The Lantern - Sept. 15, 2020

THE LANTERN

The student voice of the Ohio State University | Tuesday, September 15, 2020

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Year 141, Issue No. 21

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Virtual handshakes at career, internship fair VINCENT LUCARELLI Lantern Reporter lucarelli.24@osu.edu

CAREER EDITION WHAT’S INSIDE

ENTRY-LEVEL JOBS

SHORT NORTH

GOLF

Tips on meeting the requirements for entrylevel jobs following college

Small businesses in the Short North forced to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Alanis Sakuma and Jillian Bourdage bond on the course and in the sky

ON PAGE 2

ON PAGE 6

ON PAGE 12

Rather than standing in long lines in the Ohio Union to talk to a representative from their dream company, soon-to-be graduates and internship-seeking students will navigate this year’s career fair with a keyboard instead of a map.

Ohio State’s annual career fair will be online this year on the job website Handshake due to COVID-19. Despite the online format and lower-thanusual company turnout, many organizations, such as Quicken Loans, Johnson & Johnson and Teach for America, are still registered to meet with potential future employees, according to the Office of Student Life.

There are 100 organizations participating in the career fair this year, according to the event’s Handshake page; 190 organizations participated in 2019.

Carly Zeiger, career outreach and events coordinator for Buckeye Careers in the Office of Student Life, said in an email that COVID-19 presented issues with planning such a large event.

“It was a challenge to adjust our usual plans from a large, in-person career fair to create an experience that would be meaningful to students and their career development,” Zeiger said.

“It was challenging in a different way than it is to plan an in-person career fair.”

Despite the change from previous years’ fairs, Zeiger said Handshake, a job search website contracted with Ohio State, has features — such as video calls and messaging options — that may ease some students’ concerns about not meeting company representatives face to face.

“While sitting on a video call is not the same experience as talking to someone in-person in the Ohio Union, interpersonal connections can be made in either setting,” Zeiger said.

Zeiger said although the virtual format may seem overwhelming, it can help students narrow their interests for companies they want to work for after graduation.

Students who have never been to a career fair can discover what types of organizations they are interested in working for without leaving their homes.

This isn’t the first Ohio State CAREER FAIR CONTINUES ON 3

Campus

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How Fall Career and Internship Fair organizations have adjusted due to the COVID-19 pandemic ON PAGE 4

COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF STUDENT LIFE

Students visit employer booths at the Career and Internship Fair Sept. 17, 2019.

Entry-level job requirements not barriers for employment

WORKPLACE CHANGES

BELLA CZAJKOWSKI Patricia B. Miller Special Projects Reporter czajkowski.8@osu.edu Recent college graduates could be in for a rude awakening as they apply for their first job only to find out they don’t meet the minimum qualifications.

According to a 2018 TalentWorks study of more than 95,000 jobs, 61 percent of entrylevel job applications had a requirement of at least three years of experience. In reality, Ryan Wilhelm, assistant director of Career Counseling and Support Services, said students may still be hired even if they don’t have the desired experience under their belt.

Wilhelm said that unlike a job’s requirement for a certain degree or certification, experience requirements are not always concrete. He said he encourages students to apply for a position even if they aren’t the “perfect candidate.”

“If there were seven things that that job was looking for, and you checked off five and the rest of us checked off four, you’re going to get an interview and you might get that job,” Wilhelm said. “It’s not always about checking off every single box.”

Kristen Forche, an academic adviser for chemical and biomolecular engineering, said she also encourages students to apply for a job even if they don’t meet the experience requirement.

When she applied to her current advising role, she said Ohio State looked for a candidate who had three to five years of experience, but Forche got the job with less than two years.

“Prove that you are still a hard worker and can do the job regardless,” Forche said.

Wilhelm said students can take additional measures to make up for a lack of experience and that networking may be key to landing an entry-level job. He said LinkedIn, Handshake and Alumnifire for Ohio State are great resources for students to make their way onto a company’s radar before a job formally becomes available.

