What Is A Year In Review
Part of being an honors student is reflecting on my development each year I am in college. This section of my honors portfolio is dedicated to sharing my goals, ideas, dreams, and successes throughout my five years at the University of Cincinnati.
Freshman Year In Review
This past year as a freshman in college has been a wonderful experience, and I feel like I have grown both mentally and spiritually as a person through hands-on experiences and interactions with students and faculty at The University of Cincinnati. Before coming to UC I was concerned about being able to get involved right away, and also to make connections with my peers and professors. However, I learned to overcome my concerns, and my first year as an Honors Student was everything I hoped it would be.
My HNRS 1010 professor, Kayti Kennard, was instrumental in helping me get involved immediately at UC. One of my dreams is to co-op abroad in Germany while I am at UC. I focused my mock honors self-designed proposal, a requirement in the class, on completing a co-op for BMW. Since UC co-op students in the International Co-op Program (ICP) have been hired by the company in the past, I discussed my goal with Kayti and she encouraged me to follow my passion and never give up on my dreams. She spent nearly an hour after one class helping me to revise my mock proposal, telling me about ICP, and explaining how I could get involved at UC by making personal connections. My relationship with Kayti fostered the beginning of my involvement in UC honors and my interactions with other professors at UC. To this day she has been encouraging my involvement, most recently recommending that I assist in honors orientation presentations for incoming freshman, which I am currently involved in.
Looking back at this past year, two honors experiences and an extracurricular activity stick out as having the most impact on my growth and development as an individual. The first honors experience of my college career was a seminar called Exploring Community Engagement, taught by Jessica King. During this seminar I learned about the structure of community, the communities that exist throughout Cincinnati, and how I could become an active citizen of Cincinnati. The first few weeks of the class were difficult for me because I did not know what to expect as we discussed various theories about community formation. The theory that moved me the most was the idea of forming a web of connections with individuals who are both similar to and different from you. By forming a variety of connections, you gain more diverse viewpoints and relationships you need for success. While part of the class focused on theory, the other part paid attention to the lower-class parts of the city where renovation was occurring. The most beneficial section of the city we focused on for me was Over the Rhine, now called OTR. Through Jessica's guidance and methods of challenging me to expand my comfort zone, my first hands-on exploration of OTR altered my previous beliefs about the danger in the area. I realized that parts of Cincinnati that I previously viewed as dangerous and full of criminals, are actually safe, dynamic, colorful, and full of marvelous shops and places to dine. Exploring Community Engagement impacted me the most by showing me that I can understand so much more of my environment by looking at it from multiple perspectives.
My second honors experience, called Making Wishes Come True, was led by Erin Alanson and Jessica King. It involved traveling to Kissimmee, Florida to volunteer for a week at Give Kids the World. Give Kids the World is a non-profit organization that partners with the Make A Wish Foundation to house children with terminal illnesses whose wish involves traveling to central Florida attractions. I wanted to take part in this experience because my younger cousin, Brian, traveled to Give Kids the World several years ago to go to Disneyworld and meet Buzz Lightyear after he was diagnosed with leukemia. My aunt often talked to me about the wonderful time Brian and she had, and the generosity that the organization showed them. I wanted to take part in Making Wishes Come True to gain more background information about Give Kids the World and to see the organization from a volunteer's perspective. This experience did more than just showcase the work and time volunteers put into Give Kids the World to make the organization and all the events that it holds successful. My conversations with the parents of wish children made me truly understand how privileged I am. I do not have to struggle every second of every day with a severe medical condition and fight to survive. The children and their families who go through this are true heroes, and their sense of hope is truly remarkable. Making Wishes Come True has heightened my sense of appreciation for what I have been given and all the blessings that I have. The daily reflections with Jessica and Erin during the trip reminded me never to take life for granted, and to always try to live with meaning and purpose.
The extracurricular activity that had a huge impact on my first-year experience at UC was playing racquetball with my father and friends every Friday night at the UC Recreation Center. My friends, my father, and I all had different schedules during the week and we did not get the opportunity to spend as much time with each other as we would have liked. In order to relax and spend time together, we all played racquetball on Friday nights. Racquetball was not just a sport or extracurricular activity. It was a chance to unwind at the end of a long week and have fun in a non-competitive way. I will keep the brotherhood of connections that I have formed with my friends and father for the rest of my life.
