Reflecting on Honors H200 Intention Statements
I joined the IU Indianapolis Honors College in August 2022 where I was able to begin building connections with other students like myself. As a student in an honors First Year Seminar and living on the Honors floor in University Tower, those connections came immediately and are still ones I have to this day. H200 is a introductory course required for all Honors students and in this course it gave us the opportunity to think about who we wanted to be in our future careers, but also reflect on our personal values.
In these statements you are able to see the growth that has happened since I was in my second semester freshman year to my senior year.
Nicole Gordon at the IU Indianapolis Regatta 2024.
H200 " I Want To Become Statement"
I want to become a person who focuses on the goals of bettering myself, both in my academic endeavors and my personal life/habits. I have always been a determined and hardworking student, but I feel that there are sometimes where I am only focused on the grade that I am receiving.
In my academics the overarching goal is to maintain a GPA above 3.7, so that I can be eligible to apply for graduate school. Though this is one of the most important goals when it comes to my academics because underneath this goal, I have smaller goals of wanting to improve my studying habits and the goal to understand the information, rather than simply memorize the information.
Some of the values that I want to work on improving are hard work and compassion. These are both values that I believe that I have, but that can be improved and aren’t at the level that I want them to be at. Hard work is something that as I have gotten older, I feel that I have been slacking on and have gotten comfortable in where I am right now. Hard work I feel is a value that can be improved with every aspect of life, and that’s what I am striving to do currently in both my academic and personal life. Compassion is a value that I feel needs to work on more and I need to grow more as an individual. I feel that sometimes I can be selfish and not thinking of the other people that I am around. Growth is something that I am always looking to improve because without growth we are going to go anywhere. This is especially relevant because throughout is that transition time to grow and become an adult. I want to become someone who ultimately focuses on their personal growth in all endeavors and paths that I choose to go down.
Nicole Gordon at the IU Indianapolis Regatta 2025.
H200 " I Am Statement"
H496 Intention Statement
My name is Nicole Gordon, and I am motivated first generation Neuroscience and Biology student at IU Indianapolis. My future intentions are planning to work in healthcare as a pediatrician, while also combining some element of research into my career. My experiences in these last 4 years have had a major impact on getting me towards the person I want to be in life and the type of career that I hope to have.
Being involved in opportunities like, volunteering at Riley Children’s Hospital and being VIDA Director of the Indiana University Student Outreach Clinic have allowed me to further develop these skills that I wanted to work on during my freshman year. These opportunities helped me develop that sense of compassion that I want to be able to have in the future with patients and families. Having these one-on-one interactions also further shaped my career goals and made me 100% sure that a career helping children and their families is the career that I want to go into. My opportunity to be involved in undergraduate research also allowed me to develop the skill of hard work.
Having the opportunity to work directly on a project in Dr.Roper’s lab allowed me firsthand to see how research works and what issues you run into, which just furthered my abilities as a problem solver and innovator. It gave me immeasurable opportunities that involved myself becoming a Arnold and Mabel Beckman Scholar, presenting my research at national conferences and getting to travel to places that I have never been before. When it comes to bettering myself, as I mentioned in my statement freshman year, I am proud to be able say that I have been able to not only improve academically, but also mentally and physically. A non-academic opportunity that I took of advantage was getting active, whether that is walks around campus and Indianapolis, or do weekly Zumba classes. Focusing on overall wellness in my life has not only allowed me to have significant impacts on my overall physical health, but has also my performance as a student.
​​​​​ As I continue on my journey after college and with plans to attend medical school, I carry with me the values and skills that I have been developing since starting my journey here at IU Indianapolis. These values of curiosity, compassion and determination, I feel that these sum up my time here at IU Indianapolis and also reflect what I hope to continue foster in my plans after graduation and in my future career. Most of all I hope to continue striving to make a different and support the people around me in any way I can.
Nicole Gordon at the School of Science Honors Convocation at IU Indianapolis 2025.
My values as an honors college student are time management, determination, and perseverance. These are important to me as an honor college student because they are the values that I use every single day when approaching challenges. My qualities in the honors college are thoughtfulness, leadership, and ambition. These impact me because as an honors college student, I also aim for the stars and use my leadership to allow me to follow through on my plans. I am a hard-working, responsible and determined person who always tries to put the best version of myself first.
Intention Statement Reflection
Now, as a soon to be graduate, I am able to set the mindset shift that I have had. I am now able to both balance my academic pursuits and my personal goals together. he experiences I have had over the past four years have played a major role in this growth. Volunteering at Riley Children’s Hospital and serving as the VIDA Director of the Indiana University Student Outreach Clinic allowed me to develop the compassionthat is needed for my future plans.
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My other experiences in research have also allowed me to strengthen my work ethic, problem-solving skills, and resilience. These experiences led to opportunities such as becoming an Arnold and Mabel Beckman Scholar and presenting my research at national conferences, but more importantly, they helped shape me into a more confident communicator. Looking back, I am proud of the growth I have experienced over the past four years. I am no longer just focused on reaching goals, but on who I am becoming throughout the process.
"Focusing on overall wellness in my life has not only allowed me to have significant impacts on my overall physical health, but has also my performance as a student. "
Nicole Gordon after a Zumba class at the IU Indianapolis Gym.
Activity 2
Nicole Gordon with Pamela Whitten at the Herbert Presidential Scholars Ceremony at IU Bloomington in 2023.
Updated Journey Map
When I made this first Journey Map, I was a first semester freshman in college, who wasn't sure of exactly what I wanted to spend the next 4 years doing. At that time I knew that I wanted to go into healthcare and planned to do activities that I enjoyed and that also benefitted me professional. This original map served as a plan for what I wanted to do during my time at IU Indianapolis and provided me with opportunities that allowed me to make the most out of my 4 years.
I made great improvements to my Journey Map as I grew as a person and student, and got to take part of many opportunities that further shaped my career. Explore more about these opportunities below:
H200 Journey Map:
H496 Journey Map:
Application is no longer available.
H496 Reflection
When I began college I wanted to keep up the same momentum that I had in high school, where I was very involved in a lot of different organizations. I kept this up for the first 2 years of college, but then each semester started to become more selective with opportunities that I enjoyed and ones that benefited me back.
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Looking back on what I have done I am proud of the places that I chose to spend my time and I am thankful for the growth that each of these have fostered in me. There is a lot of overlap between both of these Journey Maps and I am proud that I was able to achieve the goals that I had set for myself.
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These experiences shaped the kind of person and student I am today, while teaching me valuable skills such as: time management, hard work, compassion and empathy. All of these skills being ones that I wanted to focus on when writing my "I want to become statement" during H200.
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In the future I am looking forward to having the opportunity to gain more experiences by studying abroad in March 2026 and work in the healthcare field to continue developing my skills further.
Nicole Gordon presenting her research at the Annual Beckman Symposium in Irvine, CA in 2025.
Dean Kristina Sheeler, Nicole Gordon and Dr.Kathleen Marrs at the IU Indianapolis Women's History Month Awards.