Although my second year had some unexpected challenges, I want to take some time to look back and review my growth during this time. I had multiple goals for myself at the beginning of the school year, and although most of them are still in progress or postponed due to the current global pandemic, I have grown a lot and made great progress during this year.

In the OSU chapter of Blueprints for Pangaea, our completely new executive board had the daunting tasks of fundraising and bringing our group out of debt, securing a storage unit, and collaborating with other organizations in order to plan shipments of unused medical supplies. Although every task is not currently complete, I am extremely proud of the work and progress we made. We had multiple successful fundraising opportunities and not only brought our group out of debt, but we also made enough money to be able to pay for a few months of our new storage unit. Also, just before the coronavirus pandemic prevented us from returning to campus, we were finishing the paperwork involved with collaborating with Nationwide Children’s for supplies and sending them to local free clinics or abroad with the organization CAMO. I am looking forward to next year to be able to finalize our work and have our first shipment of medical supplies to those in need.

I chose to be part of the STEP program here at OSU this year in order to help fund a study abroad opportunity, and I was very excited to be able to plan my project and choose an education abroad program. I applied in January for a program to England I had been looking forward to since my first year. However, it did not receive enough applicants and was canceled. I was bummed, but I used this as an opportunity to find a better program and chose one to Argentina where I could practice Spanish and complete my history GE. Unfortunately, after being accepted to the program it was canceled due to the pandemic. Although I am disappointed, I am remaining positive and know that I will have the opportunity to study abroad in my remaining time here at OSU.

One of my main goals at the beginning of the school year was to find a research lab to join in order to gain experience in the world of science and determine if this is the career for me. I applied to a neuroscience lab in the first few weeks, but I was not selected as there were many applicants. I was upset and discouraged, but I later found out about an opening in the Tu lab on campus and was excited. I applied and became a Student Research Assistant. After a long process of background checks and online training, I only actually got a few weeks of training in the lab before it was closed temporarily due to the pandemic. However, I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and I am looking forward to when it reopens and I can continue learning.

This year was difficult and involved many setbacks. However, I learned how to keep pushing forward and I am proud of the progress I have made and will continue to make toward my goals.

As my first year is coming to an end, I want to take some time to reflect on my experiences. In the second semester, I felt much more confident with myself because I was returning to OSU instead of attending for the first time. However, I was a little too confident and thought that I could do everything myself. I rarely asked for help whether it was in class or finding new opportunities and I tried to figure everything out on my own. I also thought that I had everything figured out about my future. I planned on graduating in three years and attending grad school, but I realized that I wasn’t sure if that was exactly what I wanted. I am also really interested in medicine and am currently thinking about combing my two interests of research and medicine and attending MD-PhD school. I learned that it is important to have independence and be determined, but you should still allow yourself to learn from others and have an open mind.

As my first semester in college is coming to an end, I am taking a moment to reflect on my personal growth. Coming into college, I was nervous and unsure of how to navigate college life. At this point in the semester, I am much more confident and I feel much more prepared for my future. I have learned how to utilize many campus resources, and have made plans for my college and graduate school goals. In addition, I have become much more independent. Without my family constantly there to help me, I have gained more independence and have become more self-motivated. I also believe that I have grown in my willingness to evolve ideas. College was not exactly what I expected, and I had to evolve my goals and make different decisions to make them more realistic. I believe it is important to take a step back, reflect on my experiences, and evaluate my growth before moving forward.