I will use my experiences and the knowledge I have learned during my freshman year to grow and improve my future college experiences. I plan on continuing to form connections with my peers and the faculty to have unique experiences. I have found a small group of organizations that I plan on devoting my free time to next year. My advice for myself as I transition into my second year of college is to stay true to myself, don't be afraid to continue to push myself, and take every opportunity to interact with and meet new people. I should keep my mind open to new ideas and realize that my future will not always go as I plan. The next steps I am taking to make the most out of the University of Cincinnati Honors Program is being a peer leader for the University Honors Program Annual Welcome Retreat in August, and traveling abroad to Tanzania this summer to volunteer with Engineers Without Borders.
I have also changed so much during my first year at UC. I have learned how to effectively interact with my peers and professors at UC to build connections that I can use to advance my college and post college career. My professors have taught me the advantages of doing things ahead of time, and I believe that acquiring research at UC Nanoworld this summer is just one example of this. My friends have taught me to become accepting of myself and all of my attributes that make me a unique individual. In high school I was always the quiet, reserved kid and I was respected by my peers for my maturity and opinions. I did this in order to prevent any conflict and because I felt that I did not fit in with my peers. In college I blossomed into a social individual who is still respectful, kind, and courteous. I have let my true self shine and I am proud of who I am. With the help of my friends, near the middle of the second semester, I realized that I had been overextending myself. Instead of putting a large amount of effort into a few organizations and highly benefitting them, I was putting less effort into too many organizations. My friend described my over involvement using a metaphor with a flood, river, and village. At the time, I was like a flood that overwhelms a village and doesn't help any of the villagers. Instead I should be a flowing river that the villagers can use in their own ways. Instead of overextending myself I should focus on a few organizations at UC that I feel I can benefit the most.
My HNRS 1010 professor, Kayti Kennard, was instrumental in helping me get involved immediately at UC. One of my dreams is to co-op abroad in Germany while I am at UC. I focused my mock honors self-designed proposal, a requirement in the class, on completing a co-op for BMW. Since UC co-op students in the International Co-op Program (ICP) have been hired by the company in the past, I discussed my goal with Kayti and she encouraged me to follow my passion and never give up on my dreams. She spent nearly an hour after one class helping me to revise my mock proposal, telling me about ICP, and explaining how I could get involved at UC by making personal connections. My relationship with Kayti fostered the beginning of my involvement in UC honors and my interactions with other professors at UC. To this day she has been encouraging my involvement, most recently recommending that I assist in honors orientation presentations for incoming freshman, which I am currently involved in.
Looking back at this past year, two honors experiences and an extracurricular activity stick out as having the most impact on my growth and development as an individual. The first honors experience of my college career was a seminar called Exploring Community Engagement, taught by Jessica King. During this seminar I learned about the structure of community, the communities that exist throughout Cincinnati, and how I could become an active citizen of Cincinnati. The first few weeks of the class were difficult for me because I did not know what to expect as we discussed various theories about community formation. The theory that moved me the most was the idea of forming a web of connections with individuals who are both similar to and different from you. By forming a variety of connections, you gain more diverse viewpoints and relationships you need for success. While part of the class focused on theory, the other part paid attention to the lower-class parts of the city where renovation was occurring. The most beneficial section of the city we focused on for me was Over the Rhine, now called OTR. Through Jessica's guidance and methods of challenging me to expand my comfort zone, my first hands-on exploration of OTR altered my previous beliefs about the danger in the area. I realized that parts of Cincinnati that I previously viewed as dangerous and full of criminals, are actually safe, dynamic, colorful, and full of marvelous shops and places to dine. Exploring Community Engagement impacted me the most by showing me that I can understand so much more of my environment by looking at it from multiple perspectives.
