Global Awareness:
I plan to work towards global awareness by studying abroad, taking relevant GE courses, and through my minor in Spanish. First of all, I think that one of the most effective ways to learn to understand different cultures and ideas is to study in a different country. Likely, I would do so in a Latin American country due to my minor in Spanish. This would give me a better understanding of the language and the culture of another country in comparison to our own better than simply learning in a classroom environment. Also, I plan to take GE courses that improve my understanding of global relations. These will help me in a similar manner but to a lesser extent. Lastly my minor in Spanish will give me an insight into Hispanic culture through education in the culture and through obtaining fluency in the language.
Original Inquiry:
To meet this section of the G.O.A.L.S, I will continue to enroll in difficult courses for my major and for my GEs and by pursuing research opportunities on campus in the years to come. Looking ahead at the courses I need for my major, it is evident to me that I will have many tough semesters. Hopefully, this difficulty will help me to become a more knowledgeable person upon graduation and help me to get into a good graduate program. Also, I am interested in finding a research position at OSU in the next couple of semesters so that I can experience how basic research in mathematics is done in a university setting. This will help to give me a better idea of what my career path and goals will be upon graduating.
Academic Enrichment:
The Academic plan will be a roadmap for the remainder of my time at OSU. In creating it, I have decided in the major courses and GE courses that I will take before graduating from OSU in the honors program. I chose to be a mathematics major because, to me, mathematics is a very interesting field and it has tremendous implications in modern physics and, through that, technological developments. As for minors, I will definitely be pursuing a minor in Spanish so that I can be fluent in a second language; I also may choose to minor in either physics, CIS, or philosophy, but this will be dependent on how many classes I have time to take and which classes I find most interesting. Overall, my course load over the next four years will be quite difficult and will be more than enough to fulfill the requirements set by the Honor’s program.
Leadership Development:
During my time at OSU, I plan to be involved in several organizations that will help me to further improve my leadership skills and experience in leadership positions. Currently, I am only involved in one such organization, a service fraternity Epsilon Tau Pi. This fraternity is devoted to service, as it is comprised solely of Eagle Scouts, and through it I have already participated in several service projects and have already taken up leadership roles. In the coming semesters, I plan to join other student organizations such as possibly an orchestra or jazz band on campus or maybe another organization that interests me in which I can find a leadership position. Exactly which and how many groups I join will be based on the time that my schedule allows me to be involved and my ability to balance course work and other activities.
Service Engagement:
Service is very important to me and is definitely something that I wish to continue to be a part of during my four years at OSU. Right now I am only involved with one service base organization; as mentioned above, I am a member of the fraternity, Epsilon Tau Pi, which aims to give back to Scouting and to the community through various service projects. Through this organization, I have already participated in several service projects including one that renovated a local vacant lot into a community garden and one that helped clear a vast area of a local Boy Scout Camp’s trails so that they could be better utilized by scouts. In the future I would be interested in maybe joining one more service oriented group, but as to what group exactly, I do not know. It is possible that I will join a group devoted to something environmental because, to me, environmental issues are very important to our society and need more people to get involved with them.