“The goal is to become the person who they think about when a job opens up,” Wilhelm said.

Wilhelm and Forche said students tend to overlook prior volunteer or unpaid jobs, but those positions could qualify as relevant experience on their applications. Forche said she also encourages students to pursue coops or internships while earning their undergraduate degree. Coops are usually full-time, paid positions that take place during the semester while internships are held over a semester or during the summer and may be part-time, paid or unpaid, Forche said.

Alec Pellicciotti, a fourthyear in chemical engineering, will spend the next three months in North Carolina in a co-op with GE Aviation, an aircraft engineering company. Before this co-op, he completed two additional internships: one in Kentucky with GE Aviation after his sophomore year and another with Columbus-based applied science and technology nonprofit Battelle Memorial Institute after his junior year.

“By taking a co-op, you’re able

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CAREER FAIR FROM 1

career fair to be held entirely on Handshake; the Fisher College of Business held its annual career fair on the website Sept. 9-11.

“One unique challenge with the Fisher Fall Career Fair is that it is one of the first career fairs at Ohio State each academic year, and it is often the first career fair attended by employers each career fair season,” Sarah Steenrod, director of undergraduate career consultation and programs in the Fisher College of Business, said in an email. “For this year in particular, it was the first virtual career fair that many employers and students have ever attended.”

Steenrod said if a student prepares well, acts professionally, researches the company, gives a nice personal introduction and asks good questions, they can still make an impression on the employer like they would in person.

Steenrod also said the virtual setting enables the student to be in a comfortable space and eliminate the stress of getting to the fair, finding employers and waiting in lines. The format also gives students the opportunity to schedule 10-minute, one-on-one sessions with employers, which Steenrod said is likely longer than conversations students would be able to have in person.

COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF STUDENT LIFE

A Career and Internship Fair worker shows a student where to sign Sept. 17, 2019.

to get a foot in with the company and start obtaining that resume experience,” Pellicciotti said.

Pellicciotti said that companies tend to prioritize a student’s major and GPA in their hiring process, but having relevant work experience can set a candidate apart. He said he feels prepared to apply for a full-time job since he will have completed multiple internships and a co-op by the time he graduates.

Pellicciotti said many students he knows start looking for work experience their freshman year at Ohio State. He said although attending career fairs

or reaching out to employers may be intimidating, in his experience, demonstrating “soft skills” — such as teamwork and communication — to recruiters can help students “get a foot in” and develop lasting relationships with companies.

“A lot of those types of companies look at candidates with great soft skills that they can get involved in their intern program early,” Pellicciotti said. “As you have two or three rotations with a certain company, it’s much easier to transition into a full-time opportunity with them.”

According to the Fisher College of Business, usually about 2,000 students attend the one-day, inperson career fair; this year, more than 4,000 students registered for an extended three-day event.

Ohio State has 13 career fairs scheduled for fall semester, according to the Office of Student Life. Steenrod said career fair coordinators collaborated over the summer to plan for problems the virtual format may present.

Still, Steenrod said there were some minor issues during the Fisher fair.

“One of the biggest adjustments in switching from an in-person event to virtual was helping employers and students understand what would actually happen on the day of the event,” Steenrod said. “Since employers had to schedule group and 1:1 sessions and students had to sign up with employers, it took a little more advance preparation on everyone’s part.”

Steenrod said after successfully navigating Fisher’s career fair, she foresees no issues with the career and internship fair.

The career and internship fair is Tuesday and Wednesday from noon to 6 p.m. on Handshake.

Students can register for the fair and sessions with employers on the website.

“It was a challenge to adjust our usual plans from a large, in-person career fair to create an experience that would be meaningful to students and their career development.”

—Carly Zeiger, career outreach and events coordinator

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CAREER

COVID in the workplace: Working at home office desks and on duty TESS WELLS Lantern Reporter wells.1442@osu.edu As Ohio State students prepare to attend career fairs virtually, the semesterly question of “Where will I have to move for work?” has shifted to “Will I be working from the same chair I’m sitting in now?”

