This year was a huge year for me. I can honestly say of all my years at UC, this was probably the most exciting and the most life changing. Looking back at pictures from the year, I feel like I have changed for the better and grown quite a bit.
This past summer I got the privilege to work with two amazing organizations, Camp Joy in Clarksville, Ohio and Luxottica North American Headquaters in Mason, Ohio. I ended the summer working with Camp Korelitz, working as the solo counselor for the 15 year old counselors in training. I entered my third year at UC on an extremely high note. The summer left me happy and fulfilled and thankful for new friends and new skills.
I spent the first semester juggling three jobs, 18 credit hours and heavy involvement in two major organizations on UC's campus. It was a lot, and I happily managed because I was enjoying everything I was involved in, but I was getting a little overwhelmed at times.
One of my proudest accomplishments from this semester was recruiting 18 new stellar members for the Programs and Activities Council. It was a time consuming and challenging endeavor, but I had a great teammate, Katherine Butler and felt really passionate about the task. I poured my heart and soul into the job and even shed some blood sweat and tears.
In the span of three weeks I decided to study abroad for the next semester and bought my plane ticket. No one was as surprised as I was when I pulled off the trip of a lifetime and spent my Spring semester studying at the University College Cork in Cork City, Ireland. I could not have done it without the amazing support of my friends, family, and this fine University, so it was an immensely humbling and empowering experience to even be able to board the plane.
This began a semester of travel. Its been said, and I'm not sure by who, “We travel not to escape life, but so that life does not escape us." What a powerful and accurate quote to describe my experience in Ireland. I got opportunities that I never thought I would, from kayaking on the coast of Naples, Italy to hiking mountains in Killarney National Park in Ireland. In a word, it was surreal. Living abroad gave me more freedom and more transparency on who I am than anything I've ever experienced before. It definitely changed my perspective on what kind of person I want to be and what sort of life I want to live. While I have admittedly had some trouble adjusting back to my day-to-day life in Cincinnati, I feel a renewed sense of assurance. I mean, truly, the fact that I've pulled off studying abroad for a full semester makes me feel capable. My goals for long term have shifted. I want to live abroad again, and I'm determined to make it happen. There are so many corners of the world to explore and learn about and embrace and I feel the best way to do that is to go and be a humble participant in the next country I live in. I do not plan to graduate until next year essentially, and in the meantime I plan on applying to different positions that allow me to grow in this way as a global citizen. While I love Cincinnati dearly, I feel called to achieve more things in other places in the next year.
Goals:
(I did this list last year and was (pretty) successful!)
-Live abroad again
-Maintain a higher GPA than I did last year
-Learn to say "no" when I am overbooked, therefore prioritizing what's important to me
-Get involved with some creative project (music, ceramics, writing, etc)
-Improve my diabetes care technology and my diabetes care so I feel healthier all the time
-Be realistic about what my needs are
-Be a present big sister and help my brothers transition to their next steps
-Improve my foreign language skills (namely practice Spanish once or twice a week)
-Learn how to better use Adobe design and creative software
-Start and help run UC College Diabetes Network
This past summer I got the privilege to work with two amazing organizations, Camp Joy in Clarksville, Ohio and Luxottica North American Headquaters in Mason, Ohio. I ended the summer working with Camp Korelitz, working as the solo counselor for the 15 year old counselors in training. I entered my third year at UC on an extremely high note. The summer left me happy and fulfilled and thankful for new friends and new skills.
I spent the first semester juggling three jobs, 18 credit hours and heavy involvement in two major organizations on UC's campus. It was a lot, and I happily managed because I was enjoying everything I was involved in, but I was getting a little overwhelmed at times.
One of my proudest accomplishments from this semester was recruiting 18 new stellar members for the Programs and Activities Council. It was a time consuming and challenging endeavor, but I had a great teammate, Katherine Butler and felt really passionate about the task. I poured my heart and soul into the job and even shed some blood sweat and tears.
In the span of three weeks I decided to study abroad for the next semester and bought my plane ticket. No one was as surprised as I was when I pulled off the trip of a lifetime and spent my Spring semester studying at the University College Cork in Cork City, Ireland. I could not have done it without the amazing support of my friends, family, and this fine University, so it was an immensely humbling and empowering experience to even be able to board the plane.
This began a semester of travel. Its been said, and I'm not sure by who, “We travel not to escape life, but so that life does not escape us." What a powerful and accurate quote to describe my experience in Ireland. I got opportunities that I never thought I would, from kayaking on the coast of Naples, Italy to hiking mountains in Killarney National Park in Ireland. In a word, it was surreal. Living abroad gave me more freedom and more transparency on who I am than anything I've ever experienced before. It definitely changed my perspective on what kind of person I want to be and what sort of life I want to live. While I have admittedly had some trouble adjusting back to my day-to-day life in Cincinnati, I feel a renewed sense of assurance. I mean, truly, the fact that I've pulled off studying abroad for a full semester makes me feel capable. My goals for long term have shifted. I want to live abroad again, and I'm determined to make it happen. There are so many corners of the world to explore and learn about and embrace and I feel the best way to do that is to go and be a humble participant in the next country I live in. I do not plan to graduate until next year essentially, and in the meantime I plan on applying to different positions that allow me to grow in this way as a global citizen. While I love Cincinnati dearly, I feel called to achieve more things in other places in the next year.
Goals:
(I did this list last year and was (pretty) successful!)
-Live abroad again
-Maintain a higher GPA than I did last year
-Learn to say "no" when I am overbooked, therefore prioritizing what's important to me
-Get involved with some creative project (music, ceramics, writing, etc)
-Improve my diabetes care technology and my diabetes care so I feel healthier all the time
-Be realistic about what my needs are
-Be a present big sister and help my brothers transition to their next steps
-Improve my foreign language skills (namely practice Spanish once or twice a week)
-Learn how to better use Adobe design and creative software
-Start and help run UC College Diabetes Network