Year-in-Review
year 4: 2017-18
I cannot believe the time has come again to write another Year in Review, and this time, my final one! I have now completed 4 full years at UC and am looking ahead to the start of my 5th and final year beginning this fall. This time next year, I will have graduated and officially earned my degree in Biomedical Engineering. I find it quite amazing to look back on all my time here at UC. There have been times of great joy and great sorrow, strength and brokenness, success and failure. When I concentrate on just this past year, two major events stand out to me to which I attribute much growth and development.
The first event that shook me to my core and left me forever changed was a conference I attended in August of 2017 called School of the New Evangelization (SNE). At this 7 day conference, I experienced total freedom in the Lord. I gave fully of myself to Him and the work He has done in me is oceans wide. That week, spent in prayer, thanksgiving, learning, laughing, crying, and praising the Lord, altered my understanding of everything. I realized for the first time the mission and great responsibility I have been given to spread the Gospel. I was blessed with a renewed love and devotion to my Catholic faith and experienced the overwhelming love of the Blessed Trinity. This conference formed me into a deeply rooted Catholic woman and has forever shaped my decision making and way of life.
The second event that stands out to me in this past year is really a compilation of many days and events spent on co-op at Enable Injections. After I spent my first two co-ops with the same company, Bard Medical, working in Research and Development, I decided to make a change and was fortunate to accept a position at Enable Injections as a Manufacturing Engineering co-op. During my time in this role, I’ve had exposure to more areas of the medical device industry and developed a greater understanding of the career possibilities. Although I have not enjoyed most of the work I’ve done, the people I work with make showing up every day so easy. I’m thankful for the relationships I’ve developed and the people who have guided me and befriended me during this double co-op rotation.
It was a strange feeling this spring watching many of my friends don graduation caps and gowns and celebrate the end of their college days. During much of my time at UC, I have envied the students in 4-year programs and groaned at the thought of spending an entire extra year in school. Suddenly though, I realized four years have come and gone and I feel no where close to being ready to graduate and decide what to do with the next chapter of life. I thank God daily for the blessing of a 5th year to reflect on past experiences and pray about future ones. I guess like most students preparing for their senior year, my biggest goal moving forward is learning how to move forward from UC and discerning what my next steps of life will be. As of now, I see two broad options: full-time job or full-time missionary. Then for each of those, there are many small decisions to be made. My hope is that this 5th year victory lap will give me the time I need to discern and listen for the Lord’s voice and tug at my heart to see where I will go next.
The first event that shook me to my core and left me forever changed was a conference I attended in August of 2017 called School of the New Evangelization (SNE). At this 7 day conference, I experienced total freedom in the Lord. I gave fully of myself to Him and the work He has done in me is oceans wide. That week, spent in prayer, thanksgiving, learning, laughing, crying, and praising the Lord, altered my understanding of everything. I realized for the first time the mission and great responsibility I have been given to spread the Gospel. I was blessed with a renewed love and devotion to my Catholic faith and experienced the overwhelming love of the Blessed Trinity. This conference formed me into a deeply rooted Catholic woman and has forever shaped my decision making and way of life.
The second event that stands out to me in this past year is really a compilation of many days and events spent on co-op at Enable Injections. After I spent my first two co-ops with the same company, Bard Medical, working in Research and Development, I decided to make a change and was fortunate to accept a position at Enable Injections as a Manufacturing Engineering co-op. During my time in this role, I’ve had exposure to more areas of the medical device industry and developed a greater understanding of the career possibilities. Although I have not enjoyed most of the work I’ve done, the people I work with make showing up every day so easy. I’m thankful for the relationships I’ve developed and the people who have guided me and befriended me during this double co-op rotation.