Ohio State’s annual Fall Career and Internship Fair will be entirely virtual on the job site Handshake. Of the 100 employers signed up over the two-day fair, companies range from Bath and Body Works to Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

Since each organization functions in its own unique way, their methods of dealing with COVID-19 also vary broadly as millions of Americans had to switch to a work-from-home set-up. Facebook, for example, announced in May that about half of its more than 40,000 employees would be able to work from home

within a decade.

And according to a national survey in April by business publishing c o m p a n y getAbstract, nearly half of workers would like to continue working from home after the pandemic ends, and 45 percent of their employers were considering the change.

Some employers, such as Columbus-based CityScene Media Group, made the adjustment to working virtually, and although it doesn’t know if the change will be permanent, it plans to continue to provide that option for its interns.

“At the moment, all of our interns are virtual, which has been different for us. But we’re making the best out of it,” Mallory Arnold, managing editor

DONOVAN COLLINS | FOR THE LANTERN

for CityScene, said.

CityScene Media Group is a compilation of community magazines centered around the flagship publication CityScene Magazine, Arnold said. She said the magazine focuses on arts and entertainment while also highlighting different communities in Columbus.

Arnold said despite not meeting in person, regular video meetings and streams of communication help the organization connect

with its interns. For its fulltime employees, she said the organization operates on a hybrid model of working from home and in the office.

“We’re working half the week at home and half the week in the office,” Arnold said. “We’re super safe with masks and cleaning everything down and making sure everyone is doing their part to keep each other safe.”

On the other end of the spectrum is the Franklin

County Sheriff’s Department.

David Masterson, director of administrative services, said although the department has some “civilian” jobs available — human resources and information technology — its primary focus is to find potential deputy sheriffs at the fair.

“Our bread and butter’s the deputy position, I mean, that’s probably 80 to 85 percent of our workforce,” Masterson said.

Employees in administrative or

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technical roles are able to work from home, but because of the nature of the deputy position, Masterson said there are limited ways in which deputies can modify their work patterns to work remotely.

“In the law enforcement realm, a lot of the jobs that we have here, especially on the deputy side of things, there’s really not much that’s different other than everyone trying to do social

Tuesday, September 15, 2020 | The Lantern | 5

distancing as much as they can inside the jails,” Masterson said.

Masterson said there are mandatory mask policies in jails for both employees and inmates and that the department has other policies to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

The Fall Career and Internship Fair is Tuesday and Wednesday from noon to 6 p.m.

“Our bread and butter’s the deputy position, I mean, that’s probably 80 to 85 percent of our workforce.”

—David Masterson, director of administrative services

MACKENZIE SHANKLIN | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

The Franklin County Sheriff’s Department will be looking for potential deputies and people to work jobs at the courthouse in human resources and information technology at the Career Fair.

THE STUDENT VOICE OF THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

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Arts&&Life Arts

7 | Tuesday, September 15, 2020

OFF-CAMPUS

How students are handling an online-heavy format.

ON PAGE 8

COVID causes closures for small businesses in the Short North

T

Sarah Trombetti For the Lantern trombetti.16@osu.edu

he words, “This was preventable,” written on mask-shaped signs covered the glass storefront of Tigertree, a gift shop in the Short North Arts District, in July and have since been replaced with a “for rent” placard.

After nearly 14 years of service, the shop is one of many local small businesses in the Arts District that has been forced to close its doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite owners’ efforts, both restaurant and retail businesses have seen their legacies come to an end after spending years serving the Short North community. Many small businesses cited the government-mandated shutdown and regulations related to COVID-19 for their closure since the rules were too difficult to enforce in small storefronts.

The owners of these businesses have faced the economic and social effects of the pandemic head-on. Josh Quinn, owner of Tigertree, shared some of the challenges of social distancing in his shop on Tigertree’s Instagram, @shoptigertree.

