Journal 3

I am really excited for the spring scholars project. I decided to pick up a new hobby; glass blowing! I thought this was a bit more of an extravagant hobby to pick up, but I believe its achievable. I was interested in this because I watched a great glass blowing show on Netflix, and there is a class offered here at OSU that teaches it (which I signed up for)! This hobby aligns well with the Global Awareness and Academic Enrichment G.O.A.L.S. since this is present throughout many cultures and centuries and it will also give a new, interesting fact about myself. Unfortunately there are no opportunities to work on this over break, but I am very excited for the new semester because of this class. I think I will watch more videos on it to try and prepare myself for the class beforehand. I hope it goes well!

Columbus To Do – Part 2

Since my last post, I have visited four more outdoor spaces! This includes Goodale Park, Bicentennial Park, Portal Park, and the Whetstone Park of Roses. I personally found the Park of Roses to be my favorite, even though when I went a lot of the flowers were dead. The trails were really relaxing to walk around and its a common place to take your dog, which i really enjoyed seeing. The Park of Roses was completely new to me, and same goes for Portal Park. Portal Park was definitely smaller compared to the other parks and had some really interesting graffiti. It’s also a popular place for the Pokémon Go community, which I happen to be apart of.

The other two parks, Goodale and Bicentennial Park, we happened to visit on our scholars trip to Columbus in the beginning of the year. Since we didn’t explore them entirely, I decided to go back with a friend and see if either of them had more to offer. Goodale only had a playground I didn’t see on the scholars trip, but I got to walk around Victorian Village which I really enjoyed! I decided to go back to Bicentennial Park because it reminds me a lot of Smale Park in Cincinnati, which is close to my home. They both are on Riverfronts, in between two bridges, and have unique contemporary sculptures. It was definitely comforting since I haven’t been home since fall break.

To someone who may be doing the same list as me, I think its easiest to choose the parks on google maps first and then taking a bus to get to them, rather than just going out and hoping to run into a park. This project definitely gave me a bigger perspective of what Columbus has to offer outside of unique dining and things you have to buy. Sometimes its nice to just go out with a friend and walk around an unfamiliar place and discover new things. When spring comes around again and (hopefully) it gets warmer, I would like to revisit some of these places, such as the Park of Roses. Here are some pictures from the parks.

 

Columbus To Do – part 1

For this project I chose to explore the Nature and Outdoor Recreation theme. I personally love finding a place to sit and have my alone time and that typically tends to be outdoors or at a coffee place. Being outdoors also really stirs my creativity, so by choosing this theme I’m really hoping to find a place that either brings me fresh ideas or a new peaceful place to sit. I would have chosen the coffee and tea theme, but I feel like I get enough of that already on campus with places like Grounds, KSA Cafe, and Traditions. I definitely don’t feel like I get enough natural area on campus besides when I make a trip to the oval, so I thought this would be a fresh topic to dig into. So far Ive been on a time crunch and haven’t had much time to explore far out into Cbus, but I did get a chance to explore a place nearby called Tuttle Park. It was kind of run down and empty, but it had four baseballs fields worth of good space to sit! The park is also located next to a river and contains some rustic looking stairs which makes this a good place to get some creativity feels going. I didn’t have the chance to stay there for long, but I looked on google maps to check it out a tad more and found out there’s a recreation center there that’s relatively hidden. Next time I go I’ll have to check out the center and also explore the river.

Journal 2

This week I met with my mentor Julia, who I often see around campus. Cameron, Jacob, and Tessa from our Scholars family also joined in on the meeting, making it really fun! We all met at KSA Cafe inside of Knowlton on Friday evening for about an hour. Julia was super helpful and answered our many questions about academics and campus life. We talked about cool clubs on campus, the STEP program and study abroad opportunities, picking up a minor, time management tips, and even some politics. I was particularly interested in the study abroad conversation since I really want to travel, and the STEP program was new information for me and super useful. We also talked about our personal lives a bit and got to know each other more. Fun fact: Julia is a triplet!

This meeting was great and I can tell we are all a little more comfortable with each other, especially Julia since I’ve only spoken to her a handful of times. We are planning to meet for dinner sometime in October to talk some more about college life. I will definitely be texting Julia with any questions I have in the future.

Journal 1

Welcome week was super busy and I was exhausted by the end of it. I enjoyed every minute! I especially enjoyed the involvement fair and getting used to walking around on campus. I tried out the campus scooters and I went to Scott Traditions for the first time which was fantastic. I love that almost all of my classes are Architecture related and in the mornings so I don’t have to worry too much about getting homework done. So far I love all parts of college life; having a roommate, eating at traditions, taking classes for my career, and being apart of Scholars. I don’t love waking up at 9 everyday, but its better than waking up at 6:30 like in highschool. Before college, I wasn’t exactly sure of what to expect. All I knew was that I’d meet lots of new people and prepare for being an architect. So far, being in the Scholars program has helped me connect more with the people on my floor by bringing us together through activities. I really enjoyed the Columbus tour, I saw so many things I had no idea existed. Most of the places we saw were really neat and I would like to see them again. I’m excited for what the rest of the semester has to bring!

About Me

Hello! My name is Michaela Williams and I am a first year majoring in Architecture. I came to OSU from a small town called South Lebanon, which is near the Mason area in southwestern Ohio. I graduated from Kings High School this year and I plan on graduating from OSU with a Bachelors in Architecture and afterwards pursuing a Masters degree.

I am an artist at heart, and I do everything from drawing to painting to sculpting. I also play violin and I’m apart of the non-music major orchestra here. I love stingrays and sloths and I want tattoos of them at some point. I also love a lot of tv shows and I’m a big Harry Potter fan. You might see me playing Pokémon go around campus. I love talking to new people and I’m excited to be on campus!

 

Year in Review

[ “Year in Review”  is where you should reflect on the past year and show how you have evolved as a person and as a student.  You may want to focus on your growth in a particular area (as a leader, scholar, researcher, etc.) or you may want to talk about your overall experience over the past year.  For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]

G.O.A.L.S.

[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more guidance on using your ePortfolio, including questions and prompts that will help you get started, please visit the Honors & Scholars ePortfolio course in Carmen. To get answers to specific questions, please email eportfolio@osu.edu. Delete these instructions and add your own post.

  • Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc.
  • Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
  • Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
  • Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
  • Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]