OSU Mansfield/NCSC: College students learn about what Mansfield has to offer
Three students at the Ohio State University at Mansfield were on campus Wednesday when they came across a booth manned by the Rev. Joe Ashby of Grace Episcopal Church, part of the OSU-M/North Central State College Involvement and Community Fair.
Ashby, who was participating in the colleges' Involvement and Community Fair outside Eisenhower Hall, asked the three St. Peter's High School grads to spread the word to any students who might need help with food, offering them fish crackers or Ramen noodles stacked on the table.
"One of the reasons we're here is we work with students who are in need of food through our food pantry," Ashby said. "We work with Student Services and even deliver the food out here to them. We let kids know there's a place to go if they're having a hard time."
Ashby said his church sets up a tent and table every year at the community fair on campus. This year the church's banner read, "God loves you. No exceptions!"
"We had 10 or 12 students a week last year coming to get food," he said.
A church member added that the students really like the fresh fruit and veggies, things they can eat on the go.
Friends Natalie Tanchevski, John Harris and Mekeyla Armitage said they all graduated St. Peter's together, went to Ohio University and recently transferred to OSU-Mansfield.
"We all just transferred to OSU-Mansfield," said Tanchevski.
Tanchevski said she is undecided on her major. Harris is majoring in business administration and Armitage would like to pursue a career in health sciences and is leaning toward physical therapy.
"Let's go play Frisbee," Tanchevski said, holding a disc that one of the organizations was handing out free to students.
Student Life activities plentiful
Donna Hight, director of student life at OSU Mansfield, said more than 80 organizations came to the fair to let students know of services, on and off campus.
"We've been working with Metronome Music to do Microphone Mondays and Open Jam Tuesdays and that's what all this music equipment is. We've got stuff up in the Student Union. We bought some musical instruments so students can play drums, guitars and come up and jam with one another," she said.
"We've got over 250 activities on campus and in Columbus. All students need to do is look at the web calendar or call us," Hight said.
"We're taking some students to a pep rally tonight in Columbus. We've rented a bus. We're leaving at 3:30 to go to the Buckeye Kickoff in Ohio Stadium. Some kids are car pooling and other kids are riding the bus," she said.
"There's a lot to do. If somebody doesn't know what to do, they just need to ask somebody," she said. "There's a lot of people out there today recruiting employees, offering healthcare testing, have jobs. There's all kinds of organizations that help people, with mental health, healthcare. There's a little bit of everybody out here."
Mantra Das was setting up guitars and a microphone on the sidewalk outside Eisenhower Center.
Das said in Eisenhower Center there's Club 419, which is like a rehearsal room.
"I got a grant to buy these two guitars for students to play through the Buckeye Wellness Program. Our campus pitched in the for the bass and they pitched in for an electronic drum set and the theater department is letting us use amps and acoustic drums," Das said.
Das, whose day job is IT, said anybody who wants to sign up — OSUM, NCSC students and faculty and members of the community — is welcome to join in the musical fun for Microphone Mondays.
"They can entertain the audience. It's somewhat like Toastmasters, you're presenting in front of a low-key audience," he said. The musical fun includes karaoke, video game demos, poetry and more.
Das said he worked on the Columbus campus for 13 years and he and his wife and kids just moved to Bucyrus.
"It's a much shorter commute," he said.
Das also was once a college student at OSU Columbus.
He recalled all the walking he did to get to classes.
"And in those freezing winters," he said, laughing.
Mansfield native an instructor at NCSC, aims for medical school
Keeley Weese, 23, of Mansfield, stopped by the fair.
An instructor teaching anatomy and physiology this semester at NCSC, Weese graduated from Ohio University where she majored in biological sciences and minored in Spanish. She was the Class of 2018 valedictorian at Mansfield Senior High School.
Weese said she taught summer session and the students were great.
"Everyone passed," she said. "I was proud of that."
"It's so friendly here and everyone is willing to help," she said of what she likes about the local campus. She is taking a gap year off from college but has already applied to 23 schools to medical school.
OSU-Mansfield/NCSC enrollment:
North Central State College welcomed just under 3,000 students for fall semester, according to Keith Stoner, NCSC spokesman.
"Many are taking advantage of our new 8-week courses, so they can enroll in both A term and B term, streamlining their education and helping them stay on track toward their college goals. Health science, business and engineering enrollment remains steady. College Credit Plus continues to grow, allowing students to earn college credit for free while still enrolled in high school," Stoner said.
This fall NCSC welcomed its first group of students studying for bachelor of nursing degrees. Nursing is the second bachelor’s degree program at NC State, joining the bachelor of applied science in mechanical engineering technology which has been very successful, Stoner added.
In response to the need for local law enforcement officers, NC State has added a third police academy class that will begin in February 2024. Spring is also the anticipated launch of classes in support of the semiconductor and advanced manufacturing industries coming to Ohio, Stoner said.
Kidron Stamper, marketing and communications specialist for OSU-Mansfield, said the autumn undergraduate enrollment is 833 for OSU-M.
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: In need of food, Grace Episcopal has food pantry, Rev. Joe Ashby said.