“The truth is, we opened Tigertree intentionally as a shop filled with a lot of product and low markups, where a lot (of) people could come and spend a

lot of time discovering,” Quinn said in the post.

Though Tigertree was unable to continue serving customers at its physical location, Quinn said he has since transitioned to an entirely online experience for his customers.

“We will be reopening a brick and mortar store at some point but giving up the magic of this space and an almost fourteen year run in the Short North is harder than I could have ever imagined,” Quinn said on Tigertree’s Instagram page.

The enforcement of social distancing guidelines made visiting Quinn’s business a challenge for his customers, something Dan Brewster, owner of Prologue Bookshop, which has resumed operation, said he also recognizes.

Although Brewster wanted to welcome people to his business and the neighborhood, he said that over the summer, the busier the Short North area seemed, the more skeptical he felt about Prologue Bookshop’s ability to maintain social distancing for the safety of both its employees and customers.

“The truth is, the more thriving the area seemed, the more anxious I felt,” Brewster said.

Neither Quinn nor Brewster expect life to return to what it was like before

MACKENZIE SHANKLIN | ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR

Tigertree, a gift shop in the Short North Arts district, announced on its Instagram that the shop would close its physical location due to COVID-19. the pandemic anytime soon.

Quinn said in an Instagram post that he and his team decided to leave Columbus’ Arts District in part because he felt that safely reopening the shop wouldn’t be a possibility.

“Unfortunately, given our lack of political leadership, we do not anticipate being back in a position where that feels safe for this concept any time in the near future,” Quinn said in the post.

Caitlyn Dunn, deputy director of operations for the Short North Alliance, said in an email that of the more than 300 businesses in the Short North Arts District, 90 percent are small businesses, and 85 percent are locally owned.

“Now, it is more important than ever to shop at small businesses,” Dunn said.

Although businesses in the Short North are being hit hard financially by the pandemic, Brewster said he is trying to look on the bright side.

“To a degree, being a business owner is being optimistic. If I were pessimistic about it, then I wouldn’t have done this in the first place,” Brewster said.

The heart for the community is what’s keeping small businesses such as Prologue going, Brewster said.

“The passion and the care that the businesses here have for their community is really what drives it,” Brewster said. “Rather than large corporations reaching as wide as they can, we’re prioritizing right here.”

Other businesses in the Short North that closed due to the pandemic include: • Family-owned Tastings Wine Bar & Bistro closed in March after hosting events in Columbus for three years, according to Columbus Underground.

• Locally-sourced restaurant The Table closed in May and offered the space for sale after nearly seven years in the neighborhood, according to its Instagram page.

• Emi Pet Salon & Boutique began offering everything in its store for 40 percent off in early August and closed after almost six years in the district, according to its Facebook page.

• Short North Coffee House, a latenight coffee shop which offered printing services, closed this summer after serving coffee since 2016, according to Columbus Alive.

• Madison-USA, a Black-owned clothing brand in the Short North, moved out of its space this summer.

Its phone number and website have changed, and its retail space is empty.

• Restaurant Townhall never opened its doors. Although the business entered the Short North in January and was scheduled to open in March, it couldn’t get off the ground due to state and federal shutdowns. In late August, the building’s landlord warned Townhall of eviction if it didn’t vacate the space by Sept. 2. The owner and the landlord are currently involved in court proceedings, according to Columbus Business First.

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COVID-19

Students adjust as virtual classes present unique challenges ANDRÉ WHITE Arts & Life Producer white.2884@osu.edu The virtual and hybrid formats of learning offered by Ohio State may be impacting students’ ability to succeed in class, some students say.

After three weeks of online learning, students are starting to adjust to what is becoming the new norm trying to pursue their degrees during a pandemic. A university-wide email from University President Kristina M. Johnson Aug. 11 stated that the maximum size of in-person classes would be 50 people. Classes that exceeded this number had to offer an online or hybrid format for their students.

