A phrase that I’ve become all too familiar with hearing is, ‘You can’t like both Ohio State and Michigan’. As a native to southern Ohio, it was inevitable that I would grow up to be a die-hard Buckeye just like my parents. There used to be a running joke between my dad and his friends that we’d know the world was ending the day a Rogers child decided to attend ‘that school up north’. If this was true, the world would have ended the day of my high school graduation. As I walked across the stage, I awaited the laughter that was soon to follow once my baby and senior pictures flashed across the screen. Although I had always known the still shot of the toe-headed, one-dimpled, 3-year-old dressed in an OSU cheerleading outfit would be up on the
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I’m a very polite and respectful student, but this doesn’t set me apart from most of my peers. It’s the fact that I am not afraid to speak up and I don’t take anything too personally that differentiates me from a large portion of other students. Sophomore year, as I sat in a 3-hour earth structure lab, I began to talk about the extreme future career uncertainty I faced to the surrounding students and instructor. I am usually the outspoken one of my classes, so to me and my peers, my candid words were just another externalized observation that made the arduous lab tasks a little less agonizing. Going down a list of common professions that I could maybe fill, I joked about how I wasn’t sure how great of a doctor I would be seeing that I get woozy just thinking about a shot, or how I would fair as an unreadable trial lawyer since I have a big dimple on my right cheek that is visible at the faintest expression of emotion. To that, the professor suggested to me and the class that it sounded like the best occupation for me would be a clown. Everyone laughed. The next day, I received an email from him asking if I could come by his office to talk. As I nervously walked into his office, he immediately apologized for his comment, explaining that the dialogue had reached the other lab section, and students were shocked that such a thing was said. To me, the comment was nothing but a joke, and even if it had been intended to be harmful, I didn’t allow it to bring me down. He didn’t quite understand how I was okay with it but explained how impressed he was with my confidence. That’s just it. I know myself, my worth ethic, and how successful I can be; people’s words don’t impact that. When it’s necessary, I’ll stand up for myself, but when nothing needs to be said, I don’t let others make me feel inferior. Now that I think about it, I would be a terrible clown… my humor is far too
I’m a very polite and respectful student, but this doesn’t set me apart from most of my peers. It’s the fact that I am not afraid to speak up and I don’t take anything too personally that differentiates me from a large portion of other students. Sophomore year, as I sat in a 3-hour earth structure lab, I began to talk about the extreme future career uncertainty I faced to the surrounding students and instructor. I am usually the outspoken one of my classes, so to me and my peers, my candid words were just another externalized observation that made the arduous lab tasks a little less agonizing. Going down a list of common professions that I could maybe fill, I joked about how I wasn’t sure how great of a doctor I would be seeing that I get woozy just thinking about a shot, or how I would fair as an unreadable trial lawyer since I have a big dimple on my right cheek that is visible at the faintest expression of emotion. To that, the professor suggested to me and the class that it sounded like the best occupation for me would be a clown. Everyone laughed. The next day, I received an email from him asking if I could come by his office to talk. As I nervously walked into his office, he immediately apologized for his comment, explaining that the dialogue had reached the other lab section, and students were shocked that such a thing was said. To me, the comment was nothing but a joke, and even if it had been intended to be harmful, I didn’t allow it to bring me down. He didn’t quite understand how I was okay with it but explained how impressed he was with my confidence. That’s just it. I know myself, my worth ethic, and how successful I can be; people’s words don’t impact that. When it’s necessary, I’ll stand up for myself, but when nothing needs to be said, I don’t let others make me feel inferior. Now that I think about it, I would be a terrible clown… my humor is far too