As President of one of the eight class honoraries that comprise AOSCH (The Association of Ohio State Class Honoraries), I recently had the opportunity to facilitate our new member retreat. The day's agenda was filled with icebreakers, team builders, and skill assessments to better acquaint the members' leadership styles with one another. And, although each may have had their favorite activity, one in particular has remained fresh on my mind.

This activity paired students as they sat across a table from each other. Before them laid a sealed cereal box, carton of milk, banana, plastic spoon and knife, and a bowl. The object was for each team to successfully prepare a bowl of cereal topped with a sliced banana while remaining blindfolded with their strong hand behind their back. This variation left each tandem with two weak hands and only verbal communication in order to execute the otherwise simple task.

Being the facilitator, I had the guilty pleasure of watching fifteen groups of two struggle to burst every Toasty-O's bag in the room and to further manage ways to spill milk in places milk should never find. Once each group had completed the assignment, they could open their eyes and view their artwork (the completely prepared bowl of cereal).

Now, although none looked as scrumptious as they ever do in television commercials, I realized one important thing: The end result was still a bowl of cereal.

You may be wondering, "What else did you expect to see?" And, I assume my response would be, "A tastier looking bowl of cereal than what had been produced."

You see, when I need to complete a task, I always believe that there is exactly and only one way to reach success — my way. When tackling group projects, the end result never seams to turn out as good as it should unless my input is used 100% of the time. However, as I watched the members of each group open their eyes to examine their progress, I then decided that there is often many ways to achieve the same results. Just because the bowl of cereal might not have looked as appetizing as it may have on the box doesn't mean it wouldn't have tasted just the same.

Therefore, I noticed that my old way of thinking doesn't necessarily add up to overall success like I had once thought it should. If proper communication and teamwork exists, the end result could — and should — always be well within reach... as long as you look beyond the spilled milk.

Posted by Signal_Caller at 7:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A few weeks ago, I found myself heading down I-71 as my father drove me back to Columbus from a weekend at home. After we exhausted the usual chatter topics of whether or not Greg Oden will enter the NBA, the future schedule of the Cleveland Indians, and who we believe the Cleveland Browns will select in the forthcoming draft, we found ourselves with an awkward silence that lasted for miles.

Fortunately, I managed to continue conversation by discussing all of the upcoming events sponsored by the various student organizations in which I belong. I then realized that he was interested in hearing about Romophos Sophomore Class Honorary and our 9th Annual Battle of the Bands that we would soon hold as well as the new member inductions ceremony. I noticed that he was quite engrossed in my specific responsibilities, and — of course — he was primed to give his 'expert' advice on how I should follow through with my duties.

Later that night, I came to the conclusion that being involved on campus has given me a new outlet to discuss with my family. Being three hours away from home has often separated my common interests from that of my family's in the past two years; however, as of late, I have detected that they are highly fascinated in what I fill my time with and my number of roles within each activity.

I truly believe that had I not have been actively participating in organizations such as USG or Romophos, I may have had to remain in silence for an even longer stretch of I-71. Or — even worse — I may have been inclined to dig deeper into the vault of general sporting topics for us to debate. And because these often range from my terrific years of Little League Baseball, junior-high basketball, and whether or not our father-son tandem should dominate the links this upcoming golf season, I am appreciative to the fact that we have a wider depth of conversational topics with which to engage.

Posted by Signal_Caller at 1:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Although many people love to drag me down simply because I still live 'on-campus', I am convinced that residence halls are — by far — the best place to reside not only around campus but practically anywhere. Upon making 1 payment per quarter, I have all rent, utility, and food bills prepaid. Furthermore, under emergency funding situations, I am not required to pester my deadbeat roommate for his half of the rent, simply because all fees are deposited directly to the university.

Moreover the amenities that an on-campus resident receives are tremendous. The common room and bathroom which I share with 7 other people is cleaned twice a week and completely eliminates any heated debate over whose turn it is to throw the garbage away. Security for my residence hall, Lincoln Tower, receives an A+ in my grade book because of the limited keycard and double locked-door access required. And, my relative proximity to a world-class recreational center, fine dining, and entertainment lies within an 8 minute walk to either the RPAC or the Lennox Town Center.