My second honors experience, called Making Wishes Come True, was led by Erin Alanson and Jessica King. It involved traveling to Kissimmee, Florida to volunteer for a week at Give Kids the World. Give Kids the World is a non-profit organization that partners with the Make A Wish Foundation to house children with terminal illnesses whose wish involves traveling to central Florida attractions. I wanted to take part in this experience because my younger cousin, Brian, traveled to Give Kids the World several years ago to go to Disneyworld and meet Buzz Lightyear after he was diagnosed with leukemia. My aunt often talked to me about the wonderful time Brian and she had, and the generosity that the organization showed them. I wanted to take part in Making Wishes Come True to gain more background information about Give Kids the World and to see the organization from a volunteer's perspective. This experience did more than just showcase the work and time volunteers put into Give Kids the World to make the organization and all the events that it holds successful. My conversations with the parents of wish children made me truly understand how privileged I am. I do not have to struggle every second of every day with a severe medical condition and fight to survive. The children and their families who go through this are true heroes, and their sense of hope is truly remarkable. Making Wishes Come True has heightened my sense of appreciation for what I have been given and all the blessings that I have. The daily reflections with Jessica and Erin during the trip reminded me never to take life for granted, and to always try to live with meaning and purpose.
The extracurricular activity that had a huge impact on my first-year experience at UC was playing racquetball with my father and friends every Friday night at the UC Recreation Center. My friends, my father, and I all had different schedules during the week and we did not get the opportunity to spend as much time with each other as we would have liked. In order to relax and spend time together, we all played racquetball on Friday nights. Racquetball was not just a sport or extracurricular activity. It was a chance to unwind at the end of a long week and have fun in a non-competitive way. I will keep the brotherhood of connections that I have formed with my friends and father for the rest of my life.
I will use my experiences and the knowledge I have learned during my freshman year to grow and improve my future college experiences. I plan on continuing to form connections with my peers and the faculty to have unique experiences. I have found a small group of organizations that I plan on devoting my free time to next year. My advice for myself as I transition into my second year of college is to stay true to myself, don't be afraid to continue to push myself, and take every opportunity to interact with and meet new people. I should keep my mind open to new ideas and realize that my future will not always go as I plan. The next steps I am taking to make the most out of the University of Cincinnati Honors Program is being a peer leader for the University Honors Program Annual Welcome Retreat in August, and traveling abroad to Tanzania this summer to volunteer with Engineers Without Borders.
I have also changed so much during my first year at UC. I have learned how to effectively interact with my peers and professors at UC to build connections that I can use to advance my college and post college career. My professors have taught me the advantages of doing things ahead of time, and I believe that acquiring research at UC Nanoworld this summer is just one example of this. My friends have taught me to become accepting of myself and all of my attributes that make me a unique individual. In high school I was always the quiet, reserved kid and I was respected by my peers for my maturity and opinions. I did this in order to prevent any conflict and because I felt that I did not fit in with my peers. In college I blossomed into a social individual who is still respectful, kind, and courteous. I have let my true self shine and I am proud of who I am. With the help of my friends, near the middle of the second semester, I realized that I had been overextending myself. Instead of putting a large amount of effort into a few organizations and highly benefitting them, I was putting less effort into too many organizations. My friend described my over involvement using a metaphor with a flood, river, and village. At the time, I was like a flood that overwhelms a village and doesn't help any of the villagers. Instead I should be a flowing river that the villagers can use in their own ways. Instead of overextending myself I should focus on a few organizations at UC that I feel I can benefit the most.
Sophomore Year In Review
This past year has been a learning experience through the Honors Program, co-op, and classes. I ended last summer (2014) by completing a self-designed honors experience traveling to Nyambogo, Tanzania with the University of Cincinnati Chapter of Engineers Without Borders as well as conducted my first co-op at GE Aviation in Cincinnati.
My self-designed honors trip to Nyambogo, Tanzania was the only honors experience I completed this past year and it had a massive impact on me. I had been working with the University of Cincinnati Chapter of Engineers Without Borders during my freshman year on the Nyambogo Water Project. The project's goal was to deliver clean drinking water to the village of Nyambogo through a sustainable borehole well, solar-powered water pump, concrete storage tanks for the water, and multiple taps throughout the village where the water could be accessed. I had previous experience working with concrete during my internships at Northern Kentucky University in high school and brought this unique exposure to the Nyambogo Water Project Committee. I was chosen to travel with three other individuals in August to complete the first major phase of the project: drilling a borehole water well.
