REFLECTION

Throughout my journey as a scholar in the Honors College at Indiana University Indianapolis, I have obtained experiences and received opportunities that have paved the path toward my future career. The honors college has given me the confidence to network with individuals in my future career field, synthesize and apply complex information, and utilize the skills I have learned to best demonstrate my expertise in the field. As demonstrated in my journey maps, I have grown greatly as an individual and an upcoming professional in the forensic science field since beginning my journey in the honors program. Prior to starting my journey in the Honors College, I had a very narrow mindset of what it means to be an honors scholar. However, I now understand that it is much more than simply academics. It combines all aspects of being a scholar including academics, personal and professional growth, challenging objectives and the drive necessary to achieve them. This development and expansion in my mindset is indicative of the growth I have achieved throughout my journey in the Honors College. Being an active member of the Honors College has allowed me to focus my efforts on actively engaging in my program at IU Indianapolis rather than going through the motions of what is expected of me as an honors scholar. Reflecting on the journey I have had as an honors scholar, I understand and value the importance of positively contributing to my academic community by being an engaged member of the Honors College. 

A few of these experiences I have gained stand out to me as they have helped me develop my learning, growth, and perspective as a future professional in the forensic science field. These are my acceptance into a medical school research laboratory and my development in crafting presentations interpreting complex information to share with my colleagues. I began work in a research laboratory at the IU School of Medicine in the Fall of 2023, the same time I was admitted into the Honors College. I began this adventure with the open mindset of wanting to perform the best work possible and be as advantageous to my principal investigator as I could be. These were not bad goals to have. However, as I progressed through my journey in the Honors College and subsequently through this laboratory experience, I realized the value in not only viewing this experience as work that I needed to get done, but rather as an opportunity to learn and gain as much hands-on laboratory skill as I could. Focusing on this opportunity as a learning experience really opened my perspective to accomplishing and gaining more from my time in this laboratory. One of my accomplishments as a result of being a member of this laboratory was gaining the opportunity to do a presentation at the Center for Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases Symposium in the Summer of 2025. One quote that I truly believe embodies the growth I experienced here is by John Wooden who said, “It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.” I think this indicates the importance of having specific goals and ensuring that your mindset is not so fixed that you miss the bigger picture of your experience. 

Additional experiences in presenting that I have received as a result of being an honors scholar were influential in my learning and development throughout my time in the Honors College. For example, I created a presentation encompassing the use of cell biology in forensic science as an honors project for BIOL-K 324 Cell Biology in Spring of 2024. At the time of this presentation, I was in my second semester of college. The little experience I did have in presenting was minimal and not at a collegiate level. As this was one of my first larger presentations, I learned a lot about effective communication and the importance of sharing knowledge with others. One of my favorite quotes that represents this experience for me was said by Lilly Walters, “The success of your presentation will be judged not by the knowledge you send but by what the listener receives.” To me, this indicates the importance of crafting a presentation that is appropriate for your audience and ensuring the information is digestible for the listeners. Similarly, a presentation I created as an honors contract for the PSY-B110 Introductory Psychology Course. Its purpose was to connect psychology to forensic science through analysis and explanation of a real criminal case. For this project, I researched information on the connections between forensic science and psychology to accurately convey the information to my colleagues in the course. This presentation inherently focused on my ability to discover and research information on my own, rather than being provided with all the information necessary to create and give a presentation. This project allowed me to develop my perspective on what it meant to craft a significant presentation. 

Through these opportunities and presentations, I became proficient in creating a collection of detailed information to accurately relay to other individuals. The IU Indianapolis Honors College has a learning goal of being an active participant in intellectual experiences. I believe each of these artifacts demonstrates that I have made a commitment to being actively engaged in my coursework and intellectual experiences at IU Indianapolis. Similarly, through this specific ePortfolio entry I have been able to reflect on the growth and development I have combe by through these experiences, expanding my knowledge and desire to become as educated as I can when it comes to my future field of forensic science, another goal of the IU Indianapolis Honors College. These types of learning engagements and experiences I have received as a result of being an honors scholar has prepared me well for life after graduation. I plan to attend Marshall University to acquire an M.S. in Forensic Sciences with a concentration in DNA Analysis. I believe the presentations and ability to conduct skillful research that I have gained throughout my undergraduate study will assist me in carrying out research and cultivating a thesis in graduate school. Being a member of the IU Indianapolis Honors College has provided me not only with the opportunities to engage in meaningful activities that will benefit me in the future, but also with the knowledge and skills to proactively gain experiences that will increase my ability to perform as a professional in the future. These experiences have changed my perspective on engagement and academic involvement in such a positive way. Initially, I thought educational experiences were something to check a box in order to meet the necessary requirements. However, I now understand the importance of being engaged and present in these activities in order to gain the most from them. Additionally, I previously had such a high focus on the disconnect between educational and life experiences, but I now value the importance of expanding educational knowledge to grow in personal and professional opportunities over time.