It was a strange feeling this spring watching many of my friends don graduation caps and gowns and celebrate the end of their college days. During much of my time at UC, I have envied the students in 4-year programs and groaned at the thought of spending an entire extra year in school. Suddenly though, I realized four years have come and gone and I feel no where close to being ready to graduate and decide what to do with the next chapter of life. I thank God daily for the blessing of a 5th year to reflect on past experiences and pray about future ones. I guess like most students preparing for their senior year, my biggest goal moving forward is learning how to move forward from UC and discerning what my next steps of life will be. As of now, I see two broad options: full-time job or full-time missionary. Then for each of those, there are many small decisions to be made. My hope is that this 5th year victory lap will give me the time I need to discern and listen for the Lord’s voice and tug at my heart to see where I will go next.
year 3: 2016-17
WOW. I am officially over half way done with my time at UC. When I stop and take a moment to think about these past few years, I can’t believe the challenges I’ve endured and overcome and the multitude of blessings I’ve been given. This past year, my "pre-junior" year at UC in biomedical engineering was both the toughest and most fulfilling yet. In the fall, I spent my semester living at home and working on co-op for Bard Medical at a satellite office in Mason, Ohio. At Bard, I worked with only 8 other people, 7 full-time engineers and one other co-op. I was immediately thrown into the deep end and immersed in new information and new experiences. Everyday was filled with learning, and I was overjoyed by the new world I was discovering. I was constantly challenged and pushed beyond my limits. As I began to catch on, expectations continued to increase, and I continued to be challenged. I fell completely in love with engineering and never doubted for a second that I had accepted the right position and was exactly where I was meant to be.
That semester at Bard challenged me and helped me grow as an engineer, a professional, and a person. I was enlightened to the realities (pros and cons) of working a full-time job. Also, I had the opportunity to engage with professional engineers with varying past experiences and all with lost of wisdom and knowledge to share with me. Being in such a small and intimate office-space, I worked closely with most of the engineers and all of them acted as mentors to me. I am so grateful for each and every one of them and the many hours they spent working with me, teaching me, and practicing their patience with me as I asked question after question. I gained so many technical skills during this semester including technical writing skills, operation of some lab equipment, and got to observe endourology procedures performed by renewed physicians in the field. I wouldn’t trade my experiences at Bard for any other co-op and am so grateful to have ended up there and to be returning for a second term this summer.
After my semester of co-op ended, I braced myself to go back to classes. In the spring semester of 2017, I was enrolled in 17 credit hours and took the following courses: Medical Device Design I (Dr. Privitera), Sensing and Measuring (Dr. Zacchman), Global Technical Workforce (Prof. Rutz), Multivariable Calculus (Dr. Borovyk), and Honors Intermediate Composition (Prof. Vaughn). Although 17 credits turned out to be a lot to handle, and at times, I felt like all I did was homework and projects and essays, I genuinely enjoyed every one of these classes. For the first time, I felt excited to go to class every day and enjoyed what I was learning when I got there. A huge component of this was the awesomeness of each of my professors. Each of them garnered a good deal of my respect and had so much experience to share. They all engaged well with students, and that really impacted my experience in each of their classes. Despite the intense workload, this semester of classes was just further confirmation that I have chosen wisely in selecting biomedical engineering, and I’m so excited to see what my future in this field with hold for me.
At the end of the semester, one of my most precious dreams came true when I got to travel to France for 10 days! It felt like 10 days of living in a dream, and I will treasure the memories and experiences I had during that time for the rest of my life. Check out the page documenting my fifth honors experience for more details and to see pictures!
Currently, I am back on co-op with Bard and looking forward to the challenges they have in store for me this semester. Looking to my future, my plan is to not have a plan. I’ve learned over the last semester about letting go and trusting God. That’s my only plan, to follow the Lord’s plan for me and go where I am called. I have two years left at UC/on co-op, and I’m content with that. It’s enough time to still have some great experiences, both professional and personal, but it’s also getting ever so slightly closer to graduation and the start of a whole new life after college. I’m grateful for all the ups and downs of this past year and eager to continue chasing after the Lord and pursuing my engineering degree!
