1. Global Awareness: Honors students will examine what it means to be global citizens and will cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. Students will examine the world’s complex, interdependent systems, as well as their own cultural backgrounds.
My time so far at Ohio State has been incredibly eye-opening in terms of understanding what it means to be a global citizen. The summer after my freshman year, I traveled to Nicaragua for a medical, dental, and public health service trip. Nicaragua is an incredible country filled with beautiful landscape, warm people, and a stunning culture. My time there included volunteering at a free medical and dental clinic for three days, digging latrines, and building an outdoor bathroom for a family. The service was not easy, as the days were long and spent outdoors in the Central American sun. However, I would not trade the experience for the world as my heart is the happiest when I am serving others. Later that summer I went on a 5-week study abroad trip to Cape Town, South Africa. I simply can not rave enough about this country. I got to take very interesting classes taught by extremely knowledgable people, all the while learning and experiencing South African culture and life. Some of my favorite experiences included going to the top of Table Mountain, going on an elephant walk, and going bungee jumping.
2. Original Inquiry: Honors students will understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community.
I have gotten involved in the research process via working in the Cognitive Development Lab at Ohio State. I am involved in recruiting participants, managing the database, collaborating with the lab managers and other assistants, and running the actual psych tests on participants. At this lab we study how infants and children form categories of their world via language and visual stimuli. I have been working here since January of 2018 and I plan to stay throughout the rest of my undergraduate career.
3. Academic Enrichment: Honors students will pursue academic excellence both in and out of the classroom. Students will use the Honors Contract to construct purposeful and intellectually stimulating programs of study.
I believe this Honors Contract shows my commitment to excellence via the classes I have taken and will have to take to become a doctor. These classes are difficult and require a lot of time but I am willing to commit to them because I know my goal and I want to achieve it. I also sought to take honors general education courses whenever possible because I understand the benefit of going above and beyond the bare minimum and I want to be able to have a more personalized classroom experience. Lastly, I chose neuroscience because I believe it offers a glimpse into what I will spend the rest of my life studying and speaks right to my interests which are the human body and how it operates. Lastly, the program does a wonderful job at advising students who want to attend graduate school so I also chose neuroscience for this reason.
4. Leadership Development: Honors students will build on their educational experiences to become leaders in society and the world. Students will pursue co-curricular activities that allow the students to cultivate leadership skills and competencies.
I am involved in several leadership positions on campus. I am on the exec board for two campus organizations, I tutor for the neuroscience department, and I am a peer mentor for freshman honors surveys. For one club, Remote Area Medical OSU, I am the sponsorship chair and I help in bringing money into the club and also delegating how best to spend our funds. The other organization is Honors and Scholars Ambassadors and I am the Selections and Training Chair. For this position I help in selecting new members as well as planning how best to acclimate them to the club. I plan to stick with all of these positions throughout the rest of my undergraduate career.
5. Service Engagement: Honors students will build on their educational experiences to serve society and the world. Students will pursue service-oriented activities that are socially beneficial to the community and that contribute to the students’ own learning and development.
Service has been a pillar of my time here at Ohio State. I have been on several service trips, one to Nicaragua as previously mentioned, one to Alabama, and one to Washington DC. I also volunteered at Legal Aid Society of Columbus and am currently volunteering at Riverside Methodist Hospital. This semester I was also involved in Semester of Service in the Sexual Assault Prevention and Education project. Throughout the rest of my time at Ohio State I hope to go on more service trips and to become involved in more service regarding sexual and reproductive health because this is an area that I feel very strongly about.