My remaining Time as a Buckeye

Vision Statement/Statement of Action

College is a period of extreme change marking the transition between a state of dependence, to one of self-sufficiency. When I arrived at OSU, I was overwhelmed by its enormous size and I felt like a small fish in a big pond, but the abundant resources available to help the new students become successful allowed me to explore my interests and focus my course of study. I have recently completed my second-year as an undergraduate student pursing a degree in Molecular Genetics, with a pre-medical designation. I’ve known that I wanted to work in the medical field from an early age, because I want to make a difference in people’s lives, and I work effectively under high pressure conditions. Ultimately, I want to graduate medical school and practice medicine, although I am not exactly sure what type yet.  I am eager to gain clinical and research experience while I am attending OSU.

With the remaining time that I have left here at OSU I intend to make the most of the resources that the campus in Columbus has to support students. I am extremely excited to join a research team in the fall and gain valuable experience working in a labratory setting. I also want to continue my involvement in extracurricular activities like Helix tri-Beta, and take my leadership in these clubs to a new level. Finally, I will strive to keep my academic rigor high, I am currently adding a minor in Bioethics offered by the College of Medicine, as well as considering a minor in Evolution/Ecology, I am taking classes in both during the next semester and hopefully I will add them both. I plan to graduate in four years on time!

 

Abstract- What to expect in my e-Portfolio

This e-Portfolio has been a valuable tool in documenting significant achievements and milestones throughout my time at Ohio State. It begins with a brief reflection on my high school career, in Northern Virginia, where I was an active member in several honor societies and community service organizations. Then as I transitioned to my new home at The Ohio State University I joined student organizations, such as the Biological science scholars group, Helix tri-Beta, Pre-med club, and crew (a Christian organization), as a means of staying involved in the university and meeting new people. I have also gotten swept away by the magnitude of the Ohio State football team and I love cheering them on from the stands every home game! As my academic career has progressed I switched from a general biology major to become more specialized molecular genetics major, and the classes are incredibly interesting and align well with my goal to pursue a career in medicine. As an Ohio State student I have been encouraged to reach outside of my comfort zone, I have been actively seeking leadership roles, for example, running and winning the president position of Helix tri-Beta honorary, as well as completing a leadership STEP project this coming summer. I still have two more years of undergraduate studies left, and I cannot wait to see what amazing opportunities are still to come.

Helix Tri-Beta Presidency

Ohio State has a plethora of student organizations, that allow students to be active with their diverse interests. I am extremely focused on my academic advancement, so an honorary was the perfect fit for me. I applied, interviewed, and was inducted into Helix Tri-Beta at the start of the autumn semester in my second year at OSU. Helix is the biological sciences honorary for The Ohio State University, and I have come to admire and cherish their hardworking and inviting community of dedicated students and faculty. Since joining the honorary a year ago, I have made many friends and had opportunities to prove myself and my leadership capabilities. Through the honorary, as an active member, I was able to engage in networking events, community outreach, and next generation recruitment efforts.

As of this last election, I am the president-elect of the honorary, so my term as president is for the 2020-2021 school year, when I am a senior. For the upcoming year I am the president elect, so I will be working closely with the current president and learning how to best lead the organization. Upon reaching presidency, I with strive to uphold the honorary’s core values, to further the interest in biological sciences among students, and provide both assistance and resources for the scholarly students and faculty members who work to make advancements in the field of biological sciences here at The Ohio State University.

Second Year Transformational Experience Program (STEP)

At the end of my freshman year, I began the process of choosing a STEP cohort, which was the group of students that I then met with once a week, every week, during the first semester of my sophomore year. We were lead by an experienced faculty member who helped us develop our projects. My independent project fell under the category of leadership. For my project, I am taking a phlebotomy class during the summer of 2019 to learn the proper way to safely draw blood, and furthermore, to enhance my exposure to the medical field. This experience will be incredibly valuable, because at the end of the course, there is a 40 hour externship that allows me to be in a hospital or clinic, getting patient exposure. This project will allow me to grow in my career field, without the financial burden, as OSU has funded this project. The process of writing the grant proposal was extremely involved, as the size of the grant lead to a severe vetting process. However, I am grateful for the experience, as I hope to one day be writing research grant proposals.

I have included my abstract below as well as a link to my full proposal.

Project Abstract:

The STEP project that I intend to complete falls under the category of leadership, and includes participating in a phlebotomy certification course. The course has a seven-week program offered by the Ohio School of Phlebotomy beginning June 17th , 2019 and concluding August 5th, 2019. Through this program, I will be exposed to clinical techniques in a highly structured setting with a 40-hour externship during the final week. The capstone of my project will be my sitting for the Phlebotomy Certification Exam, which will permit me to practice phlebotomy and related practices in a professional setting. This experience will be transformative in that I currently have an aversion to working around blood, but my desired career path is to be a medical professional practicing emergency medicine, so the process will be a means of easing a transition and ensuring that I am prepared for and accustomed to the environment in which I want to work, well before I reach that point in my career. This opportunity will greatly enhance my experience as an Ohio State student by allowing me to explore my interests outside of the classroom, and the skills I gain from this will only further assist me as I continue to learn and grow in my undergraduate course study in biological sciences with a pre-medicine designation.

STEP Signature Project- Wison.3763

Summer 2018 Summer Administrative Internship at Beacon Roofing Supply

During the summer, I had the opportunity to work as an administrative intern at Beacon Roofing Supply’s corporate headquarters in Herndon Virginia. My daily duties included filing expense reports, coordinating travel, and prepping meeting materials for several of the executive officers of the company. I worked closely with the executive admin team to learn the inter-workings of the office. This was my first full time job, and I believe the experience I gained from it was invaluable. I thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with coworkers as well as working on independent projects for the company.

In addition to the day to day tasks that I performed, I was also assigned several different, special projects which spanned across multiple areas, including the accounting, supply chain management, and finance departments. Within the accounting department, I assisted with the filing of the state and federal taxes for Beacon. There was a lot of very detailed work that went into meticulously ensuring that each tax form and record was filled out accurately and in full. I was surprised to see that several states still require the taxes to be filed via paper rather than electronically. Separately, I worked very closely with the Chief Supply Chain Officer to coordinate a meeting, which I then contributed to as an active team member. This was my first time participating in a large meeting, and I was able to share my ideas, which was an incredible opportunity. Finally, my most involved project was in accordance with the Directors of Finance. For that project, I compiled a comprehensive list of investors and contacts with arrays of their respective information in preparation for the annual investor day.

Although my intended career path does not include working in a corporate office, I believe that the experience was still valuable, and the plethora of soft and hard skills that I learned are transmittable to any career field. It is important to be able to work with and assist your team, as well as to understand how to direct your own work as a member of a multifaceted and complex system of working peers.