After spending my first night driving through Nairobi, Kenya, my eyes were opened to the many issues that were occurring in Africa. The most significant was the number of homeless, starving animals inhabiting the streets. They included dogs, cats, ducks, and goats. While animal poverty in the United States exists, malnourished animals do not wander through the streets on a daily basis. Throughout the trip I made a conscious effort to share my food with some of the starving animals and do what little I could to help them. I remember sitting with a group of dogs chained to a fence behind a large yellow house in Nyambogo and feeding them the bread and eggs I was given for lunch. Afterword, I sat and rubbed their ears and scratched them stomachs. The main purpose of my experience was to help the residents of Nyambogo, but I couldn't just sit and do nothing while animals in need were neglected. I believe every living creature was put on this Earth for a reason and every life is valuable, rather it be a human or dog or cat. My experiences caring for animals in Africa have inspired me to write an honors proposal this year focusing on abandoned animals in the Cincinnati area. My goal is to design an honors proposal centered around volunteering at PAWS and local animals shelters next summer during my co-op.
While seeing and caring for starving animals was the most significant eye-opening experience I had in Africa, I also learned a fair amount about respect. Most individuals in Nyambogo were blue-collar workers that struggled to survive each day. They were masons, farmers, construction workers, and tailors that had families of four or more to support. Even though no one in the village had running water, electricity, or a toilet, everyone was happy and welcomed my fellow travelers and me with open arms. They shared everything they had with us including their food and time. Although the villagers of Nyambogo did not have many luxuries, they muddled through each day, working extremely hard to make a living while still acting happy and kind as well. I do not pity the villagers, but rather gained a sense of respect for them and their efforts at making the most out of what was available to them. Many people in the United States are selfish, unkind, and take for granted simple luxuries like soap, water, and other appliances. Although they make our lives easier, we become spoiled and, as a result, ungrateful. I have tried my best to not take simple luxuries for granted since my trip to Africa.
This past spring I worked at GE Aviation ACSC Engine Component Repairs in Tri-County for my first co-op experience. The work I conducted included compiling and analyzing quality concern reports (QCRs), updating supplier lists, taking photographs of typical defects that occur on incoming parts and organizing them into a book, and presenting quality data at weekly executive meetings. I had never worked in a professional manufacturing environment before and I was not sure what to expect when I first started my co-op. Weaknesses arose that I had never noticed before during my first few weeks at ACSC. The most significant was my inability to communicate information in different ways. I have always been a straightforward individual and handled situations by preparing for them before they occur. Working on projects with other professionals at ASCSC proved problematic at first because I only knew one way to communicate information. I was constantly frustrated when I couldn't get my point across or motivate one of my co-workers to help me on a project. My biggest take-away from my first co-op was that I drastically improved my communication skills. My manager and supervisor spoke with me on a weekly basis and gave me opportunities to work on my communication through projects that involved leading a team or working with a large group of people. They went out of their way to help improve my weakness by throwing opportunities at me.
This past year has been amazing in terms of honors experiences and co-op. My goals for this next year are to write another honors proposal focusing on volunteering at animal shelters and applying what I learned at ACSC to my next co-op this fall at the GE Aviation plant in Lynn, Massachusetts.
My self-designed honors trip to Nyambogo, Tanzania was the only honors experience I completed this past year and it had a massive impact on me. I had been working with the University of Cincinnati Chapter of Engineers Without Borders during my freshman year on the Nyambogo Water Project. The project's goal was to deliver clean drinking water to the village of Nyambogo through a sustainable borehole well, solar-powered water pump, concrete storage tanks for the water, and multiple taps throughout the village where the water could be accessed. I had previous experience working with concrete during my internships at Northern Kentucky University in high school and brought this unique exposure to the Nyambogo Water Project Committee. I was chosen to travel with three other individuals in August to complete the first major phase of the project: drilling a borehole water well.
After spending my first night driving through Nairobi, Kenya, my eyes were opened to the many issues that were occurring in Africa. The most significant was the number of homeless, starving animals inhabiting the streets. They included dogs, cats, ducks, and goats. While animal poverty in the United States exists, malnourished animals do not wander through the streets on a daily basis. Throughout the trip I made a conscious effort to share my food with some of the starving animals and do what little I could to help them. I remember sitting with a group of dogs chained to a fence behind a large yellow house in Nyambogo and feeding them the bread and eggs I was given for lunch. Afterword, I sat and rubbed their ears and scratched them stomachs. The main purpose of my experience was to help the residents of Nyambogo, but I couldn't just sit and do nothing while animals in need were neglected. I believe every living creature was put on this Earth for a reason and every life is valuable, rather it be a human or dog or cat. My experiences caring for animals in Africa have inspired me to write an honors proposal this year focusing on abandoned animals in the Cincinnati area. My goal is to design an honors proposal centered around volunteering at PAWS and local animals shelters next summer during my co-op.
