Thania Gaido

Welcome to Ohio State, new and returning Buckeyes!

Autumn quarter is upon us, and it’s time to prepare your mind for studying and schoolwork. Autumn is also the season of transition from summer into winter, shorter days, the leaves start changing colors, and football season begins again. Go Buckeyes!

The summer issue of ¿Qué Pasa, OSU? featured eleven Hispanic/Latin@ graduating students. They shared their plans for the future and their experiences while at OSU. Like the students who graduated, we come full circle now and feature first year students who share their expectations about starting their new college life at OSU. These first year students come from different parts of the U.S. and Latin America and share with us their views, hopes, and fears about their future. They also tell us about the people who have influenced their decision to come to OSU. Remember these future graduates — in a few years, they will be the doctors, architects and engineers of tomorrow.

The Ohio State University is considered a coeducational research university. Many opportunities exist for all students in all majors to be involved in research. Such is the case of Antoney Ferrey, a second year student majoring in biology, who is doing research with Dr. Gustavo Leone in human cancer genetics. They show us the importance of research at the undergraduate level.

As part of the college experience, many students hold part time jobs while in school. Most of these students only consider the short term financial rewards. However, it is very important to think about the experience and long term rewards that you get by participating in internships that can provide important benefits when beginning your career. Dr. Ana Berríos-Allison, Associate Director of Career Connection, offers a step-by-step plan on how to use internships to advance a student’s career.

Attending a university with over 50,000 students can be overwhelming and even intimidating to some. I remember my first year here — I thought I was not going to be able to meet many people, because it is such a big university. However, as I got involved in extracurricular activities (such as student organizations), I was able to make the campus smaller by having a group of people that shared my interests.

There are many ways to meet people and make friends. In this issue, we are featuring the Hispanic/Latin@ student organizations. Read through the descriptions carefully and find one that fits your needs and expectations. Qué Pasa also discusses volunteer opportunities, such as the American Red Cross. The Red Cross relies on the help of volunteers to further its mission.

Personally, I am going through a period of change as well. In order to better prepare myself for my career, I was offered a fellowship to do research for my thesis. Therefore, this is going to be my last issue as editor of ¿Qué Pasa, OSU?

As I prepare to leave ¿Qué Pasa, OSU? I want to thank everybody who is involved in this important publication. They have been my mentors and inspiration throughout my year in the magazine. I especially want to thank Víctor Mora, Melissa Quintanilha and Ivonne García. They are a great team of people who love what they do and give their best to the magazine. Special thanks go to Víctor Mora, whose involvement in the magazine is vital to the publication — not only with his contacts and experience, but his continuous efforts to improve and motivate the Latin@ community at OSU. I am also very happy to introduce the new editor of ¿Qué Pasa, OSU?, Rachel Ramirez-Hammond, a graduate student in the departments of social work and public health. You can find more information on Rachel on page 4 of this issue.

I have had a wonderful experience at ¿Qué Pasa, OSU? over the past year. I know that every issue was an improvement over the previous one. As Hispanic/Latin@s, we must keep doing what we are doing and let ¿Qué Pasa, OSU? communicate the many accomplishments of Hispanics/Latin@s.