On the morning of Friday, April 12th the Mershon Center I was able to attend a diverse panel of graduate students sharing their research on military and U.S Government related topics, followed by them receiving feedback from expert scholars. The first speaker shared an essay on Stella Rimington, one of the first women in the CIA and Richard Helms, a CIA director, and how their involvement with the CIA took part in shaping the way that we view spies today. Contrary to what is normal, these were two of very few spies to actually publish memiors, in a way making them seem to be the face of the CIA. The second panelist gave a presentation sharing the relationship between economics and defense. The National Security Agency (NSA), which she describes as being “critically understudied” has been behind many of the U.S. defense systems for things like military radios, financial security systems, and internet in general. Despite this, there have been many public opinions that the NSA has weakened these systems for their own advantage to take advantage of it’s users. The speaker outlines how important it is that we realize just how necessary the NSA is and how we’ve all benefited from their work. The final presenter gave a very different presentation on turning text into data by using word embedding and cosine similarity. These methods provided solutions during WWII with Bayesian Word embeddings. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about what these graduate students have researched. This panel gave me ideas of how I may go about doing research in the future.

On the evening March 6th, 2019 at Hagerty Hall, I was able to observe a diverse panel of specialists on climate change and environmental issues on both small and larger scales. The panel included speakers from the Ohio State Sustainability Institute, Ohio State Energy Partners, and The Sierra Club. All of these organizations have been apart of Ohio’s progression towards becoming a green city. The goal is that by 2050 Ohio will be powered completely by renewable energy. In order to achieve that goal, the Ohio State Sustainability institute, Ohio State Energy Partners, and The Sierra Club are all working towards solutions. An interesting thing that I learned from the panel is that The James Cancer Hospital is the most sustainable building on the OSU campus. This came as a surprise to me because I would have thought that a hospital with so much technology would be difficult to keep sustainable. This opened my eyes to the fact that if an entire hospital can have a Gold LEED certification, then every building on campus can as well. This makes Ohio’s goal of becoming a green city seem even more attainable. Another interesting thing I learned from the panel is that the Ohio state energy partners are currently working on adding smart meters to building on campus to measure energy use, and also working to improve indoor and outdoor lighting on campus to make it more energy efficient and sustainable. Though little projects, these things are important steps in becoming a green city. Hearing about all of the advancements that OSU is making towards it’s sustainability goals was very inspiring. I hope to seek out more ways to  get involved and figure out how I can do my part.

On Monday. January 28, in Smith Steeb’s glass classroom several students who are performing research as undergraduates were kind enough to form a question and answer panel on what undergraduate research really is. The panel answered questions like “What is research?”, “How do I begin research?”, “Is it difficult to balance classes and research?”, and many more. I think this was a very beneficial event to have especially as research is becoming more and more common for undergraduate students. I personally have considered research, but never knew where to begin. One important thing I learned from the panel is that research can be done on any topic and does not have to relate to your major. In fact, because of the time consumption of research it is imperative that the topic is something you’re genuinely interested in and not just doing as a resume filler. For example, if a biology major wants to do research in fashion, that is acceptable. Moreover, unless your major requires it, you should not feel like you have to do research as an undergraduate. Research can be very extensive and again, time consuming, so one should have a good reason to do it. I, personally felt this way and was intending to join any research project I could find. After hearing the panel I’ve taken more consideration into what exactly it is that I want to do. As far as how to start research, many said it could be as simple as reaching out to a faculty member whose work you are interested in and asking if any opportunities are available. Rejection is common with this type of thing, so it shouldn’t be taken as discouragement. I also found it very interesting that you may ask any faculty member at Ohio State about research opportunities. I was initially under the impression that I could only ask professors whose classes I had taken. This greatly extends the opportunities present for me to do research. Taking the knowledge I’ve gained from this session, I’ve began looking into different faculty research topics and getting ideas. Though I am not ready now, I hope to be doing research in my third year here at OSU.

On Tuesday, October 30th I got the pleasure of attending a talk with U.S. Department of State diplomat in residence Dale R. Giovengo, right here at The Ohio State. Starting as a grocery store manager, Giovengo worked his way up and now enjoys a career carrying out embassy operations in numerous countries such as Kuwait, Switzerland, Baghdad, and Pakistan, just to name of few. Giovengo’s lecture detailed what the U.S Department of State is, thee process of working for it, and what kinds of positions and duties are held.

The Department of State is represented by the secretary of state. This department serves as the principal advisory to the president on foreign policy, coordinates foreign policy issues for the U.S. government, and implements the president’s foreign policy decisions and programs. The state department employs 70,672 employees as of 2014. 45,905 of these employees are, surprisingly, foreign service nationals. They have 275 posts abroad in 190 countries, a headquarters in Washington D.C., and passport agencies and various field offices are located throughout the U.S.

Overall, Giovengo’s lecture was talk informative. He provided many resources and information on interning with the U.S. Department of State while informing us about what it is, who can do it, and why they do it. After this presentation, I am definitely considering a future with the State Department.

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