumption as livestock production requires enormous amounts of water.
  5. Buy more eco-friendly products and packer of fruits and vegetables for snacks.
  6. Eat more grains and attempt to stay vegan for a stretch of a time.
  7. Adopt rain water harvesting when it rains in the spring time and use that water to water plants, washing cars, pavements etc.
  8. Adopt to public transport measures to reduce burnt carbon emissions.
  9. Get around with my bicycle for short distances and for running to the nearby grocery stores.
  10. Save food leftovers for next couple of days and reducing waste.
  11. Use washing machine only for full loads.
  12. Not running the hose while washing cars, but by pails of water so we have a track of water used.
  13. Using a broom to clean pavements and driveways rather than resorting to water.
  14. Commuting to campus via public transport or COTA.
  15. Turn off running water while brushing teeth, stop using flush to flush off waste like facial tissues and other bits of trash.

Three campus or columbus resources for sustainable food and water:

1.Real Food OSU: A campus organization that advocates for food on campus to be provided by local or organic farmers to give campus students healthy food alternatives in their dining halls.
2.The Ohio Water Resource Center: Run through OSU, currently, their research focuses around the issues of algal blooms and nutrients, the water and energy nexus, and water supply and technologies.
3.Zero Waste Services: The program works to divert waste from the landfills from tailgates, by informing people about recycling. They also provide compost, trash and recycling bins all around campus.

Four helpful websites:

1.Carbonfind.org is a website that calculates your carbon footprint, and gives you alternives to lower in parts of your life if you can’t compensate to reduce overall usage.

2. Gracelinks.org is a database which provides links to other websites on Water and Food resource management information.

3.Eco-centric is an online blog about food, water, and energy. This is helpful for getting tips on how to be more green in daily life.

4.The World Economic Forum: a website that focuses on current world issues, many of which are food and sustainability issues and how to lower our carbon footprints.

Columbus To Do List 2 – Part 1

For my second columbus to do list I decided to go ahead with my favorite list on the theme-based list- Ice Creams and Desserts. I have always had a sweet tooth and wanted to explore the different ice cream and dessert shops Columbus had to offer. My first stop in my ice cream venture was Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream. I ordered a Bourbon Salted Pecan and Brown butter Almond Brittle and it was splendid indeed. The store aesthetics were on point and I really liked the bottles with lights hanging at the sitting area. The staff was really friendly and allowed us take several samples before we chose our favorites, and also walked me through how the purchasing works as it was my first time there.

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I hope to explore more of the ice cream stores around downtown for the remainder of my assignment and hopefully create my fave list of ice creams to recommend my friends and family.

TEDX Assignment

The two ted talks I watched and found interesting were “Your Health Depends on Where You Live” presentation by Bill Davenhall, and another one about vaccines by Mark Kendall. In “Your Health Depends on Where You Live” presentation, the trend was observed that healthcare providers never ask for a history of the environment patients spend most of their time. I, in the future aspire to do something in the medical professions and hearing instances like these do shock me at times. Knowing that the environment can have a major impact on health, even leading to death, I was shocked we have not made advances in client history based on location.

The other Ted Talk I watched was truly quite inspiring. The speaker, Mark Kendall, talked about his new technology called the nanopatch. This unique way of delivering vaccines eradicates pain, makes vaccines more effective, accessible, and cheaper, increases their shelf life, eliminates the cold chain, and much more. Overall this new patch has the potential to save millions of lives every year. It also reduces the amount of energy needed to refrigerate the vaccines, no syringes would be needed to be dumped into landfills anymore, and his applicator is reusable. The take home message from Mark Kendall was the through creative thinking and challenging the routine way of going about a process, great things can be made. This nanopatch has the potential to change the world, just by a change in design in administering a vaccine. Knowing about this amazing invent, I personally am inspired to apply this design when I might practice someday. The environment and people will always be a consideration of mine when designing and testing technology.