Online course offerings increased by 43 percent from the fall of 2019 to the fall of 2020, according to a report from the Board of Trustees’ Academic Affairs, Student Life and Research Committee.

Daniel Levine, a second-year in biochemistry, said that although his teachers are trying to accommodate and do their best given the circumstances, his experience with online learning has been “frustrating.”

Levine said having classes that normally have in-person components, such as labs, adds to the difficulty of adjusting to learning online.

“I think there are certain majors that are harder to do online, especially because they

“If you have to have a lab or if you have to sing in a choir or something, you’re going to miss an important aspect of the —Daniel Levine, secondeducation.” year in biochemistry

require experiential learning,” Levine said.

“If you have to have a lab or if you have to sing in a choir or something, you’re going to miss an important aspect of the education.”

Despite a frustrating adjustment to online classes, virtual learning has provided students with some benefits.

Durya Nadeem, a third-year in biological sciences and public affairs, said that virtual learning promotes safety and security from COVID-19 and offers a way for students to remain socially distant.

She said she has had a positive experience with virtual learning and that it has allowed her to dedicate more time to her family and personal life.

“It’s good that I can do it from the comfort of my own home and then travel between Dayton and Columbus because I just got married,” Nadeem said. “It’s been good so that I can have other parts of my life still valued while I’m still learning.”

Nadeem said she is fortunate enough to have a stable internet connection and the technology and resources necessary to be successful in online classes. She recognized that students who do not have access to proper technology or students taking classes overseas may be largely impacted by an increasingly virtual format for classes.

“When their faculty or staff are requiring students to turn on their cameras in order to get participation or attendance points, they should think about the students who may not have the best internet connections or functional webcams or even a conducive learning environment,” Nadeem said.

Professors who require synchronous learning should keep in mind the challenges international students face to attend such classes, such as getting up in the middle of the night and still being able to learn the material, Nadeem said.

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Levine and Nadeem have both endured online lectures in which the instructor has taught past the scheduled time of class ending. Nadeem said she’s had online lectures go almost a half an hour past the scheduled end time. Levine said his instructors do not apologize for lecturing too long when it happens in his classes.

Levine said he feels like he is learning less because it is harder for him to focus.

Nadeem echoed these feelings.

“I remember my freshman year, it was really hard to stay on task and motivate myself to go to classes even though I

lived on campus. So now that you’re already there at home, what’s the point of turning on your laptop or computer to go to class?” Nadeem said.

Levine said he understands the difficulty the university faces trying to create a safe learning environment for all of its students.

“I think the university should try to think out of the box and find other opportunities, but I also understand that some things are just impossible to do,” Levine said.

“So now that you’re already there at home, what’s the point of turning on your laptop or computer to go to class?”

—Durya Nadeem, third-year in biological sciences and public affairs

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Women’s Hockey:

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High school teammates reunite at Ohio State Stephanie Miller Lantern Reporter miller.8816@osu.edu For Ramsey Parent, moving across the country to play hockey at Ohio State was a nervewracking experience, but luckily for her, a former high school teammate, Gabby Rosenthal, made her feel at home.

In eighth grade, Rosenthal, a junior forward for the Buckeyes, moved to Blaine, Minnesota, from the town over and joined her new high school hockey team – the Blaine High School Bengals – with some new teammates, one being Ohio State sophomore forward Parent. In those three years together, the two earned All-State honors twice and led their team as captains in their 2017-18 season.

Following the 2018 season, Rosenthal moved onto Ohio State while Parent still had one more year of high school remaining.

Little did they know, the two would be reunited in Columbus.

“Knowing that I’m going to have someone that I played with growing up was super cool to me, especially coming from Minnesota,” Rosenthal said.

Parent said she didn’t hesitate to reach out to her old teammate, who had now moved onto her second year at Ohio State.

