Class of 2013

Sociology & Environmental Studies major

As a sociology and environmental studies major, I spent a lot of time in the classroom learning about social problems. Whether it was racism and homophobia or the many complications with the recycling stream, my course work gave me a great appreciation for how complex the world is and how difficult it is to maintain sustainable change. It was my work in experiential learning programs that helped me develop the skills, patience, and agency necessary to go beyond problems and to begin participating in solutions.

Participating in service-learning courses and the Provost Fellows research program taught me the practical skills that are necessary to be successful in any career: how to research and support an idea, how to manage a team, and how to communicate complex information in accessible and engaging ways. Overall, experiential education taught me that it is not enough to simply know content. There is a whole other realm of practical skills that can be difficult to learn in a traditional classroom.

Learning portfolio: https://u.osu.edu/travisolson/