That semester at Bard challenged me and helped me grow as an engineer, a professional, and a person. I was enlightened to the realities (pros and cons) of working a full-time job. Also, I had the opportunity to engage with professional engineers with varying past experiences and all with lost of wisdom and knowledge to share with me. Being in such a small and intimate office-space, I worked closely with most of the engineers and all of them acted as mentors to me. I am so grateful for each and every one of them and the many hours they spent working with me, teaching me, and practicing their patience with me as I asked question after question. I gained so many technical skills during this semester including technical writing skills, operation of some lab equipment, and got to observe endourology procedures performed by renewed physicians in the field. I wouldn’t trade my experiences at Bard for any other co-op and am so grateful to have ended up there and to be returning for a second term this summer.
After my semester of co-op ended, I braced myself to go back to classes. In the spring semester of 2017, I was enrolled in 17 credit hours and took the following courses: Medical Device Design I (Dr. Privitera), Sensing and Measuring (Dr. Zacchman), Global Technical Workforce (Prof. Rutz), Multivariable Calculus (Dr. Borovyk), and Honors Intermediate Composition (Prof. Vaughn). Although 17 credits turned out to be a lot to handle, and at times, I felt like all I did was homework and projects and essays, I genuinely enjoyed every one of these classes. For the first time, I felt excited to go to class every day and enjoyed what I was learning when I got there. A huge component of this was the awesomeness of each of my professors. Each of them garnered a good deal of my respect and had so much experience to share. They all engaged well with students, and that really impacted my experience in each of their classes. Despite the intense workload, this semester of classes was just further confirmation that I have chosen wisely in selecting biomedical engineering, and I’m so excited to see what my future in this field with hold for me.
At the end of the semester, one of my most precious dreams came true when I got to travel to France for 10 days! It felt like 10 days of living in a dream, and I will treasure the memories and experiences I had during that time for the rest of my life. Check out the page documenting my fifth honors experience for more details and to see pictures!
Currently, I am back on co-op with Bard and looking forward to the challenges they have in store for me this semester. Looking to my future, my plan is to not have a plan. I’ve learned over the last semester about letting go and trusting God. That’s my only plan, to follow the Lord’s plan for me and go where I am called. I have two years left at UC/on co-op, and I’m content with that. It’s enough time to still have some great experiences, both professional and personal, but it’s also getting ever so slightly closer to graduation and the start of a whole new life after college. I’m grateful for all the ups and downs of this past year and eager to continue chasing after the Lord and pursuing my engineering degree!
year 2 : 2015-16
When I look back on my sophomore year, the first word that comes to mind is Wow! I didn’t think it was possible, but this past year has been more transformative than any other and more fun than most as well! I’ve had countless changes, adventures, and lessons learned that all put a smile on my face as I reminisce.
The biggest change was my major. Last summer I made the decision and began the process of transitioning out of the College of Business and into the College of Engineering and Applied Science as a Biomedical Engineering Major. The switch was made complete at the end of fall semester, and I’m officially on my way to becoming an engineer! The decision to switch majors was definitely scary and certainly has not been an easy transition to make, but I truly believe it was the best choice I could have made. Despite the ups and downs, late nights, and stressful projects and exams, I have never been so happy or felt like my life has more meaning than since I’ve began pursuing an engineering degree. The work is hard, but I know this is what I’m meant to do, and I’m so excited for what the future holds! Plus, switching to engineering and maintaining a 4.0 GPA my first two semesters after the switch, have taught me a lot about myself. I’ve learned I’m stronger than I ever believed. I’ve discovered a renewed passion for my education and future career, and I’ve challenged and pushed myself farther than I thought I could go.
Through all of this, one person has been by my side day in and day out, my roommate and closest friend, Amanda. She has believed in me and encouraged me when I was ready to give up on myself. She has made me laugh until I cry. She suffered through chem lab with me. She (literally and figuratively) climbed mountains with me. She eats whipped cream with me. Most importantly, she strives each day to be a faithful woman of God, and she has served our community with me through the St. Monica – St. George student internship. She has become my other half and my best friend. She inspires and challenges me daily, and she has reminded me what it means to dream and reach for the stars. Over this past year, she’s helped me become me.
