This picture is from the reveal of how much total money was raised during the Buckeyethon from autumn of 2014 to spring of 2015 (we raised 1.25 million for the children at the Nationwide Hospital’s Cancer Research Center in Columbus). The picture is from the closing event of Buckeyethon. Every year Buckeyethon closes with a 24-hour dance marathon. Here we dance, have live performances, games, tournaments, all while a few of the children we raise money for come and dance with us. The children are given royal treatment and come in on a long red carpet to thousands of Buckeyethon members cheering for them.

My first year with Buckeyethon was as a general member in the 2014-2015 fundraising year. I was so moved by the experience I decided to become a Team Captain of Fundraising for the International Affairs Scholars Program. I help coordinate fundraising efforts for my entire scholars program.

These experiences with Buckeyethon taught me the power a strong cause can have. The efforts to raise money for children fighting cancer has attracted over 5,000 students from OSU, making Buckeyethon the largest student run philanthropic organization in Ohio. I understand, more so than ever, how powerful teamwork can be. I hope to use these skills to help mobilize people around other causes throughout the rest of my college and professional experiences.

During my freshman year (autumn 2014-spring 2015) I was a Director of Academics in learning for the Board of Activities for Smith-Steeb (BASS). This picture happens to highlight my favorite event I put together with my Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Culture (which mainly studied Indian culture). I decided to work with BASS to create an event highlighting different aspects of Indian culture.

Residents were able to come and watch Bollywood movies together while my professor explained how the movies exemplified Indian culture. Afterwards we all had a wonderful lunch full of different kinds of samosas (one of my favorite Indian treats). The event culminated in what you see in the picture. This type of event is called Holi and is held around spring of every year. It is a festival of color where communities come together out in the streets and through different colored powder at one another. It was a great way to bring the residents of my residence hall together and we had a blast.

This event helped me learn how beneficial active and cooperative learning can be. Often times interactive learning fosters community amongst individuals, while making content learned more difficult to forget and easier to process. I hope to continue creating opportunities like these for myself and others throughout college and as I enter the workforce.

This picture is from the second largest Hindu Temple in the world. My International Affairs Scholars group got to visit this location during our study abroad in India back in summer of 2015. The picture epitomizes the entire experience I had in India. I acquired a vast knowledge of eastern culture and especially eastern religion.

My experience in India was a transformational one. I learned about the differences of people and culture throughout the world, but more importantly learned how similar everyone is. We all have our struggles and our own versions of culture and most people are kind in nature. The most exciting thing I learned was how interconnected western religions are, and how similar many religious ideas and values are in the east compared to the west. So many arguments and fights come from the differences everyone has, yet people seem so similar in ways they do not always see.

My study abroad experience taught me how to better understand varying perspectives and mindsets (such as those between eastern and western culture). I now understand how important it is to immerse yourself into others’ lives to truly understand situations and why people are the way they are. This will help me work with people in a more understanding way throughout the rest of my college experience and throughout my career.