Hello everyone, and happy sixth week of the semester! Allow me to introduce one of our high school dual-enrollment students. I had the pleasure of getting to know Lise Xu and learning about her academic self. From the short amount of time I’ve known Lise, I can already tell she’s a patient and understanding person. She and I struggled to find the time to communicate because of my irregular work hours, so we decided it would be easier to communicate through texting. A random fun fact: after sharing a couple of details about ourselves, we found out that she knows the person that hired me for my new job. What a small world!

Lise is currently attending Riverwood International Charter School. She hasn’t graduated high school yet, but she chose Georgia State University for the dual-enrollment program because they offered online courses. This program is allowing her to complete all of her English credits from the comfort of her home. After she graduates this year, she’ll be going to a college in Georgia to major in cognitive science and minor in computer science. She’s determined to work in the field of digital/artificial intelligence technology.

My parents moved to America at a young age and had no idea how the educational system worked, and it was interesting to hear that Lise was able to relate completely. She connected with the “Taking My Parents to College” article by Jennine Capo Crucet, and it’s one of her favorite readings so far this semester. She isn’t able to rely on her parents for support because they lack the experience and knowledge about college, but they’ve created expectations for Lise. She has the desire to always be the best so she could share her accomplishments with her parents.

Lise’s most significant influence is her peers because she “thrives off of competition” amongst them. She believes one of the main reasons she succeeds is because she enjoys the feeling of winning. Her persistent and competitive nature pushes her to be more diligent and logical in her academic work. When I asked what she was proud of about her academic self, Lise revealed that she is proud of how diligent she became earlier in high school. She did mention that her competitive mindset eventually caused her to overwork herself. She finds herself using it as an excuse to distract herself from her work. I’ve never been competitive in my academics, but I have met many competitive people who perform incredibly well in their work and studies. I genuinely believe that she’ll recover from this burnout.

After we talked about our academic selves, we talked about what we could do to improve. Lise plans to limit possible distractions that could effect her course work, which includes finding excuses to procrastinate. She hopes to keep herself on the right path by organizing a list of goals in her planner. Her primary concern with starting college soon is the lingering question of what her experience will be like as a college student. “I fear that I will find balancing academics and social life difficult,” she says, and she knows it’s essential to build connections and prioritize her GPA. It’s definitely difficult to find that balance considering the Pandemic, but I hope Lise is able to overcome all of her obstacles just in time before starting college, and I hope some of her peers and her dual enrollment experience will allow her to be best prepared for whats to come in college.

A driven, flexible, and innovative student with determination and passion describes the academic profile of Manasvi Gaddam. Being a high school dual enrollment senior during a pandemic has had it’s challenges for Manasvi, but she is determined to position herself into the lifestyle she desires. 

Born in Illinois, moving to Georgia at the age of 2, attending a private school, charter school, and then 2 public schools, life always moves pretty fast for Manasvi. Between studying, dancing, and a close bond with her family, Manasvi is able to balance a busy schedule and still give her best effort with anything thrown towards her. She started dual enrollment at the beginning of her senior year this year. Starting with a Government class last semester and now an English class this semester, she is set on starting college to take some steps closer to her dream career.

With her ability to adapt fast, achieve many goals, and have different perspectives of situations, she has earned a spot at Georgia Tech for her freshman year of college. As a hands-on learner, Manasvi struggled with being faced with online school during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, through all the struggle and hardships she faced, she still stayed focused on her goals. A source that has helped Manasvi through her online college experience so far is the GSU informational videos that give organization tips, how to communicate with peers and professors, and how to tackle online school. Her first goal was to get into a college, which she achieved. Now, she is ready to tackle college and is ready to grow into the person she was born to be. 

Life has many paths set for Manasvi and with all of these paths presented, she is willing to get into the world as quickly as she can. She will be attending Georgia Tech in the fall and plans to be a computer science major. Along with her life always moving pretty fast, Manasvi is currently taking as many AP classes and dual enrollment classes as possible so she can go through college with a breeze. After graduating college early, Manasvi has many paths she could decide to take. She could go on to law school and become a patent lawyer or continue her path with computer science and dive into machine learning for a master’s in Artificial Intelligence. 

Whatever path Manasvi decides to follow in her future, she will excel and continue to stay driven, flexible, and innovative. With these academic standards she has set for herself, you can plan to see her take on a patent law position, step into the world of computer science, or even a part of an Artificial Intelligence team. You can also plan to see Manasvi travel the world she has dreamed to see and start to have many connections with people outside of her close-knit circle of family and friends. She is comfortable in her close-knit circle, but she is ready to become the person she has set for herself and create her own life experience. The future for Manasvi is bright, with many high standards and a passionate attitude, nothing will hold her back from exceeding her own expectations.

