News
This is a creative space updated occassionally with program news as well as short reflection posts by the Fellows. Posts will reflect on current activities and events happening in the Buckeye Leadership Fellows Program.
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Finding Hope Amongst the Chaos - Jayson Velazquez
11/2/20 by
What are your personal reactions/feelings on the continuous incidents of racial injustice in the country; how has it impacted you?
To make a long answer short, it is sickening. Racial injustice is embedded in every aspect of our lives from city planning and environmental hazards, to education, financial mobility, and beyond. It is so engrained in life that believing racial justice is an issue people can ‘agree to disagree’ on is beyond harmful.
As someone who identifies as a non-Black queer Latinx man, I have a responsibility to personally unlearn any conscious or unconscious biases I may have and use that information to educate my respective communities. In the Latinx community, it is important to understand how issues of racial injustice are perpetuated by non-Black Latinx folk and to hold those individuals accountable. My engagement with activism and advocacy work is personal as I take to the streets to protect and demand the rights of my family, my friends, and my classmates.
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Finding Hope Amongst the Chaos - Connor Rash
10/22/20 by
What is your reaction to COVID-19 and how has it personally impacted you and/or your plans?
My reaction to COVID is one of weariness and caution. I understand the loss of life from a preventable virus as I have had and seen such loss occur within and outside of my own family. It is saddening that it took this long to realize the facts behind the virus that has affected so many in different ways. It is also worrisome that the US has been touted as a healthcare superpower and yet the daily cases rate is not closer to other developed countries such as Germany, Italy, or even the United Kingdom. Regarding my plans for post-grad, I have been fortunate that my internship this summer was able to be moved virtually and that materialized into a full-time job but understand and recognize that has not been the trend for many across OSU’s campus and the world. As I am graduating early, it has certainly impacted my plans from graduation until my full-time start date but I would like to make the most of this situation by adapting plans to fit within the safety guidelines that already exist.
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Finding Hope Amongst the Chaos - Lauryn DeLuca
10/14/20 by
What is your reaction to COVID-19 and how has it personally impacted you and/or your plans?
Like many, COVID- 19 flipped my life 180 degrees. Within hours of President Drake’s announcement I had packed up my 2nd year dorm and said goodbye to a job I have held for the last 2 years. On top of that, I never had the chance to say goodbye to the students I was working with at a nearby elementary school. We were supposed to go to LegoLand in two weeks for a field trip.
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BLF x Columbus Crew Leadership Challenge Recap
10/2/20 by
On Thursday, September 4th, a team of ten BLF ‘21 fellows presented to challenge partner, Columbus Crew.
“This really is a treasure chest of information,” Tim Bezbatchenko, former soccer player and current President of the Columbus Crew commends, “It doesn’t matter if you’re a player or a student, you have to be able to deliver in a way that’s professional and organized, collectively aligned, [and have] the ability to answer questions—even virtually, I think you guys have done a tremendous job”.
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BLF x Graduate Hotels Leadership Challenge Recap
09/23/20 by
During the Spring ‘20 semester, the BLF ‘22 Cohort had the opportunity to work on a challenge for partner, Graduate Hotels. The teams were instructed to craft a 360 degree campaign that would build international awareness for the Graduate Hotels brand. The six challenge teams presented on Wednesday, September 9th with their Marketing and Communications team and the winning team included fellows Pablo Manon Mateos, Ose Arheghan, Dierre Blash, Ellie Joyce.
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Letter to a Mentor - Tommy Bowles
05/29/20 by
Dear Senator John Glenn,
I will never be able to thank you enough for all that you have done for my family and me. But I hope I have made you proud. Back in 2016, I was selected as the first-ever recipient of the John and Annie Glenn scholarship for incoming Public Affairs students at Ohio State. I remember meeting you and your family at a Glenn College board meeting in Page Hall to accept the scholarship. Your daughter Lyn gave me a tour of your office in the building and had me sit in your chair from the United States Senate. She told me that could be me someday. Nothing has ever inspired me more in my life than meeting my childhood hero and his family. In the moment, I knew my life was forever changed, but never could I imagine the true impact the Glenn family would have on my life.