OHIO Honors Program

Addie Hedges finds her passion at OU Press
This summer I stayed in Athens to complete an internship at the Ohio University Press. I worked as the acquisitions assistant, but I also had the opportunity to work in the editorial department as an editorial intern. Through my positions, I communicate with potential and contracted authors from all over the world, review manuscripts, and help select images to be featured in the final manuscripts. The internship extends throughout the school year, so I will continue in my positions until I graduate in the spring. Having the opportunity to stay in a city I love and learn more about the career I know I will love was so rewarding!

Esme Miranda making the most of OHP.
My time with the Ohio Honors Program has been wonderful since it has led me to try new things and work on becoming a better person and leader. Throughout my time at OHP, I have had the opportunity to become a Peer Mentor and I enjoyed it a lot. I felt like I made a new friend while also enhancing my speaking and leadership skills. One of the classes that I am taking is called Democracy in Action, and it's one of my favorite classes so far since we’ll be learning about voting rights, civil dialogue in a polarized climate, and the process of voter registration and education. The one thing that I love the most is being able to apply these concepts in real-world situations. With the OHP it has been an opportunity to explore and dive into things you want to do whether that's community engagement, research and creative activities, or leadership.

Lily Waskiewicz returns from Indonesia
This summer I traveled to rural Indonesia for a six-week internship with the conservation wing of REA Kaltim Plantations. My experience was utterly irreplaceable! The main focal points of my work included biodiversity management and conservation tactics like herpetofauna surveys, rewilding, boundary marking, and camera trapping. I also completed some separate research on my own regarding the impacts of fertilizer and rodenticides on the local wildlife and conservation areas, and how the Indonesian legal system operates alongside multinational companies and differs from the United States legal system. I also learned a lot about myself, what type of person I want to be, and have a newfound, better perspective on life. I have always believed that the only way you can grow is by leaving the confines of your comfort zone. The challenges I faced while abroad helped me do just that! Studying abroad, interning overseas, and other experiences of this sort are a true blessing. The opportunity to be immersed in a culture entirely unlike your own is an incredible gift that so many people do not get to experience. If you ever have such an opportunity, you must make the most of it!

Bozeman Koonce spends summer in Southeast Asia.

For my summer experience I was able to spend 3 months In Southeast Asia interning and traveling. I spent 2 weeks in Cambodia with the Global Leadership Program. This provided me with opportunities to explore a region of the world I had yet to see and gave me the chance to work with an educational non-profit in Phnom Penh. Afterwards, I served as an intern in Chiang Mai, Thailand with The Life Skills Development Foundation, a child-rights development organization. I was able to explore what it means to be a professional worker in this field. I was able to travel with them to community events and actively participate once projects were acted upon. From this whole experience I was able to see so much more than I ever thought I could. A major takeaway I had was the need for better support for immigrants here in the United States. Many of the children we worked with were from underserved communities with high populations of immigrants due to current conflicts in Myanmar. This made me think about how immigrants are supported, or not, in the United States. Immigrants are always working through different problems that people who are locals never see. I saw things as simple as crossing the road, shopping for food, or even speaking to one another as something certain people struggle with. I had my own problems I had to navigate in this arena, and yet I was able to succeed. I think studying abroad is always worthwhile, because even if your job is not what you want, your out of work experiences will stick with you for a lifetime.

Welcome back OHP students!