Sources:

Gaddam, Manasvi. Interview. Conducted by Emma-Leigh Barfield.

GSU Keep Learning: Resources for Learning “What Organizational Strategies Can Help You in Your Online Course?”, February 2021

 I wrote this essay based on emails and text interviews about Caitlyn’s academic self. I had questionnaires on her educational background, pathway, and ultimate career goal.
 
 Caitlyn took an economics class last summer, and this is her first year as a dual enrollment student. Even though she had a hard time in the registration process, she is enjoying her first dual enrollment year. Caitlyn is currently attending 11th grade at Morrow magnet school. She chooses Morrow because the school has an excellent program in a healthcare pathway and AP-oriented classes. She found herself would be unstressed in going to her home school, which is North Clayton, but they didn’t have all the academic resources to help her achieve her goal. That’s the reason she went to a magnet school. Yet, they had a great healthcare program with a clinic. She wanted a rigorous and more competitive academic curriculum, hence her decision to participate in the Morrow magnet program. Her ultimate career goal is emergency room physician with a sub-specialty in cardiology.
 
 Caitlyn picks three words of her academic self, which are impatient, independent, hard-working. She considers those are the three key factors that will lead her to success and keep her motivated. She told me the first word impatient refers to her personality. She describes herself as “hot-headed” what she meant by that is when there is a conflict, she thinks the best way to solve it is to jump in and take action. When this happens, she does not wait. Instead, she is trying to solve it right away. I can relate it to her favorite reading, which is “Some people are just born writers” by Jill Parrot. It says, “Good writing instruction can only occur if the person believes they can be a good writer.” She firmly believes that what happens around her can be solved on her own. This is the reason why she likes online learning. It would seem that online learning is suitable for her because she is making an effort something that she wants to achieve. Lastly, she has been a hard-working student. Not only that, her mother gives her all the advice she needs to find what she wants to be when growing up, helping her pursue her dreams come true, and advising her to make a better choice. Caitlyn’s mother is her mentor, who has three degrees in different fields. It motivates her to get a good grade. Since she was a child, she vaguely wanted to work in the healthcare field, she recently specified it.

 I have seen taking online classes frustrates many students. Caitlyn is not one of them. She prefers taking online courses, and she is doing great. Those who think, “Maybe someday, I’ll go to school and get my degree, but I have to work now do not have time to go to school” How about overcoming all the barriers and going to school now? It is later than you think.

Citation:

Caitlyn Eukre Academic Self interview 2021
Some people are just born good writers by Jill Parrot

In the past, it has been hard to communicate with peers in online courses. This project allowed me to get to know one of my classmates, Daniel Gonzalez. This is Daniel’s first year at Georgia State University, and he graduated from North Atlanta High School in 2020. During high school, he enjoyed math and Spanish and played soccer after school. We discussed our favorite subjects and we both learned that our favorites are philosophy and mythological history, his favorite being Norse mythology.

When I asked Daniel when he started doing online classes he said that he started this semester. Last semester, he struggled finding connections with other students, so he decided to enroll in online courses in January. I asked Daniel why he decided to choose Georgia State, and he mentioned that it was one of the closest schools to his house and he wanted to continue working while taking classes. 

We also discussed our biggest struggles in academic environments, and he mentioned that he has a hard time asking for help when he needs it and tends to let work pile up due to procrastination. Another thing that made his educational journey more difficult is that English is his second language. As an only child, it was hard for him to adapt to English classes, but math doesn’t have much of a language barrier so he took more advanced classes in math. 

Daniel’s major at GSU is in computer engineering, and he is very dedicated to gaining expertise in this subject. We discussed our hobbies and he mentioned that he built his own gaming computer, which is very impressive. He told me that his mother is one of his biggest inspirations due to her hardworking and passionate personality. 

After speaking with Daniel and learning more about his life, I learned that everyone is capable of being successful if they work hard enough. Daniel had to struggle with language barriers all throughout school, but he still earned good grades and took classes that will help him with his future career choices. He is a very persistent and hardworking student, and is able to multitask in school and work. The most important thing I learned from talking with Daniel is that these traits are what makes people successful. 

