General OHP Reflection
In my time in the Ohio Honors Program at Ohio University, I’ve been able to gain better insight into my skills as a collaborator, as a leader, and as a creative thinker. I’ve been able to take a wide variety of courses that I’ve found to be more beneficial in my everyday life, be it at work, in class, in the studio, and in my student organizations.
In my endeavors under Dean Titsworth, in both the Engagement Lab and the Innovation Scholar reflection class, I was able to reflect on my abilities to research and creatively define goals for an organization I was completely unaware of prior to coming to the university. It allowed me to understand how to communicate and collaborate effectively with other members of my small cohort. I was able to come out of the class feeling more confident in my abilities to put myself out there in college and immerse myself in an environment where my voice can be heard and recognized in discussion without fear of feeling like it would go the wrong way.
In the Spring of 2023 under Dr. Rizzo, in her class titled Introduction to Ethical Leadership, I was able to understand what it means to be a leader in many senses, and how I can learn from all kinds of leaders, that they’re not all so obvious sometimes. It was inspiring to be a part of a class that focuses on how you can push yourself and others to reach higher than what your initial goals may be, and I have been able to incorporate her teachings into how I communicate and lead in most of my collaborative environments, as well as better understand how I can adapt to different social styles and further my capabilities as a collaborative leader.
For my final curricular experience from the OHP, I took another one of Dr. Rizzo’s courses entitled “Getting Your Point Across,” a class centered around how to effectively give an informative and/or persuasive presentation to a live audience, a different spin on public speaking. This course helped me not only better understand how I can deliver different types of information to different audiences, but it really helped me prepare for a packed presentation day during spring semester as I had 3 back-to-back presentations covering 3 separate topics for different organizations and classes. I felt more confident by the end of the course in giving presentations, and have been itching to give more before I leave Ohio University.
Overall, during my time in the Ohio Honors Program and the following courses, I’ve found that I’ve been able to truly diversify my education, as well as engage in deeper self-reflection to continue my growth as a collaborator, as a leader, and creative thinker. I’ve been able to explore many paths of research (social media creation, creative presentations), community engagement (organization presentations, finding new ways to lead), and creativity (audio projects, website creation) and I truly feel like I’ve been able to grow as not just a student, but also as a person in my social circles. I’m truly thankful for my time in the Ohio Honors Program, and I believe I’ll carry these skills with me for life.