While seeing and caring for starving animals was the most significant eye-opening experience I had in Africa, I also learned a fair amount about respect. Most individuals in Nyambogo were blue-collar workers that struggled to survive each day. They were masons, farmers, construction workers, and tailors that had families of four or more to support. Even though no one in the village had running water, electricity, or a toilet, everyone was happy and welcomed my fellow travelers and me with open arms. They shared everything they had with us including their food and time. Although the villagers of Nyambogo did not have many luxuries, they muddled through each day, working extremely hard to make a living while still acting happy and kind as well. I do not pity the villagers, but rather gained a sense of respect for them and their efforts at making the most out of what was available to them. Many people in the United States are selfish, unkind, and take for granted simple luxuries like soap, water, and other appliances. Although they make our lives easier, we become spoiled and, as a result, ungrateful. I have tried my best to not take simple luxuries for granted since my trip to Africa.
This past spring I worked at GE Aviation ACSC Engine Component Repairs in Tri-County for my first co-op experience. The work I conducted included compiling and analyzing quality concern reports (QCRs), updating supplier lists, taking photographs of typical defects that occur on incoming parts and organizing them into a book, and presenting quality data at weekly executive meetings. I had never worked in a professional manufacturing environment before and I was not sure what to expect when I first started my co-op. Weaknesses arose that I had never noticed before during my first few weeks at ACSC. The most significant was my inability to communicate information in different ways. I have always been a straightforward individual and handled situations by preparing for them before they occur. Working on projects with other professionals at ASCSC proved problematic at first because I only knew one way to communicate information. I was constantly frustrated when I couldn't get my point across or motivate one of my co-workers to help me on a project. My biggest take-away from my first co-op was that I drastically improved my communication skills. My manager and supervisor spoke with me on a weekly basis and gave me opportunities to work on my communication through projects that involved leading a team or working with a large group of people. They went out of their way to help improve my weakness by throwing opportunities at me.
This past year has been amazing in terms of honors experiences and co-op. My goals for this next year are to write another honors proposal focusing on volunteering at animal shelters and applying what I learned at ACSC to my next co-op this fall at the GE Aviation plant in Lynn, Massachusetts.
Pre-Junior Year In Review
This past year I have focused a majority of my efforts on academics and extracurricular activities as well as growing myself socially through co-op experiences. I have excelled at understanding the core mechanical engineering topics, such as solids mechanics and fluid mechanics, in my UC courses and, as a result, have had wonderful co-op experiences at GE Aviation in engineering.
Last summer I took on a full engineering course load for the first time. I was challenged to not only learn and understand the material, but also manage my time well so I could complete all my assignments. Summer semester was the first time I had been truly tested academically and I feel that I enhanced both my technical skills as well as some soft skills like organization and time management.
This past spring semester had me working rigorously for the UC Chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to host the first ASME Career Fair. The goal of the fair was to offer UC ME/MET majors a chance to learn more about local companies looking to hiring co-ops. I worked on writing a UFB proposal for the event, collaborated with Rich Robles to reach out to local companies hiring ME/MET majors, and handled most of the logistics for the event preparation. The ASME Career Fair was the first big event ASME put on for ME/MET majors and was our way of getting involved/offering services to our peers. The positive feedback we received from company reps as well as the 50+ students that attended has led ASME to host an even larger career fair this fall.
My one regret this past year was not making the ASME Career Fair an honors experience. The idea, organization, and implementation happened so fast (within 3 months) that I never truly thought about the idea of making an experience out of how I contributed to the event. The ASME Career Fair would have made a perfect experience focused on community engagement as it was ASME's first true attempt at reaching out to the ME/MET community in hopes of helping students find co-ops.
My academics and involvement in student organizations have had a profound impact on the development of my organization and leadership skills. The co-op term I had completed away from home in Lynn, MA positively impacted my ability to communicate and socialize.