Having Rosenthal on campus

helped Parent’s adjustment to the college lifestyle much easier, she said.

“Having Gabby here just really is a huge advantage and huge benefit because if I had any little questions or I was nervous about anything, she would really calm all those nerves,” Parent said.

When Parent was just arriving on campus, Rosenthal said she was excited with the prospect of playing with her former teammate again.

Rosenthal’s freshman campaign was sidetracked by a broken arm early in the season that forced her to miss 10 games.

“Unfortunately, her freshman year she was injured and we didn’t get to see all that Gabby could do at the college level,” Ohio State head coach Nadine Muzerall said.

However, Rosenthal bounced back in her sophomore season, providing the Buckeyes with 12 goals and six assists in 38 games played.

“Last year as a sophomore, she was such a reliable 200-foot hockey player,” Muzerall said.

“You know she’s big and strong, relentless but very humble. She does the right thing all the time

COURTESY OF RAMSEY PARENT

Ohio State women’s hockey players Ramsey Parent and Gabby Rosenthal have played hockey together since U14 in Minnesota. without asking for anything, and she’s very successful offensively.”

While Rosenthal is finding her footing with the Buckeyes, Parent is still working toward increased playing time, Muzerall said.

Citing Parent’s understanding of the game and ability to adapt, Muzerall was complimentary of the Minnesotan.

“Ramsey’s the type that always comes into the rink with a smile on her face, always willing to put in the work ethic and doesn’t ever pout about her playing time,” Muzerall said. “She just wants her moments, and I’m really hoping that she’s able to get some more ice time because she is smart.”

Not only did they play together prior to Ohio State, they also played against two other future Ohio State teammates who were in their high school conference, junior forward Paetyn Levis, who attended Rogers High School, and junior defensewoman

Madison Bizal, who played at Elk River High School.

Often called “The State of Hockey,” Minnesota is a prime breeding ground for young hockey talent. This is evident as Muzerall has six players from Minnesota on her team this season.

“I have known these girls for a while, and they come from very good backgrounds with elite hockey in the state of Minnesota.

They are very easy to coach and always want to be better. They have just been bred that way with the hockey they grew up with.”

Muzerall said.

Muzerall herself was a twotime All-American and national champion while playing hockey at the University of Minnesota.

Later on, she coached her alma mater for five years and led them to four national championships.

Entering her fifth season at the helm of the Buckeyes, Muzerall said the team’s recruiting success in the state of Minnesota is a testament to how far the program

COURTESY OF RAMSEY PARENT

Ohio State women’s hockey players Ramsey Parent and Gabby Rosenthal played at the same school for three years and led their team as captains in their 2017-18 season.

has come since she took over.

“It used to be really hard to pull players from Minnesota. The elite players you didn’t tend to get outside of the state,” Muzerall said. “Now that we’re on the map and earned the title of conference championship, we’ve earned our No. 4 national ranking, we are now starting to steal some elite kids from Minnesota.”

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Baseball:

Karaffa’s character earns recognition Jacob Benge For the Lantern benge.30

earned by what he did in the fall and us knowing the type of player he is and what his future is going to hold.”

Karaffa has already tapped into some of his potential.

More trips to the plate likely factored into that team-first mindset as Karaffa’s 51 at-bats were secondmost on the team, just two behind Dezenzo. His 11 runs scored and nine runs batted in were also secondmost on the Buckeyes behind catcher Dillon Dingler, who was selected in the second round of this summer’s MLB draft by the Detroit Tigers.

“I was really getting used to the pace of play,” Karaffa said. “Getting a lot more comfortable up there at the plate.”

Beals said Karaffa spent the summer working hard and putting on strength and weight, which could lead to an advantageous result.