                                           Ms. Dominique Lawson- Georgia State University

      This profile is a compilation of interviews held with Dominique Lawson that were conducted over email. During the email interviews, we discussed our academic selves, high school experiences, and our plans for the future. Dominique dropped out of high school but later received her GED at the age of 30. When she had decided to leave school, her grandmother had just passed away, and she had to move in with her best friends. It understandably became hard for her to make school a priority. In 2017, she decided that she wanted to change her life, so she enrolled at Miami Dade Community College and studied for her GED. Dominique struggled with the math portion of the test, but with a lot of studying, she passed. The frustrating thing about college for her is that she has to take three or more classes to receive financial aid. She has been a student at GSU since 2018, but she has only completed one spring semester. Dominique believes that anyone who is trying to make something out of their life with nothing is an influence to her.

      The three words that described her academic self were structured, strategic, and thorough. She prefers to get assignments done on time and to perfect them the first time she does them. She spends a few hours both before and after work double-checking her assignments to make sure there are no flaws. She plans out each day to ensure she has time for school and will often wake up at five a.m. to complete assignments in advance. She refuses to risk falling behind on her school work. She does not have any continuous study habits, but she is a good note-taker. Dominique’s academic self is motivated to break a generation curse, and the idea of becoming too overwhelmed and walking away from school is Dominiques biggest academic fear.

      Dominique’s fear of becoming too overwhelmed with school motivates her to spend as much of her free time as she can perfecting her assignments. However, her biggest academic challenge is finding balance between school and work. Both are very important to her, and to achieve her academic goal, she has to stick to a daily schedule. Dominique has faced a few personal challenges as well on her journey of obtaining her college degree. Not only did she lose her grandmother in high school, but she faced the loss of her mother in 2019. Before this loss, she was a full-time student but to maintain balance in her life, she understandably sits out summer sessions.

      Dominique is currently majoring in health science, where she plans to become a Nurse Practitioner. Unlike being a regular nurse, becoming a nurse practitioner will give her open space to treat her patients in a broader manner. The loss of her grandmother was Dominique’s inspiration to pursue nursing. She was always good at taking care of others therefore, this career just felt right for her. She plans to complete her nursing degree while employed at Emory as a nursing tech and at Morehouse school of medicine as a research coordinator. Dominique has two academic goals. The first, is to raise her GPA to the highest it can be. The second, is to finish her BSA.

 Introducing to you Miss Molly Hamaan

Written by Sheila Dixon

           This essay contains information from an interview with Molly Hamaan about her academic self. We spoke on the phone and talked much about who we were as college students today.  Molly is a Georgia native. She attended a private school as a young child at a private school by the name of McGinnis Woods County Day School, she went on from there to graduate from Centennial High School in Roswell, GA where she found a love for music. Throughout her four years in high school, Molly participated in the Marching Band. She also has skills with various instruments including the trumpet and the piano.

           First, I’d like to say thank you to her for being an essential worker. She works at the McGinnis Woods Day school, the same school she attended as a child along with being a student and is a second-semester student here at Georgia State pursuing a career in Nursing.  Her goal is to become a nurse in the Labor and Delivery Department. I asked her why she chose that particular department with enthusiasm she said, “because it is bringing a new life into the world.”

            When asked to describe her academic self, Molly stated she was a “perfectionist”. Molly evaluates herself as needing to perform highly in her work studies. She is influenced by her grandfather, who did not do well academically so he went on the succeed in the Navy. She went on to say that he was a major influence on her perfectionism. He encouraged her to always work hard because” when you work hard you can achieve anything in life” she explained.

          Our conversation when on to give notice that we were much alike not wanting to be underachievers. She was able to relate the test-taking anxiety we get when doing the tests online. Molly’s connection with Dr. Chew’s video called “Developing a Mindset for Successful Learning,”  was his first principle, “your level of understanding is a direct result of how hard you prepare” came with her ideology of mastering herself at being a perfectionist in getting good grades.

          So, one wouldn’t agree that being an online student is very hard we see it differently. Although we differ in age her coming right out of high school to college and me waiting for ten years or more, we still face some of the same challenges when it comes to virtual learning. Being watched, overthinking, and second-guessing because we don’t want to fail. Is online learning a good decision for every scholar? The real question how can one overcome the challenges of virtuous learning when all we know is remote learning?

Works Cited

Chew, Steven, director.” Developing a Mindset for Successful Learning”. YouTube, uploaded by Samford University, 25 Aug 16, 2011, https:// www.youtube.com/sheliadixon