My co-op term in the fall was focused purely on design engineering and had me creating and issuing drawings. Unlike my first rotation at GE Aviation, the department I worked in during this one was comprised of all mechanical engineers. They mostly kept to themselves and didn't interact with me as much as I would have hoped. Everyone was so busy that there was never time for group bonding activities. This made it difficult for me to socialize with my team. As a result, I kept my interactions strictly work-related and learned how to better communicate with individuals in a business manner and how to speak in a clear, professional manner. Overall, I enjoyed the co-op term as I learned to live on my own for the first time in a brand new environment.
I am currently co-oping with GE Aviation as a systems engineer in West Chester on a short, nine-week term since I will be taking an intensive German language course at UC in a matter of weeks. This course will prepare me for my international co-op in Germany during the spring and summer of 2017. I have never excelled at learning new languages and so this course will be a challenge. Applying what I learn in the course as I live oversees for nearly eight months will be even more of a challenge. I have no idea what to expect in Germany but I do know that my co-op will be the most difficult eight months of my life thus far. I have grown in every way this past year because I made the most out of every opportunity presented to me. Looking toward the future, I hope that I continue to embrace new ideas and not let hardships, such as the language barrier I will encounter in Germany, lead me to throw in the towel.
I worked last spring on developing an honors proposal that involves visiting concentration, labor, and death camps during my international co-op next year. The experience will have me visiting multiple camps in different countries, such as Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic, as I learn more about the life of prisoners and the collaborative efforts used to survive the Holocaust. My goal is to better appreciate my blessing and luxuries in a life without events such as the Holocaust by appreciating and respecting the struggle of those individuals the camps. Learning about how diverse camp inmates formed communities in order to stay alive may help me to develop less drastic collaboration methods to overcome cultural barriers within my own communities in Cincinnati.
Last summer I took on a full engineering course load for the first time. I was challenged to not only learn and understand the material, but also manage my time well so I could complete all my assignments. Summer semester was the first time I had been truly tested academically and I feel that I enhanced both my technical skills as well as some soft skills like organization and time management.
This past spring semester had me working rigorously for the UC Chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to host the first ASME Career Fair. The goal of the fair was to offer UC ME/MET majors a chance to learn more about local companies looking to hiring co-ops. I worked on writing a UFB proposal for the event, collaborated with Rich Robles to reach out to local companies hiring ME/MET majors, and handled most of the logistics for the event preparation. The ASME Career Fair was the first big event ASME put on for ME/MET majors and was our way of getting involved/offering services to our peers. The positive feedback we received from company reps as well as the 50+ students that attended has led ASME to host an even larger career fair this fall.
My one regret this past year was not making the ASME Career Fair an honors experience. The idea, organization, and implementation happened so fast (within 3 months) that I never truly thought about the idea of making an experience out of how I contributed to the event. The ASME Career Fair would have made a perfect experience focused on community engagement as it was ASME's first true attempt at reaching out to the ME/MET community in hopes of helping students find co-ops.
My academics and involvement in student organizations have had a profound impact on the development of my organization and leadership skills. The co-op term I had completed away from home in Lynn, MA positively impacted my ability to communicate and socialize.
My co-op term in the fall was focused purely on design engineering and had me creating and issuing drawings. Unlike my first rotation at GE Aviation, the department I worked in during this one was comprised of all mechanical engineers. They mostly kept to themselves and didn't interact with me as much as I would have hoped. Everyone was so busy that there was never time for group bonding activities. This made it difficult for me to socialize with my team. As a result, I kept my interactions strictly work-related and learned how to better communicate with individuals in a business manner and how to speak in a clear, professional manner. Overall, I enjoyed the co-op term as I learned to live on my own for the first time in a brand new environment.
I am currently co-oping with GE Aviation as a systems engineer in West Chester on a short, nine-week term since I will be taking an intensive German language course at UC in a matter of weeks. This course will prepare me for my international co-op in Germany during the spring and summer of 2017. I have never excelled at learning new languages and so this course will be a challenge. Applying what I learn in the course as I live oversees for nearly eight months will be even more of a challenge. I have no idea what to expect in Germany but I do know that my co-op will be the most difficult eight months of my life thus far. I have grown in every way this past year because I made the most out of every opportunity presented to me. Looking toward the future, I hope that I continue to embrace new ideas and not let hardships, such as the language barrier I will encounter in Germany, lead me to throw in the towel.
