Spanish 3403 was the class that I think impacted me the most in my first two years on campus. It was an intermediate composition course, and was the first time that I was required to write full length essays in Spanish. At the beginning of the course, I seriously doubted my Spanish skills and I worried that I would not be able to keep up with the course. It was very difficult, with multiple timed essays where I had to form my thoughts in Spanish very quickly. However, I am glad that this course pushed me and allowed me to grow and become more successful in the Spanish language. It was the first course where I really realized how much I had learned in Spanish. It allowed me to become aware that I was no longer a beginner speaker, I had become an intermediate Spanish speaker. It was a great course that pushed me to write in ways I never had before in Spanish, and I am grateful for how much it allowed me to grow. I look forward to the remaining courses in my Spanish minor that will push me and help bring me closer to Spanish fluency.

This semester, this photo was chosen as one of the winners of a photo contest in my Spanish course. The winners’ photos are featured on the covers of the textbooks for the course next semester. I took this photo while I was visiting Tulum, Mexico a couple summers ago. This beach is right next to the Mayan ruins. This trip was a great opportunity for me to learn about the history of a Spanish speaking country, and experience the culture first-hand. This photo reminded me of my goal to travel abroad once again. I hope to study abroad soon to become a global citizen and experience other cultures, specifically in Spanish speaking countries to further pursue my study of Spanish.

This year I was a part of a student organization called Blueprints For Pangaea. Our goal is to collect unused medical supplies that would normally get thrown away, and send them overseas to countries in need. However this year did not really go as planned. We did not have many members that attended meetings and we needed to fundraise to afford a storage unit for supplies. I set up a fundraiser at a local Chipotle and a few other fundraisers were set up as well. Sadly, none were very successful, and we did not earn enough do accomplish any goals for the year. However, I don’t think of this as a failure. I think it is an opportunity for growth. Next year, I am taking on a bigger role in the group as Director of Sustainability and I see this as chance for us to regrow and learn from our mistakes. This is still a new organization at OSU and it may take a few ups and downs to get it to become successful. I am looking forward to taking on the challenge of getting it up and running again.

Last weekend, I visited the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium with the Biological Sciences Scholars Program. I had the opportunity to tour the health center and the manatee exhibit.

In the health center, I got to see where surgeries and examinations of the animals take place. It was fascinating to see pictures of how they adapt the rooms to handle the many types of animals that come in. My favorite part of the health center was that in addition to their position, each veterinarian is pursuing a research project to help animals in the wild all over the world. It opened my eyes to other types of research opportunities that exist as careers.

In the manatee exhibit, we got to see the exhibit from a zoo keeper’s point of view. In the back, we learned what types and how much food all the manatees and other animals in the exhibit eat. In addition, we learned that the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium rescues manatees with the intent to send them back into nature. They take extra care to make sure that the manatees grow and learn how to find food as they would in the wild. My favorite manatee was Stubby because although she can never be released, she takes care of the baby manatees that are rescued as if they were her own.

This is a picture of the outside of the high school I graduated from, The Marysville Early College High School. The robot sitting outside represents the dedication that our school had to science and innovation. The design process was extremely important in our school. The first few days of school were not dedicated to classes, but rather design challenges to get us to think outside the box. Many projects and assignments were designed to apply knowledge rather than just memorize it. It built a great foundation for me for college. I discovered that I enjoy solving problems and thinking outside the box. These skills will be very useful for me as I begin to look for research opportunities.