News : Buckeye Leadership Fellows

A Word from the Wise - Shanvanth Arnipalli

02/22/21 by Staff

What is the best piece of advice a mentor or mentor figure has given you? How has this advice impacted your life, decisions, and/or goals?

A faculty mentor that I look up to is my biomedical nutrition lab advisor, Dr. Ouliana Ziouzenkova. I joined Dr. Ziouzenkova’s lab back in April this year and it has been quite the experience. The best piece of advice she has given me was to not back down or be scared away from an opportunity because of the steep learning associated with it. Her lab's focus is mostly outside of what I learn in my major and adapting to thinking outside the box for my work in this lab was not easy. There was a struggle at the beginning, as is with any new experience, however, I admired her patience and all time and effort she invested into my understanding and learning to succeed in this lab. This was a major catalyst for my ventures in academia because it lit a spark of ambition that continues to grow over time. It completely restructured my self-confidence and the way I approach my work both in and out of class. Because of this advice, I challenged myself to explore research solely outside of my field of study. I am majoring in Environmental Science with a specialization in Molecular Science on the pre-med track. My lab research work focuses are in biomedical nutrition and developmental psychology, and I am currently writing my undergraduate thesis on parental metaemotion and practices towards child socialization goals shaped by environmental sociological imagination through my psychology lab. The research in the biomedical nutrition lab focuses on fundamental pathways regulating metabolic responses and examines their relevance for the development of the metabolic syndrome. Whereas my work in the developmental psychology lab focuses on the role of familial context and parental characteristics, in young children’s socioemotional development, more specifically, socialization of children’s emotion regulation. Through my work in the biomedical nutrition lab, I co-authored two publications, one regarding the consequence of antibiotics and the other discussing the osmotic and hemostatic collapses in the human body due to COVID-19.

Finding Hope Amongst the Chaos - Aayushi Chandra

01/11/21 by Staff

There were many things my dad cultivated in himself and in others, but two things specifically: kindness and joy.

He said kindness was always an option and a choice in opposition to anything else. Kindness is never fleeting and can be deliberately and intentionally cultivated. Although my dad was unable to speak or move for most of his hospitalization, his generosity brought tears to the staff’s eyes wherever he was. His forms of appreciation are not hard to carry out, but require careful attention.

BLF x Olive Leadership Challenge Recap

12/8/20 by Staff

This semester, our ’22 Fellows partnered with Olive, a healthcare technology company, to collaborate on the Autumn 2020 Leadership Challenge. Olive, which has recently attained unicorn status with a $1.5B valuation, is home to BLF Program Alum, Nick Eifel ’18 and Kylen Bailey ’19 who provided leadership and guidance for the program’s first Alumni led challenge.

Finding Hope Amongst the Chaos - Nikhil Desai

11/23/20 by Staff

COVID-19 has impacted me in many ways. Initially, like most Americans, I did not understand the severity of the virus and downplayed the potential impact it would have. As transmission rates and cases began to increase, I realized that the virus was much more serious than I had imagined. As time passed, my frustration grew; politicians were not listening to expert scientists that have dedicated their lives to understanding and handling national health crises. Instead of empowering experts, we decided to turn this pandemic into a political matter, and unfortunately, Americans have paid the price. In addition to incompetent leadership, our country has failed frontline workers who risk their lives every day as servants to their community. We sent doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals into high-risk situations without providing them with the necessary PPE and safety equipment to stay safe and do their job effectively; this is like sending front line soldiers into battle without guns and ammunition. Unfortunately, fatality is inevitable.

Finding Hope Amongst the Chaos - Noor Alshafie

11/16/20 by Staff

What are your personal reactions/feelings towards the current political climate and how has it impacted you?

A myriad of emotions spring to mind when I reflect upon the political climate I have been shaped by over my past twenty-one years of life, but especially the tumultuous past four years I have experienced since the 2016 election. My sense of self-importance is not inflated to the point of believing that my opinion is the sole correct answer. I do not write with the intent of providing a viable solution to the state of the world or simply because I care about democracy. The country is failing, and I am set to graduate in May into a world of complete disarray. This is personal for me, as it should be for everyone in our nation, regardless of their place in life at the moment.

Finding Hope Amongst the Chaos - Kate Gomez

11/9/20 by Staff

What is your reaction to COVID-19 and how has it personally impacted you and/or your plans?

I think it’s fair to say that, like the rest of the world, I am hurting because of COVID-19 and its effects. I left my Spring Break trip to close my sorority house for summer break while it was snowing, and I headed home. Over the next four months, I slowly lost hope for a normal return to school in August. Before the COVID-19 pandemic began, I did not think I would get a chance to live under one roof with my four younger siblings, parents and dog again. I was able to find light in those moments. I was able to spend quality time with my family and was able to take a step back and appreciate the smaller things in life that are easy to miss in the chaos of daily life. Family dinner is something that always helps me reset and re-ground myself. This has been a staple in my large family for my entire life and since going to college, I have grown to miss this quality time with my parents and siblings.