I worked last spring on developing an honors proposal that involves visiting concentration, labor, and death camps during my international co-op next year. The experience will have me visiting multiple camps in different countries, such as Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic, as I learn more about the life of prisoners and the collaborative efforts used to survive the Holocaust. My goal is to better appreciate my blessing and luxuries in a life without events such as the Holocaust by appreciating and respecting the struggle of those individuals the camps. Learning about how diverse camp inmates formed communities in order to stay alive may help me to develop less drastic collaboration methods to overcome cultural barriers within my own communities in Cincinnati.
Junior Year In Review
This past year has had a profound impact on my growth and development as an individual and as a Honors Program student. I spent most of fall semester 2016 preparing for my international co-op to Germany for the spring and summer of 2017. Part of my preparation involved designing an honors experience to complete during my international co-op. This honors experience focused on traveling to various labor, concentration, and death camps created by the Nazi’s from 1939 to 1945 in Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic. My travel goal was to visit one camp in each of these three countries. My learning goal was to understand the identities of the involved races, ethnicities, and nationalities of the people involved in the Holocaust and how their culture changed from then to now. Through this honors experience, I also hoped to better understand my personal identity as a individual of Polish heritage.
I am currently working abroad in Munich, Germany at GE GRC in the Advanced Aviation Team (AAT). My work includes participating in the design of the air inlet screen of GE Aviation’s new Advanced TurboProp (ATP) engine as well as running computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models to determine if the screen needs to have a heating element incorporated into it. Working in Germany has me interacting with Germans, Poles, Italians, and Spaniards, all speaking German, every single day. The day-to-day interactions I have with these people and learning to understand their culture is probably the most significant challenge I have had to overcome this year. The initial culture shock of arriving in Germany was not bad at all. The time and effort that it has taken me to adjust to the German culture as well as the personal cultures of my coworkers has been difficult. For instance, Germans are very blunt and straightforward. In my opinion, they also are not as talkative as Americans. Starting conversations is often difficult and can be awkward. Spaniards on the other hand are very talkative but less open to share their feelings than Germans in general. Navigating these cultural differences, as well as the language barrier, has challenging my ability to adapt to new environments and effectively work. I view myself as a more cultured individual now who is semi-fluent in German and knows that understanding the cultural differences between Americans, Germans, and other types of Europeans is critical to functioning in today’s global society.
I have spent countless weekends traveling throughout Europe during my international co-op. I have traveled to Scotland, Ireland, France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, Belgium, and Luxembourg and stayed in hostels for most of the trips. Within these hostels, I have made multiple friends that I have kept in contact with up to this point. The most significant individual I met was in Krakow. He came from Bordeaux, France and was performing an internship in Krakow, Poland. He is a hilarious individual that opened my eyes to French culture. Before meeting him, I knew very little about French culture and didn’t care to know anything (because I heard French people are not fond of Americans). Many other friends I met in hostels that came from Belgium, Austria, etc. shared their culture with me. These experiences have added to my cultural growth during my international experience.
I am currently working on completing the honors experience I proposed (explained above). I have only had the chance to visit Auschwitz I, Birkenau, and the ghetto near Lodz. I still have to visit Dachau near Munich and Theresienstadt in the Czech Republic. Of the three camps/ghettos I have visited, Birkenau has had the most impact on me. Birkenau was the largest death camp that the Nazi regime constructed. Seeing where prisoners, unaware that they were about to be killed because the Nazi guards reassured them that they would be ok, arrived at Birkenau and countless individuals in my tour group crying truly had an impact on me. The ruthlessness and professionalism with which the Nazis conducted the killings astonished me. I feel that I understand the identities of the Nazi guards that worked at concentration camps now. I will finish documenting this honors experience by the time that I start the fall semester.
