To me, academic enrichment is about filling my desire for knowledge. After completing one year of college, I can say that I have been challenged at Ohio State. I learned a lot about the sciences and math. I was pushed to learn new ways of studying and new ways of looking at ideas. Not only was I learning in class and in the lab, I learned by being with roommates who had different majors than me. For instance, one of my roommates taught me a lot about animals because she is an Animal Science major. I was also able to learn about different majors and what they do by talking to different people that I worked with and went to class with. I hope to learn more about my own major and also learn more from the people around me.

Original Inquiry to me is about finding answers for myself. I was able to begin doing this in my chemistry and biology labs this year. For certain chemistry labs, I was required to create my own experiment. This challenged me to use the knowledge I had to answer a question. For example, I had to design an experiment to determine the identities of two unknown solutions, and then I had to figure out whether they were endothermic or exothermic. I was able to do this using my knowledge of Le Chatelier’s Principle. I hope to do more original inquiry in the future at Ohio State by doing research.

Global Awareness to me means being aware that there are many different cultures all around the world. I come from a smaller home town, so coming to Ohio State has broadened my view of the world. One way I was able to learn about different cultures was by going to the Market Night, which featured a variety of the Asian student organizations. I was able to try many different foods, including Korean BQ and Japanese sandwiches. I also watched performances by many of the organizations, including singing and dancing. I went with my friend Christine, who is Malaysian. She explained her own culture and some of the other cultures there. I had a great time and I feel like I grew in my understanding of the world. It was a good experience and I would love to be able to do it again.

The Scholars program is defined by five learning objectives, known as G.O.A.L.S. These stand for Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement.

I chose to be a Biological Sciences Scholar because I wanted to be in a community of people that shared my passion for science. I wanted to challenge myself to go above and beyond what is expected of me. The Scholars program requires more from students. One of the aspects of Scholars that really interested me was the Service Engagement aspect. I went to a Catholic school from Kindergarten to 12th grade, so service has been a big part of my life growing up. I enjoyed taking part in service during school, including visiting a retirement home each week, tutoring kindergarteners, and mentoring a younger student. I was also a volunteer in my city’s emergency room. I helped check in patients and take visitors back to the rooms. I did this eight hours each month. Service is an important part of my life because I am so thankful for the life I have and I want to give back to people that are less fortunate and the people that are in need of help.

Another aspect of the Scholars program that interested me was the aspect of Leadership Development. In high school, I was a cabinet member of my school’s house system. The house system split all the students from 6th to 12th grade into six different houses, almost like the houses in Harry Potter, except the assignments were random and not based on personality. As one of two cabinet members, I was in charge of leading the house Presidents and Vice Presidents, and working with the teacher in charge of the house system. Together, we planned service days, in which students went out into the community to do service at various locations. We planned competitions including a Dodgeball Tournament, a cake designing contest, and a gingerbread house decorating competition. I had to think of the logistics for the activities we did, as well as lead them. This meant that I was in front of my whole school with a microphone, leading the activities. This challenged me because I had to think critically and present myself well in order to create a fun atmosphere. I hope to continue to develop my leadership skills in the Scholars program.