One of the most impactful courses I have taken during my time in undergrad was organic chemistry 1. Although organic chemistry 2 was also quite impact I believe that organic chemistry 1 laid the foundation that not only prepared me for 2 but has also prepared me for the rigors of higher level science courses as well as graduate programs. Organic chemistry 1 was a course unlike any other that I have taken as it was much more content heavy and required a firm understanding of every concept as each consecutive chapter build on what was previously covered, so to fall behind or fail to understand content meant risking failing every chapter afterward. This course helped me to develop better study habits and to become more intentional with my time and studying so not to waste effort on studying tactics that would not aid my understanding of the content. It also required me to study as we went along whereas prior classes I could study the content a week in advance of any exam and do fine. Organic chemistry also demonstrated the value of attending office hours to me, whether I had questions or not, and has influenced me to begin seeking aid more often in office hours for all my classes. I found that by meeting more regular with my professor outside of scheduled class was important for me getting more time with the content and getting to know faculty members better which has aided in my understanding of the chemistry field and the different facets that are involved in it. Overall I believe that organic chemistry has helped me to become a better student, and has prepared me with resources and strategies to take on intense courses.

My plan for the last two years of college involves courses and becoming more involved in organizations. I will continue to study hard for classes and get to better know professors in the science field so I can understand the field better. During my third year I will look for research opportunities to get involved with a lab. I also plan on gaining more leadership in my church and through that will look to expand outreach opportunities to people of underserved backgrounds. In order to help the community I also plan to continue my involvement a community center for immigrants and will look to expand my service to reach the city more.

I have a passion for learning about veterinary medicine and a passion for serving underprivileged communities. My vision for my last two years of college is to get accepted into a school for veterinary medicine, and to lead service opportunities for underprivileged communities.

My second year at Ohio State felt much different than my first year, almost like this was the first real year of college since this was the first time I had all in person courses and the campus had opened up more. Throughout the year I grew as a person by navigating what it looked like to be taking more intensive courses as well as leadership positions. Looking back I believe that this year really helped me to become more independent as a person and to learn more about what drives me.

Academically my second year was much more rigorous and required me to rework how I studied and even examine how much time I spent on schoolwork as it begin to impact my everyday life more. During the year I completed two organic chemistry courses and labs, all of which proved to be much harder than any class I had taken before, and challenged my study habits. Previously I had kept up with schoolwork and then studied a lot the week leading up to an exam, however with organic chemistry it quickly became apparent that if I did not study new content consistently as we went then I would fall behind and work would pile up. From this I have learned to set daily time aside to study for my classes even if it is only enough time to glance over notes or rewrite them, and gained an appreciation for attending lectures in person otherwise I may be tempted to push of watching lectures that are recorded. This year, with the increase in workload, I was also forced to find a better balance between school and prioritizing my health, as it became very easy for me to become absorbed in schoolwork and ignore basic needs like eating and staying physically active. I also found that my mental health declined as the year went on, however these realizations led to me better utilizing my time throughout the day to study and complete school work so that I was able to make more time to spend with friends and go on walks, all of which has greatly improved my health as a whole, as well as my ability to get schoolwork done.

During my second year I also took on a leadership role in my church and began to lead a men’s small group for Bible study and outreach. This had me reaching out during event fairs and meeting up with guys who had questions about Christianity or life in general, and eventually I started meeting up weekly to disciple guys. For the small group I would make weekly plans for Bible passages to engage my peers to think about how they can apply biblical lessons to their life as well as how we can better serve the community around us as a whole. Through the church I also aided in setting up a tent on campus and handing out free coffee to serve campus and reach out to people who wanted to learn more about God.

Finally, this year I began to help tutor at the Bridge, a community center focused on serving the Somalian refugee population around Columbus. As a tutor I would meet weekly with one to two students in high school and discuss how their schoolwork was looking; we would also discuss their habits in order to make a plan on how to improve their grades and prepare them for the future. Once we were done with planning I would then help them work on missed assignment for any of their classes and study for tests. One student I would consistently work with each week so we were able to build up a close relationship which allowed her to feel comfortable asking more questions on class content she struggled with. Throughout this experience I was able to grow my ability to mentor young adults who are going through pivotal moments in their life, and learned how best to talk to my student about important topics such as social justice in a manner that was educational but also appropriate for the setting.

Starting my first year of college during a pandemic was hard and I expect things to be very different in the coming years, however I could not have asked for a more influential start to my college career.

My expectations coming into college were almost fantasy, socially I expected to instantly meet lots of people and make more friends than I could imagine, and academically I expected courses to fairly easy with professors who were distant from their students. I could not have been more wrong about everything, instead I found my first year to change my whole perspective of what it means to interact with people and how I go about studying.

For the first few weeks I found myself feeling out of place with most groups and ended up spending more time in my room than I would have liked to. Eventually the event fair came along and I wanted to find groups to join, especially a church group to keep my faith strong while away from home. During the fair I came across h2o church and their campus teams, which led to me finding an excellent group of people and some of my closest friends. From this I have realized just how important the bonds I make with people truly are and that what makes me happiest in life is being around people. Although I am still somewhat introverted this year in a pandemic has forced me to reach out more and really cherish even the smallest of interactions between people. I have also become more aware of the major impact the pandemic has had on mental health and have strived to be a light in all communities I am a part of and look to continue to educate myself on mental health and work to help those around me.

As for academics I found that my courses were truly engaging and much more difficult than I had expected. This caused me to reevaluate my study habits and how I learn best. I will be honest I still don’t have it all figured out, having the majority of my classes give lecture online made keeping attentive very hard for me and I still am not sure how best to divide up my time. From this I have gained an understanding of what striving for excellence will require of me, and although I have retained a high GPA there is still much more for me to figure out before I can make the best of my college experience. The hardship of struggling to keep up with my classes has however made me realize that I do genuinely enjoy learning and look forward to continuing my education. The commitment and time my professors have also poured into my courses have astounded me, and I look forward to having more in-person classes so that I may get to know professors better.