HES Group

On Monday, November 4, around 7pm, my HES group and peer mentor visited Kafe Kerouac.  I thought it was a good experience for the group to get to know each other a little bit more while exploring a nice place off of campus.  I’ve never really been to a real coffee shop other than like Starbucks or something and I never drink coffee, so the experience was new to me.  I feel like the small shop was a nice, relaxing place that could be used to hang out, meet up with someone, or even just to study.  For these reasons I would recommend Kafe Kerouac to everyone, even if they do not particularly enjoy drinking coffee.

Year in Review

Before transitioning into Ohio State, my life was fairly organized and I had a good idea of what was most important to me.  I always prioritized my relationship with God, family, and friends, my mental and physical health, and my academics.  Even though I went through a huge change that involved moving two hours away from home and leaving behind almost all of my friends, I was able to remain true to myself.  I learned that no matter the circumstances, I am strong enough to prevent anything from changing who I am as a person.

Still, I can confidently say that I’ve experienced great growth throughout my first year at Ohio State.  Moving away from everything and everyone I’ve known my whole life has allowed my to see the world with a new lens.  Interacting with and building friendships with people that come from different backgrounds than I do has been very special.  I truly feel like I am more open-minded and less judgmental now that I’ve learned to see things from new perspectives.  Moving forward, I am excited to continue gaining new experiences and growing as a person throughout my remaining years at Ohio State.

G.O.A.L.S.

Throughout my four years at Ohio State, I hope to gain valuable experiences and grow as a person.

G.O.A.L.S

Global Awareness: Because I do not have much experience with countries and cultures other than my own, I am planning to use the STEP program funds in order to attend a service trip outside of the U.S. so that I can expand my horizons and gain new perspectives.

Original Inquiry: As I continue to pursue my civil engineering degree, I hope to participate in research whether that is in class, in internships, or in academic clubs.

Academic Enrichment: My academics are very important to me, so I will always prioritize them while I am in school.  I realize that everything I learn in the classroom may not be used in my career, but my ability to learn will always be there, so I will continue to take this very seriously.

Leadership Development: I think leadership can be implemented into any aspect of life, whether that is academics, work, clubs, relationships, etc.  Personally, I always try to lead by example because I feel like actions are the strongest way to influence people.  Throughout my time at OSU, I will strive to hold myself to the highest standard and remain true to the person that I am and the things that are most important to me.

Service Engagement: Community service has been a big part of my life since high school, so I hope to continue this mission on campus through the HES scholars program as well as through any service trips that I may be able to take.

Career

[“Career” is where you can collect information about your experiences and skills that will apply to your future career.  Like your resume, this is information that will evolve over time and should be continually updated.  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.]

Artifacts

Sports.

Sports have been a very important part of my life for as long as I can remember.  I started playing baseball and basketball from a very young age and continued all throughout high school.  While I no longer compete at a varsity level, I recognize the importance of my athletic career with regards to the people I’ve met, the experiences I’ve gained, and the person I’ve become.  Some of my strongest relationships were formed on the field or on the court.  I’ve learned how to deal with pain and how to handle adversity.  In addition, I truly believe that participating in sports has helped me to develop social skills, a very strong work ethic, time management skills, and the ability to fully invest in something both physically and mentally.  In college, I no longer play competitive sports, so I go to the gym everyday because I enjoy lifting weights, improving my physical health, and taking a break from all of the schoolwork.  Overall, sports, lifting, and physical activity in general will always play a very big part in my everyday life.

About Me

My name is Tyler Voss and I am a first year civil engineering student at The Ohio State University.  I am from Cincinnati and I have one younger brother named Ian, as well as my mom and my dad who are in the picture below.  I am very close with my family and friends back at home.  In school, I have always enjoyed creative problem solving, working in teams, and brainstorming new ideas.  After taking an introduction to engineering class in high school, I immediately knew that engineering was right for me.  Outside of school, I enjoy performing community service, lifting weights, and watching pro and college sports.  I am a big fan of the Reds, Bengals, Philadelphia Eagles, Cincinnati Bearcats, and of course the Ohio State Buckeyes.  I played baseball and basketball in high school, so now that I am in college, I spend a lot of time working out and playing pickup basketball whenever I have time.  Also, I’ve been heavily involved with the Christians on Campus group throughout the year.  This has helped me with my faith and personal growth.  Lastly, I am very excited to combine my two interests of engineering and serving others as I continue to get involved with HES and discover all that the program has to offer.

 

 

After taking the online strengths assessment, I found that my top five strengths are spirituality, gratitude, fairness, self-regulation, and kindness.  I agree that I am strong spiritually because I have strong beliefs and I actively practice my religion as a Catholic.  However, I wouldn’t call this my greatest strength, because I’m not as spiritual as I probably should be.  Next, I feel like gratitude is definitely a strength of mine.  I realize that I am extremely blessed to have a loving family and have the opportunity to go to Ohio State.  Whenever things aren’t going well I always put things in perspective and thank God for everything that he has done for me.  With regards to fairness, I was a little surprised that this was one of my top strengths, but it does make sense.  I try to treat everyone equally, and I always get along with everyone, even if I don’t particularly like them.  I feel like self-regulation is another strength that I definitely agree with.  I feel like I am very self-disciplined, and I am not easily influenced by peer pressure.  Finally, kindness seems to accurately describe me.  I always try to do what I can for others, and I think the people that know me best would definitely call me a kind person.