Posts

Year in Review

Throughout the 2016-17 school year I have learned many things about myself. I have also developed new passions and skills. Before the school year started I had no thoughts of joining any type of research lab at the university, but after two semesters of chemistry lab I have developed a passion for hands on learning. I am going to find a lab to work in next semester. Additionally, I have come to realize that I am very passionate about chemistry in general. I am going to peruse a bachelors degree in chemical engineering after learning these two things about myself. I have also come to realize that I can be a leader in many ways. This realization came about from the course I took for my scholars program, Dunn Sport and Wellness Scholars. Being a leader does not only mean leading a group of people, but it can be taking on a responsibility when you need to. There are multiple forms of leadership, and I know that I am able to conform as a leader in many different situations.

Throughout the 2017-18 I have come into contact with multiple professionals in numerous careers. These men and women are open to helping everyone in the Dunn Sport and Wellness Scholars Program (DSWS). They have offered to help with interview prep or help put us in contact with people who will further our college experience by means of opening doors for us on our path to our careers. I am grateful that DSWS has allowed me to come into contact with so many passionate people because it this has not only allowed me to start a professional network, but it has also shown me what type of person I have to be in order to enjoy my career.

By this I mean that each person who has talked in front of our scholars program has shown who they are and why that relates to their career. During each talk I sat and listened to a person who loved at least one aspect of what they did. There are so many different paths to travel down now, so finding something that really drives you as a person is the key to a successful career. Not everyone is going to find that path though which is something that I realized as well. Everything should be taken with a grain of salt. This fact does not discourage me in anyway thought because I feel that I have found a niche in the chemical engineering field which will allow me to find a career path that is both prosperous and enjoyable.

Along with these career lessons that I have picked up during my time as a Dunn Scholar, I have also learned the lesson that relationships are a major part of everyone’s lives. There are very few people who have found their way down a successful career path doing everything alone. I have not heard of one person to do so. Meeting such incredible people who are in the DSWS program, who run the program, and who come to help the program out has shown me that there will always be someone there to push you in the right direction as well. Additionally, along with finding someone to help you along the right path is nice, but helping others out is even more rewarding.

I am more than happy that I chose to come to Ohio State and participate in the Dunn Scholars program because I would not be the same person that I am today without it. I will take all the lessons I have learned over the past two years thought the rest of my life, and they might be the biggest lessons that I have learned thus far in my life.

 

 

G.O.A.L.S.

In the coming years I plan on opening myself to many new opportunities that will further develop my character. In the fall semester of 2017 I am going to apply to a read here lab position under Dr. Kwiek. This research lab is focusing on HIV, and I heard about to research in an email sent to my by my Chemistry 1210 lab TA. This position would  allow my to further my understanding  of different areas in both chemistry and biology while learning how to work for an actual researcher whom is performing valuable research. This research will also affect many people depending on what the lab is planing on doing with the HIV virus. I will continue to work through courses that will led to a bachelors degree in chemical and biomolecular engineering while considering a perusing a minor. As I am furthering my academic career I will also join clubs related to my major during the upcoming semester. I am going to find a club that I am passionate about and due to this fact I will work my way up towards a leadership position within the club. Becoming the president of the club would be the ultimate desire. Lastly, I look forward to raising funds for BuckeyeThon next year. The whole BuckeyeThon experience was exciting and eye opening for me this past year. It showed me how much we as a student body can accomplish and how many lives we can positively impact. I look forward to the opportunity to raise more money for my team next year, and in this process raise more money for the kids!

Career

Throughout my fundamentals of engineering courses here at Ohio State I have developed computer based skills and different qualities that make me a great team member. I have learned the basic language and am able to code using the software MATLAB. One team that I was a part of created a program that enabled a train to run through rural and urban communities. This project created many issues that had to be overcome as a team. In the next fundamentals of engineering class I learned the basic skills used in the software Solidworks. My team in this class used this program and our knowledge of the language used in MATLAB to create an energy efficient advance energy vehicle. Our group encountered multiple problems during this project, some were not overcome until the final day of the project. Each part of the project brought about times that our group needed to work together or else our project would not be complete on time. I took it upon myself to organize a schedule for our team to follow which allowed us to complete the project by the required due date.

Artifacts

My fundamentals of engineering group that created an advance energy vehicle also created a video that gave an overview of how our vehicle was created and how it preformed. This video can be seen below:

Our team created this video towards the end of our project during the spring semester of 2017.  This whole project developed many of my leadership skills. I learned how to better leader by understanding that at parts of the project I had to lead and at others I had to follow. The parts that I was a leader of the group were areas of the project that were specific to my skill set. There were many physical and mental challenges that had to be overcome during this project, and after completing the project I walked away with many strategies that I will apply to solve future problems. Sometimes I have to step back and allow team members to do their job, and other times I have to make decisions based on what I believe will benefit my team the most. Additionally, I better understand that many ideas from different minds is going to lead to the best results in most cases. The whole project was worked on by all four people in my group, and we each played roles in developing each aspect of our vehicle.

About Me

I grew up in a small farm town in Northwest Ohio. I played football, basketball, and ran track all through high school. My senior year I was the captain of the basketball team, and of the long distance runners in track. I am still figuring out what career path I will take. I am interested in learning as much as I can in both the science and mathematics fields, and I would love to start learning about art history and economics.