The internship I completed this year at St. Monica – St. George also played a part in shaping the person I’ve become. Through this experience, I overcame my shyness and insecurities that had previously prevented me from approaching new people or being my true self in all situations. I learned patience and compromise from living in a house with seven other people all year. I developed true and meaningful friendships centered on Christ, and I continued to pursue and strengthen my relationship with God.
Looking toward next year, I will be on my first co-op experience during fall semester and back in classes in the spring. The advice I want to give myself is to stay dedicated and be courageous. Many times I have let fear make decisions in my life. This year I took the first step to break free of my fears by changing my major despite it seeming terrifying. I want to continue that trend, continue to do the things that scare me most, because as I’ve already begun to see, the results are so much more valuable than the task is daunting. I also want to stay committed to and excited about my education and putting in the necessary work to strive toward graduation. Lastly, I want to keep dreaming and fighting for those dreams.
The biggest change was my major. Last summer I made the decision and began the process of transitioning out of the College of Business and into the College of Engineering and Applied Science as a Biomedical Engineering Major. The switch was made complete at the end of fall semester, and I’m officially on my way to becoming an engineer! The decision to switch majors was definitely scary and certainly has not been an easy transition to make, but I truly believe it was the best choice I could have made. Despite the ups and downs, late nights, and stressful projects and exams, I have never been so happy or felt like my life has more meaning than since I’ve began pursuing an engineering degree. The work is hard, but I know this is what I’m meant to do, and I’m so excited for what the future holds! Plus, switching to engineering and maintaining a 4.0 GPA my first two semesters after the switch, have taught me a lot about myself. I’ve learned I’m stronger than I ever believed. I’ve discovered a renewed passion for my education and future career, and I’ve challenged and pushed myself farther than I thought I could go.
Through all of this, one person has been by my side day in and day out, my roommate and closest friend, Amanda. She has believed in me and encouraged me when I was ready to give up on myself. She has made me laugh until I cry. She suffered through chem lab with me. She (literally and figuratively) climbed mountains with me. She eats whipped cream with me. Most importantly, she strives each day to be a faithful woman of God, and she has served our community with me through the St. Monica – St. George student internship. She has become my other half and my best friend. She inspires and challenges me daily, and she has reminded me what it means to dream and reach for the stars. Over this past year, she’s helped me become me.
The internship I completed this year at St. Monica – St. George also played a part in shaping the person I’ve become. Through this experience, I overcame my shyness and insecurities that had previously prevented me from approaching new people or being my true self in all situations. I learned patience and compromise from living in a house with seven other people all year. I developed true and meaningful friendships centered on Christ, and I continued to pursue and strengthen my relationship with God.
Looking toward next year, I will be on my first co-op experience during fall semester and back in classes in the spring. The advice I want to give myself is to stay dedicated and be courageous. Many times I have let fear make decisions in my life. This year I took the first step to break free of my fears by changing my major despite it seeming terrifying. I want to continue that trend, continue to do the things that scare me most, because as I’ve already begun to see, the results are so much more valuable than the task is daunting. I also want to stay committed to and excited about my education and putting in the necessary work to strive toward graduation. Lastly, I want to keep dreaming and fighting for those dreams.
year 1 : 2014-15
Freshman year at the University of Cincinnati has challenged me, pushed me, and forced me to grow in ways that I have never previously experienced. Before the school year began, I had sparkling images in my mind of what college would be and all the fun and friends I would have, but I quickly realized that campus life is not always that perfect image. Change is hard. Constantly meeting new people is hard. Being uncomfortable is hard. Thankfully though, after what seemed like a never-ending period of adjustment, day by day I began to accept the change, see some familiar faces, and start to feel comfortable.