“I’m really looking forward to him kind of exploding now,” Beals said. “That first year sometimes is a learning curve. I feel like Nate has got that under his belt, and now it’s time for that elite athlete he is to really blossom and grow as a baseball

“The Ohio State University is confident that we have the safety protocols and rigorous safeguards in place for our student-athletes to practice and return to competition,” Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said in a statement Aug. 20. “All services will continue to be available, including academic support, strength and conditioning training, sports psychology assistance and skill instruction.”

Until full practices and workouts get underway, players on the roster are rekindling their bonds and boosting team morale through competition after Karaffa said players were at home for the most part over the summer.

Some of the players compete in fantasy football leagues, but Karaffa said he isn’t managing a team. He enjoys displaying his competitiveness through cornhole, euchre, Madden and NBA2K tournaments.

“We hang out and watch a lot of sports together, a lot of sports are starting to turn on,” Karaffa said. “It’s a little bit of everything, a lot of MLB but everybody is really excited for

COURTESY OF OHIO STATE ATHLETICS

Ohio State then freshman infielder Nate Karaffa (14) bats during a game against Georgia Tech in a series that ran between Feb. 21-23.

The impact and influence an athlete has goes beyond being able to hit a baseball farther than 330 feet or dial up a fastball around 90 miles per hour.

Sophomore outfielder Nate Karaffa was named one of 10 StudentAthletes of the Month, which is given to student-athletes that show excellent academic standing,by the Student-Athlete Support Services Office Sept. 1.

“That was exciting,” Karaffa said.

“I think there is a lot of guys on our team who just have great character and leadership.”

Karaffa is the first baseball player recognized by SASSO since Marcus

Ernst in January. The leadership on the baseball team was further recognized as senior left-handed pitcher Griffin Smith was also named to the Student-Athlete Academic Advisory Committee Sept. 10.

“It speaks a lot. Something that’s really important to us is the brotherhood that we have in our program,” head coach Greg Beals said. “The family here in Ohio State baseball and their home away from home. We’ve got good guys, there’s no doubt about that.”

Karaffa entered Ohio State last fall as a shortstop but the presence of then-returning upperclassmen such as Colton Bauer, Matt Carpenter, Zach

Dezenzo and Nick Erwin challenged him to learn a new position in order to earn his way into the starting lineup.

“Nate is a shortstop, has always been a shortstop and I foresee him being an infielder in the future of our program,” Beals said. “But this past year, it was what the ballclub needed and provided him an opportunity to get in the lineup.”

The way Karaffa carried himself and his team-first mentality garnered respect from his coaches and teammates, Beals said.

“Nate was a highly-touted recruit, state champion his senior year at Toronto High School,” Beals said.

“His playing time as a freshman was

COURTESY OF OHIO STATE ATHLETICS

Ohio State then freshman infielder Nate Karaffa (14) runs the bases in the game against Harvard on March 7. Ohio State won 13-1. player here.”

The Toronto, Ohio, native started all but one of Ohio State’s 14 games and had collected seven hits in his last four games before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic forced spring athletics to cancel their seasons entirely.

As autumn drew near, Ohio State had to determine how offseason practices would work amidst the Big Ten Conference’s decision to postpone fall athletics.

football to start so that’ll be crazy.”

Despite the uncertainty that disrupted the offseason, Beals believes the quality of leadership on the team, in addition to commencing practices, will propel the Buckeyes into a promising season.

“We’re really looking forward here hopefully in October to get that quality time together,” Beals said. “Start putting together what we foresee to be a very exciting 2021 season and the capability of certainly playing for a championship.”

Sports

12 | Tuesday, September 15, 2020

WOMEN’S GOLF

Behind Nate Karaffa’s Student-Athlete of the Month honor ON PAGE 11

Fairways and runways: Two Ohio State golfers share aviation connection

COURTESY OF JILLIAN BOURDAGE

Ohio State’s freshman Jillian Bourdage is one of two golfers who is an aviation major.

Ohio State senior golfer Alanis Sakuma is one of two golfers who are aviation majors.

A

part of golf is dealing with the terrain of a course, but for a pair of golfers on the Ohio State women’s team, the focus is on the skies as well.

