Showcase Artifact 1
From New Honors Student to Almost Graduate
Accepted into Honors College: Fall 2022​
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H200: Introduction to Honors Class
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Required class for all first year Honors students.
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Helped develop our identity as an Honors scholar.
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Helped us think intentionally about meeting our goals as Honors students.
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Provided us with opportunities to form connections with other Honors students and staff.
Below are various assignments completed throughout the course and my reflection as a soon-to-be graduate.
"I Am" & "I Want to Become Statements
(August & October 2022)
The "I Am" Statement was an activity that gave me a solid grounding in what it means to be an honors student by reflecting upon the values and qualities that I would use to describe myself in relation to being an honors student. To begin writing my statement, I first listed the qualities I believed an Honors student should have and then listed the qualities I possessed. Next, I listed the things that brought me joy and the things that motivated me. Creating this statement really had me dive into who I am and what truly matters to me.
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The "I Want to Become" Statement was an activity that allowed me to reflect on my "I Am" Statement, identify areas of growth, and help me think about my future. Before writing my statement, I reflected on my "I Am" Statements, and listed qualities and values I wanted to have as a future honors student. While still tying in qualities from my "I Am" Statement, I wrote what I wanted, and expected, my future self to be, including my goals and growth. This assignment helped me narrow down what I was expecting of myself in the future, and how I could get there from where I am now.
Reflection (January 2025)
These past assignments have shown me exactly how much I've grown as a person through my experiences at IU Indy. I wrote out these statement to be a better student in 2022, but three years have come and gone. Three years of ups and downs, hills and valleys, wins and losses that have changed me for the better. I almost want to laugh at the difference between Sophomore Me and Today Me.​
Sophomore Me
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Anxious about the future
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Worried I would never be enough
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Constantly feeling burnt out from over working myself
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Stressed over every homework assignment and every test
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Perfectionist who spent too much time on her assignments
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Too fearful of being labelled a "bad" student to spend time with friends and family
Today Me
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Interned with the Indiana State Police Lab
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Spoke at a national forensic conference
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Lived in a new environment away from my family for a month
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Can balance my school life and home life
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Can accept what I can't change
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Can look past GPA scores and academic achievements to see the bigger picture
​​ While I didn't turn into the exact person I thought I would be in my "I Want to Become" Statement, I still achieved great things that I wasn't even expecting back in 2022. Over these past few years I've looked inside myself to see what I want to do with my life and found a woman who still loves to bake, to cook, and to read, who still wants to travel and experience new things outside of Indiana. I found a woman who's ready to step out on her own, and into a place unknown.​
Engaged Learning & Leadership
While taking H200, I was tasked with coming up with three potential opportunities for engaged learning and leadership. I first reflected on my skills, interests, values, personal and academic goals, and what I hope to accomplish during my time at IU Indianapolis. Then I identified three experiences that would help me build skills that I could apply toward my college degree and my future career. Listed below are the experiences I thought I would partake in and the experiences I actually partook in.
October 2022
Hold a Position in the Forensic Science Club
I believed that being involved within the club on campus would allow me to not only meet fellow FIS majors, but also build my leadership skills, network with the FIS faculty and guest speakers that would be there, and entice other students/the community to learn about forensic science.
Intern with a Police Lab
I believed that the best way to learn about anything is by being in the center of it. Interning with a police lab would have allowed me to learn valuable skills from an experienced forensic scientist and determine if forensic science was really the career I wanted to pursue.
On-Campus Lab Work
I believed that as a future forensic scientist, I would need to be proficient at analyzing evidence and processing data. In order to learn these skills, outside of my degree's required lab classes, I would apply to work part-time in a research lab on campus.
January 2025
Interned with the ISP Lab
I was honored with the opportunity to intern in the Biology Unit of the Indiana State Police Lab from May to August of 2023. I worked on a project to find the success rate of touch DNA, watched experienced forensic analysts work in the lab, watch expert testimony in court, and many other things.
Spoke at an AAFS Conference
My internship with the ISP Lab opened the door to an amazing opportunity in February of 2024. After finding the success rate of touch DNA, I was accepted to present my findings at the American Association of Forensic Science Conference in Denver, Colorado.
Reflection (January 2025)
​ If college has taught me anything, it's that things rarely ever go the way you plan. For example, I didn't take a leadership position in the Forensic Science Club like I had thought. In fact, I stopped going to the club all together due to scheduling conflicts. However, I was still able to build my network with forensic scientists from all over the country at the AAFS conference and with forensic scientists of all divisions at the ISP Lab. I also didn't apply to work in a lab on campus, either, due to financial reasons. But, while interning with the ISP Lab, I was able to observe evidence analysis and the day-to-day duties of a forensic scientist.​​​