WOW, WHAT A YEAR IT HAS BEEN! I’ve traveled to and from the Northern Lights Homework Help Center many times, and I am so grateful for the experience. I met so many people that have changed my life along the way, including the other volunteers, the staff there, and the kids I have served. Attached is a copy of my Year of Service Synopsis. It includes more information about my time at the HHC. I plan on returning to the library next semester when I have my own car and can more easily access it!

YOSSYN-1szc07e

Growth

When I think of a word to describe my semester thus far, the term ‘growth’ comes to mind. From the beginning of the semester until now, I feel as if I have matured greatly and am now a better version of myself than before. I have worked harder than ever before to get good grades in my classes, which has led to me having academic success. I’ve been more involved on campus as well as I have maintained leadership roles as a Chair for Mount, Director of Marketing for Sportsmanship Council, and tutor at the Columbus Metropolitan Library’s Homework Help Center. I also took on a job at Espress-OH in the Union. This position has helped me learn to work well with others when things are stressful.

Growing from one day to the next is critical in becoming a more well-rounded individual. By challenging myself to succeed in all areas of life, I believe that I have experienced exponential growth. One positive outcome of this has been my newfound love of statistics. I’ve developed a passion for this subject as I have worked tirelessly to understand its content over the semester. Because of this, I have chosen to use a picture of a graph with a positive, upward-trending slope, thus signifying growth. While it may be a simple picture, it truly does capture my feeling of development during this semester.

Woo!

Congratulations to Shamina and Shawn! They won the USG election the week before Spring Break. Good job to everyone involved, including my roommate Caleb.

39-38: The Halloween Miracle

This past weekend was easily the most exciting since I’ve been here at Ohio State. Not only was it Halloween weekend, but the Buckeyes also beat Penn State 39-38 in a wild game of comebacks, nerve-wracking plays, and lots of high fives. The game left my girlfriend, our friends, and I on the edges of our seats almost the whole time (we did consider leaving when the Buckeyes went down by two touchdowns late in the game, but thank goodness we didn’t). Once we won, storming the field was an experience I never thought I would participate in. While it did leave me with a sore leg and a few bruises, getting onto the field was the highlight of the night. Singing Carmen alongside other fans, the band, and the football team was something I will never forget.

The weekend of Halloween, 2017 taught me that it is important to cherish my time here as a Buckeye. There will be plenty more opportunities like this one that will make my college experience memorable. Holding this night in my memories, I am eager to find the next event that will go down in the books as a moment to remember.

Go Bucks!

Working Hard Early On

It’s been just over a month of life as an official student here and I feel as if I have really settled into my role. I am relishing the experiences presented to me, be it service projects, meeting new people, or going to movies at Gateway. These several weeks have taught me that keeping organized and staying focused are two very important practices to master. Had I studied for my upcoming math midterm a little sooner in the week, I probably wouldn’t be up this late on a Sunday night (technically now a Monday morning) typing this. You live and you learn, I suppose.

That being said, I believe that this will be a good thing for me to go through as I typically adjust well when faced with challenges. While this one could easily have been prevented, it is nobody’s fault but my own for putting myself in this situation. Likewise, the only person that can do anything about this is me. I plan to learn from my mistakes and move forward, working hard along the way to become better at whatever it may be.

Although obstacles can be difficult to overcome, I am the type of person to embrace the difficulties of life and take them on. I am grateful to go through this now so I can learn and grow as a student.

Go Bucks!

Career

Having a strong Cover-Letter and Resume is essential in developing as a professional. These are the tools that will allow me to connect with employers, companies, and other various institutions in the future. They allow those interested to understand all there is to know about me so that they can make well-informed decisions. Due to this, it is critical that these documents reflect the most important aspects of who I am. Linked below is my current Resume. It is a living documents that is frequently edited to account for the needs of different situations. This is my most current version. I feel strongly reflects who I am and what I stand for, and will assist me whenever I call its name.

Ryan Venter Resume-1cnh1y9

About Me

Hello everyone! My name is Ryan Venter and I am a first year student in the University Exploration program. I am a member of the Mount Leadership Society Scholars program and am excited for the opportunities in which it will offer me. Go Bucks!

Year in Review

Fall Semester of my first year as an Ohio State Student proved to be a challenge that taught me many lessons. I learned the importance of staying on top of my assignments as there were many instances in which I found myself pressed for time. I’ve already found myself being more organized and responsible than ever before, and I hope this skill stays with me for as long as I live. Along with the difficulties of my first semester came many memorable events, including Mount service projects, Legacy Week preparation, football and basketball games, and many others. It was a great experience that I will always remember, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds. Go Bucks!

G.O.A.L.S.

7 months ago, or the last time I posted on my ePortfolio, my life was much different than it is today. I was at the end of my freshman year, nervous for finals but excited for summer. I was lined up to have a job at a snowcone shop while also taking classes at a local community college. Looking back now, both of those experiences were very beneficial to me as I made a lot of new friends from my job and I gained several credits for courses here at Ohio State.

Now that we are at the halfway point of the first semester of my sophomore year, there are many new aspects of my life than before. For one, I am officially a member of the Fisher College of Business with a specialization in Finance. After spending a year in University Exploration, it is very refreshing to finally be in my major of choice. Having gotten into Fisher, I now have two business-oriented classes: Business Statistics and Intro to Accounting. As of now, I am loving my statistics class as the material is interesting and applicable to life. Accounting is a challenge, but my hard work has paid off thus far as I have a high grade in the class. I am excited to see where both of these classes lead me later in the semester. I am striving to finish with an A in each course!

Apart from classes, I have been super involved on campus as well. Being a second-year Mount Scholar, I am a chair for the Media Archive Committee. We have been focusing heavily on taking pictures at Mount events to document what goes on in our program. We will also be hosting the Parent Reception in 10 days, so there is plenty to look forward to with MAC! I hope to grow as a chair and learn to run an effective committee alongside my fellow exec members.

Mount has also opened the door to volunteering opportunities for me. The Leadership class that we have to take for Mount, ESHESA 2571s, requires me to volunteer for 30 hours this semester. I am currently volunteering every Friday at the Columbus Library’s Learning Homework Help Center at the Northern Lights location. This experience has been extremely fun and engaging so far as I have learned a lot about myself through teaching others. Working with kids from kindergarten all the way through high school has opened my eyes to the ways current education is structured as compared to when I was a kid. I am looking forward to continuing my service at this location for the rest of the semester.

I’ve also been involved heavily in Sportsmanship Council as the Director of Marketing for the club. I am responsible for marketing our club and its activities on social media and to people on campus. It has been a very rewarding position as I have learned many new skills in the field of marketing. I’ve also recently been hired to work at Espress-OH in the Union! I have my first orientation on Sunday and I can’t wait to start. It will be nice to have some income every week or so!

The rest of the semester is definitely shaping up to be busy, but I am eager to take on the challenges it brings. Here’s to a great year!