Although senior Alanis Sakuma and freshman Jillian Bourdage are bound by their membership on the Ohio State women’s golf team, the duo’s connection is made stronger by their shared passion for aviation. Competing on the golf course and piloting planes, the two out-of-state students are at two different points on a journey that has led them to Ohio State.

Sakuma, a native of Kapolei, Hawaii, developed a passion for aviation from both her love for travel and her father’s background in production management for aircraft.

In terms of her love for golf, however,

COURTESY OF BRANDON CARTER

Keaton Maisano John R. Oller Sports Editor maisano.2@osu.edu the relationship was born from her mother’s job as an accountant at the Kapolei Golf Club.

“When I was 8 years old, I guess I was just like, ‘I want to try this,’ and I just started and fell in love with the game,” Sakuma said.

Bourdage also started her golf career around the age of 8. Following her father taking her to a local driving range in Florida, Bourdage took a golf lesson in which the instructor told her that she had potential in the sport.

“Ever since then, I just really enjoy being on a golf course, and I guess my love for the game has taken flight since then,” Bourdage said.

Bourdage was the 2019 Florida State Golf Association Girls Junior champion and Player of the Year, as well as the

runner-up at the 2019 United States Golf Association Girls Junior Championship.

The Woodmont Country Club, which Bourdage grew up on, was located near another area of interest for the Tamarac, Florida, native: the Pompano Beach Airpark.

It was during the fall of her freshman year of high school as a member of the First Tee of Broward County, a group that teaches kids golf and life skills, that Bourdage came to a realization during one of the group’s outreach events with the Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital.

While young cancer patients were admiring the planes flying overhead, Bourdage, who had contemplated being an aerospace engineer up to that point, had a change of heart.

“I thought to myself, ‘Why build the planes when I can fly them?’” Bourdage said. “And I’ve just been hooked on aviation, and it’s become a passion of mine.”

Since then, Bourdage has done solo flights over the Everglades. Describing the experience of flying solo as “empowering,” Bourdage and Sakuma, who completed her first solo flight away from the airport Sept. 8, are joining a population of female pilots that make up only 7 percent of pilots worldwide.

Women’s golf coach Therese Hession has coached for 29 years at Ohio State, and Sakuma and Bourdage are the first aviation majors she has had in her time with the Buckeyes.

Hession said that gender norms regarding becoming a pilot as a woman are beginning to change for future women in aviation like Sakuma and Bourdage.

“There could probably be a perception about a lady, female pilot,” Hession said.

“I think those barriers are starting to come down a little bit as well, so it’s maybe not as unheard of as it’s been in the past.”

Bourdage has been a part of The Ninety Nines, an international female pilot organization, since she was 15 years old. Recognizing the minority that she is in while in the cockpit, Bourdage said she hopes to inspire by pursuing her aviation passion.

“My goal is to inspire others to pursue aviation, and if not pursue aviation, pursue their passions,” Bourdage said.

Bourdage said that she is still deciding whether she will continue her passion for golf or aviation into her professional life.

In the meantime, the freshman said she will compete in three golf tournaments during the fall to keep her competitive edge ahead of a potential Ohio State season in 2021.

Sakuma is finishing up her time with Ohio State and is set to graduate following the spring semester. She hopes to fly for a major airline down the road, but her short term focus is on finishing her golfing career on somewhat “normal” terms.

Sakuma and her Ohio State teammates missed out on a chance to defend their Big Ten title in the spring with the cancelation of the season due to COVID-19. The concerns surrounding COVID-19 forced the team to lose out on fall competitions as well.

Despite the adversity, Sakuma said that being flexible is a trait that she has learned both on the golf course and in the cockpit.

“One day you could be landing in a tailwind. One day you could be landing in a headwind or a crosswind, and that’s the same thing with golf too,” Sakuma said. “You have to always be able to adapt, because not one flight is the same and not one golf round is the same.”