G.O.A.L.S.

Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement.

The Honors & Scholars Center at the Ohio State University focuses on what they call G.O.A.L.S which stands for Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. Not by accident is there a scholars program at OSU called Mount Leadership Society. This scholars program is one that I was accepted into upon coming into Ohio State and has greatly shaped my experience here. Mount is unlike other scholars programs in that it doesn’t focus on a specific area or areas of study and it has nothing to do with majors. Instead, it is focused on two of the letters included in G.O.A.L.S: Leadership development and Service Engagement. Through Mount we have gone through training on how to become better leaders through retreats, workshops, classes. We have learned more about our own strengths and how to apply that to leading others. The other aspect of Mount is Service Engagement. Not only do we learn more about our community and the triumphs and hardships that face it through classes and workshops, but we also experience it firsthand. Last year we did at least one large service project each month, including working with an agency of our own choice the second semester and building a service project with that agency. What I’m even more excited about though is this year, my final year in Mount. Mount second years participate in what is called a “Year of Service.” Throughout this semester and next I will be doing 70+ service hours at my chosen service site to better serve my community and learn from service. So far my volunteering at the Clintonville/Beechwold Community Resource Center has been a great learning and growing experience and I am thrilled to continue serving there throughout my sophomore year.

Other aspects of G.O.A.L.S that I fit into well is Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, and Academic Enrichment. In fact, my major is focused around the first one. As an International Business major, my goal is to work in the world market and to learn more on how to fit into the business world in a global sense and into the global community as a whole. This is aided by my other major: Spanish and my minor: Portuguese. Being trilingual is something that excites me because I gain more access to those communities who speak those languages and can connect on a deeper level with others from different countries and communities. In order to complete my major and to enrich my academic career, I am hoping to study abroad the spring of my junior year in Spain. This is truly immerse myself in another culture and to learn first hand more about what it takes to be a global citizen and to connect with the Spanish speaking community. Further along those lines, in the spirit of original inquiry, I want to know more on what it takes to be a business owner and on a global sense. By (hopefully) doing an internship this summer in Spain working for an entrepreneur, I can learn more about this field I want to go into and create plans for my own business I would like to own in the future.

In general, Mount and the Ohio State University have given me so many opportunities to grow and harness my strengths, interests, and passions and I cannot wait to continue on in my next couple of years. It is always refreshing to get a chance to reflect on my experience here and what I have learned and gained from being a scholars student at OSU.

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