Throughout the year, I found the most comfort at a church down the road called St. Monica-St. George. This is where I discovered my UC family, and the people here are the ones with whom I spent most of my time. I became involved with the St. Monica-St. George Newman Club early on in the school year and quickly felt welcomed into the community. With this involvement, I have made some amazing friends and have met some truly inspiring people, and I have grown in my faith and spirituality. This growth has provided me with greater confidence in myself and helped me to begin stepping outside my comfort zone. I have relearned how to approach total strangers and establish a friendship, how to discus my faith openly, and how it feels to genuinely help someone in need. I have even applied for and accepted an internship at the church for next school year where I will work alongside other student interns to serve the church and the Catholic community of UC.
One of the other interns I will be working with is my best and most genuine friend I made during my first year at UC. She has quickly become one of my closest friends and inspires me everyday to push myself spiritually, physically, and academically. She is what made the hard times bearable and the good times possible, and I am forever grateful to have found her friendship.
There were many times throughout this past year when I felt lost and questioned what I should do, where I should go, and even who I was and who I wanted to be. I tried like crazy to come up with answers to all of these, but I’m still trying to decide. I’ve unofficially changed my major half a dozen times and still ended up where I started, marketing, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t made any progress. Through various experiences, especially my spring break mission trip and the influence of a close friend, I’ve realized that whatever career I end up in, I want it to mean something. I don’t just want to convince consumers to buy the latest diaper brand. I hope to work for a non-profit and use my knowledge and talents to promote ideas and innovations that will save or greatly improve lives around the world.
Going forward into my second year at UC, I want to advise myself to keep these goals at the forefront of my mind and let them drive me, so someday they will be my reality. I want to try to everyday wake up remembering and pondering the suffering around the world and how I can change it and let that push me forward and pull me through boring lectures and nerve-wracking networking events that will eventually get me where I want to be, a place and position of which I will be proud and excited. I challenge myself to have a positive attitude about all that I do and go into each day asking myself what I can do in just that one day to better myself and those around me, and I hope to sit down a year from now to reflect on my sophomore year and not even know where to begin because of everything I was able to do and accomplish.
Throughout the year, I found the most comfort at a church down the road called St. Monica-St. George. This is where I discovered my UC family, and the people here are the ones with whom I spent most of my time. I became involved with the St. Monica-St. George Newman Club early on in the school year and quickly felt welcomed into the community. With this involvement, I have made some amazing friends and have met some truly inspiring people, and I have grown in my faith and spirituality. This growth has provided me with greater confidence in myself and helped me to begin stepping outside my comfort zone. I have relearned how to approach total strangers and establish a friendship, how to discus my faith openly, and how it feels to genuinely help someone in need. I have even applied for and accepted an internship at the church for next school year where I will work alongside other student interns to serve the church and the Catholic community of UC.
One of the other interns I will be working with is my best and most genuine friend I made during my first year at UC. She has quickly become one of my closest friends and inspires me everyday to push myself spiritually, physically, and academically. She is what made the hard times bearable and the good times possible, and I am forever grateful to have found her friendship.
There were many times throughout this past year when I felt lost and questioned what I should do, where I should go, and even who I was and who I wanted to be. I tried like crazy to come up with answers to all of these, but I’m still trying to decide. I’ve unofficially changed my major half a dozen times and still ended up where I started, marketing, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t made any progress. Through various experiences, especially my spring break mission trip and the influence of a close friend, I’ve realized that whatever career I end up in, I want it to mean something. I don’t just want to convince consumers to buy the latest diaper brand. I hope to work for a non-profit and use my knowledge and talents to promote ideas and innovations that will save or greatly improve lives around the world.
Going forward into my second year at UC, I want to advise myself to keep these goals at the forefront of my mind and let them drive me, so someday they will be my reality. I want to try to everyday wake up remembering and pondering the suffering around the world and how I can change it and let that push me forward and pull me through boring lectures and nerve-wracking networking events that will eventually get me where I want to be, a place and position of which I will be proud and excited. I challenge myself to have a positive attitude about all that I do and go into each day asking myself what I can do in just that one day to better myself and those around me, and I hope to sit down a year from now to reflect on my sophomore year and not even know where to begin because of everything I was able to do and accomplish.