However, the perks listed above pale in comparison to what I consider to be the grand prize of living in a residence hall. Whenever I feel a hankerin' of hunger, I merely take a brief ride down the elevator and visit one of the many campus dining halls. With just the swipe of a BuckID, an array of food becomes yours for the taking. There's no cooking, baking, or any preparation time necessary in order to feast at your leisure.

There's nothing better than having the lady who works the swipe machine in your local dining hall welcome you to breakfast each morning as if she was your mother wishing you a good day as you ponder over the choices of biscuits and gravy, sausage and eggs, pancakes and waffles, or simply fruit and cereal.

Posted by Signal_Caller at 5:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I recently took a midterm for one of the many statistics courses that I need to survive in order to achieve a degree in Actuarial Science. The class began promptly at 3:30 — the time the test was administered — and the professor had expected the midterm to last the entire length of the class until 4:48. The exam covered 6 chapters out of an 11 chapter text, and consisted of 10 probability questions.

Because of the high demand from other courses I am currently enrolled in and the several student organizations in which I belong, my statistics book wasn't cracked open until the day before the exam. The plastic seal was still fresh in tact within just 24 hours of the test. (I always try to make it out like I was too busy; however, the truth was that I simply didn't want to study all quarter)

Thus, I thought it in my best interest to begin to review the course material — mainly the example problems from the text — in hopes to prepare for my midterm. I roughly sifted through 200 pages of computational jibberish for approximately 9 hours straight. (Although cramming can be productive, I highly discourage the process!)

To my delight, 8 of the 10 problems on the exam were taken directly from the textbook! I immediately remembered the answers without ever having to do a computation (which I continued to do anyway). I finished the 78 minute midterm in simply 30 minutes and handed the 5-page examination to the proctor with complete satisfaction. I wish every midterm can be that carefree.

This turn of events has gotten me to wonder how often professors use practice questions for their exams. How many ways can there be to ask students to compute the expectation, variance, and conditional probability?

Now, correct me if I am wrong, but I have the feeling that I am on to something. Here it goes: Perhaps the key to better test-taking lies in direct correlation to the amount of preparation a student undergoes. I know that this may be a surprise to you, but by studying on a regular basis, students may run into test questions that look familiar. *

* I have yet to prove this theory of studying in order to do well on exams; but once I receive confirmation that it works, I shall relay the factual results to the mass public.

Posted by Signal_Caller at 1:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Spring quarter has finally arrived, bringing hundreds of scantily clad college students to frolic on the Oval. While the renewed warmth in temperature encourages a friendlier atmosphere on campus, I cannot help to think how quickly an enjoyable day can be ruined!

Am I excited that classes will soon be over until September?...Yes! Am I gleefully anticipating a summer filled with golfing and watching the Cleveland Indians?...Yes! And, am I ever waiting until USG (Undergraduate Student Government) Elections have ended so that the overabundance of chalking on campus will cease to exist?...Of course! However, I am not looking forward to the plethora of students who will soon inhabit my sidewalks — my means in which to get from Point A to Point B.

Listen up, Buckeyes! In order for everyone to coexist in the remaining two months on campus, I urge all of you to adhere to The Cardinal Rule of Traffic:

• Follow the American way of driving a vehicle and walk on the right half of sidewalks!

If there is just one thing that will send me into a rage, it is casually running into students who fail to abide by this rule and trespass across the median of sidewalks. When thousands of students need to furiously race across campus in a given time limit as if they're speed walking in the Olympics, the dead silence of realizing there is a set of feet staring right back at you as you count the exact number of lines in the sidewalk until you arrive to your destination can nearly be fatal.

So, remain on the right side at all times, unless signaling to pass or turn. It's the least you can do to help increase pedestrian safety and efficiency. Remember, it's the American way!

Posted by Signal_Caller at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)