Looking at the upcoming school year, the last year that I will be in college, I would advise myself to branch out and meet as many people as possible. I should put most of my efforts into meeting people. The reason for this is because meeting new people in Europe has had the greatest impact on my growth. Living in Germany has been wonderful so far, but my day-to-day interactions with Germans is the reason I have grown so much through this international experience. This international experience has shaped my personal and career goals for the future. I have traveled so much in Europe that it is no longer a bit ordeal for me to travel. Preparing for vacation is not that big of a deal. Sometimes “going with the flow” is the best way to have a good time and experience an environment. I feel that I am more comfortable traveling now and I personally plan on traveling a lot more in the future. Although I have enjoyed living and working in Germany, I do not see myself living here or anywhere in Europe in the future. I love the USA and will probably live and work there in the future.
To conclude this year in review, my goal for this upcoming year is to participate in one more honors experience. I have not been actively involved in the Honors Program since sophomore year because I have been so busy. I would like to participate in the honors course that involves traveling to the Amazon.
I am currently working abroad in Munich, Germany at GE GRC in the Advanced Aviation Team (AAT). My work includes participating in the design of the air inlet screen of GE Aviation’s new Advanced TurboProp (ATP) engine as well as running computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models to determine if the screen needs to have a heating element incorporated into it. Working in Germany has me interacting with Germans, Poles, Italians, and Spaniards, all speaking German, every single day. The day-to-day interactions I have with these people and learning to understand their culture is probably the most significant challenge I have had to overcome this year. The initial culture shock of arriving in Germany was not bad at all. The time and effort that it has taken me to adjust to the German culture as well as the personal cultures of my coworkers has been difficult. For instance, Germans are very blunt and straightforward. In my opinion, they also are not as talkative as Americans. Starting conversations is often difficult and can be awkward. Spaniards on the other hand are very talkative but less open to share their feelings than Germans in general. Navigating these cultural differences, as well as the language barrier, has challenging my ability to adapt to new environments and effectively work. I view myself as a more cultured individual now who is semi-fluent in German and knows that understanding the cultural differences between Americans, Germans, and other types of Europeans is critical to functioning in today’s global society.
I have spent countless weekends traveling throughout Europe during my international co-op. I have traveled to Scotland, Ireland, France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, Belgium, and Luxembourg and stayed in hostels for most of the trips. Within these hostels, I have made multiple friends that I have kept in contact with up to this point. The most significant individual I met was in Krakow. He came from Bordeaux, France and was performing an internship in Krakow, Poland. He is a hilarious individual that opened my eyes to French culture. Before meeting him, I knew very little about French culture and didn’t care to know anything (because I heard French people are not fond of Americans). Many other friends I met in hostels that came from Belgium, Austria, etc. shared their culture with me. These experiences have added to my cultural growth during my international experience.
I am currently working on completing the honors experience I proposed (explained above). I have only had the chance to visit Auschwitz I, Birkenau, and the ghetto near Lodz. I still have to visit Dachau near Munich and Theresienstadt in the Czech Republic. Of the three camps/ghettos I have visited, Birkenau has had the most impact on me. Birkenau was the largest death camp that the Nazi regime constructed. Seeing where prisoners, unaware that they were about to be killed because the Nazi guards reassured them that they would be ok, arrived at Birkenau and countless individuals in my tour group crying truly had an impact on me. The ruthlessness and professionalism with which the Nazis conducted the killings astonished me. I feel that I understand the identities of the Nazi guards that worked at concentration camps now. I will finish documenting this honors experience by the time that I start the fall semester.
Looking at the upcoming school year, the last year that I will be in college, I would advise myself to branch out and meet as many people as possible. I should put most of my efforts into meeting people. The reason for this is because meeting new people in Europe has had the greatest impact on my growth. Living in Germany has been wonderful so far, but my day-to-day interactions with Germans is the reason I have grown so much through this international experience. This international experience has shaped my personal and career goals for the future. I have traveled so much in Europe that it is no longer a bit ordeal for me to travel. Preparing for vacation is not that big of a deal. Sometimes “going with the flow” is the best way to have a good time and experience an environment. I feel that I am more comfortable traveling now and I personally plan on traveling a lot more in the future. Although I have enjoyed living and working in Germany, I do not see myself living here or anywhere in Europe in the future. I love the USA and will probably live and work there in the future.
To conclude this year in review, my goal for this upcoming year is to participate in one more honors experience. I have not been actively involved in the Honors Program since sophomore year because I have been so busy. I would like to participate in the honors course that involves traveling to the Amazon.