Lise Xu: Academic Profile

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.

4 thoughts on “Lise Xu: Academic Profile

  1. Hey there! Your essay on Lise’s academic self is wonderfully written! You added some personal touches, which really made the interview seem real and natural. Thank you for sharing your conversations with us!

  2. I think its pretty cool that you got a chance to work with some in the dual enrollment program being able to compare and contrast your college experience and seeing that you too actually have alot in common despite the age differences.

  3. I think it was nice to see that you had added as to how both of you had similar struggles.

  4. Thank you for a well organized, well written, relatable, and inspiration piece that described Lise’s academic self and gave me some insight on what to do to be more focused especially stationed at home with plenty of distractions. I am currently enrolled in dual enrollment so this advice helps me re-organize my schedule.