Research Project: Future of Digital Education

Research Project – English 1102

Name: – Pranav Chandiramani

Professor: – Dr. Rebecca Weaver

Date: – April 27, 2021

 

                The world has become an epitome of new inventions and change. When the worst ever Coronavirus pandemic hit the planet, a series of sudden changes had to be adopted by the whole world. The major change that affected the educational environment all over the world was the shift to the online mode of learning. This online learning method had begun to exist since this decade, but it was not in great use compared to attending classes in person. The main argument of this essay is to discuss the future of the online mode of learning. With the whole world implementing this method at present, the online mode of learning has some major advancements upcoming in the near future which may question the preexisting in-person or face-to-face method of learning. The Article “Pivot to Online: A Student Guide” by Sean Michael Morris relates to my area of discussion as it tells us more information about how the change from in-person to online learning happened and tries to prepare the students and teachers to adapt to the online method of learning for the years to come.

                When we talk about the future of digital education, the first thing that comes into the limelight is the word digital. The advancement in technology has been the greatest and the fastest in the history of humanity, the majority of students have access to devices such as laptops and smartphones to make their learning advanced. With this being stated, digital learning involves almost negligible in-person interaction among teachers and students. Digital systems have been already implemented into the whole educational ecosystem since computers have come into the affordable technology bracket. Every instant a wide variety of software enhancements are being implemented on computers all around the world and if we use it to form different techniques of approaching digital learning, then the future of digital learning is very radiant and compelling. George Veletsianos is Canada Research Chair of Innovative Learning and Technology and Associate Professor at Royal Roads University. George has also been developing online learning platforms since 2004. George in his book ‘Learning Online: The Student Experience’ states that “Recent researchers have identified artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, and high-fidelity simulations as the technologies that seem most likely to have a future impact on online learning, which I imagine will soon be joined by a variety of other technologies that have not yet been developed.” (George Veletsianos. Learning Online: The Student Experience). This tells us that the future will be improved by inculcating these advanced technological achievements into digital learning which would have a great potential to engage students to opt for the online learning medium.

Another aspect of advancement in the future of digital learning is MOOCs known as Massive Online Open Courses. The MOOCs were introduced around the year 2008 and gained high momentum by 2012, these are free open courses accessible to anyone in the world with a computer and an internet connection and provided excellent classes taught by professors of highly credited universities like Harvard and Stanford. Since the concept of MOOCs, many individuals have taken classes on the platform and obtained certification which has helped them to advance their knowledge and career. The authors Patel and Fay of the book ‘Online Learning: An Educational Development Perspective’ encourage the ideology of implying that some technological advancement is beneficial to be put to use for teaching and learning. The authors mention that “Over the next decade, the shape of higher education globally will change irrevocably. A range of contemporary and innovative learning environments will mostly be superseded by the type of industrialized, online model of mass education imagined, especially at the undergraduate level.” (Patel, Fay. Online Learning: An Educational Development Perspective). The following statement provided by the author tells us that the MOOCs which are the online model of the mass educational environment have changed the way online learning was and has shaped a better future for it. The Major plus points which the online mode of learning has is that it reduces the cost for getting knowledge by a very high percentage and that it can be accessed by anyone in the world who wants to do it. Another advantage is that it may end up saving a lot of travel time for the students and teachers.

The flexibility provided by online learning makes it way more convenient to pursue than the traditional way of conducting classes. Students get to learn how to manage their time more efficiently with the flexible schedule of the digital learning method. For a person who is working part-time or full time, flexible schedules of online learning make it possible for them to learn and gain knowledge and help them to get advanced positions at their jobs or better jobs overall. The authors of this article ‘The future of online teaching and learning in higher education’ have research interests in online learning, MOOC’s and E-Learning and provide useful information in their article. Their article mentions “In addition, as bandwidth increases with the next-generation Internet technologies and capabilities, simulation and gaming tasks that online students engage in will be more realistic and authentic.” (Kim, Kyong-Jee, and Curtis J. Bonk. The future of online teaching and learning in higher education). The authors put forward the ideas of gamification and interactive learning, which can be a great boon in the future of online learning if these strategies are implemented. Gamification will be the ideology in which the students will be enabled to learn the content by playing interactive games developed by the new generation programming algorithms. With such strategies put in use, the future of online learning holds something very great for the time to come.

                One can conclude from this research that there is a luminous future for digital learning and that it may change the education system for the good. This research also stated how advanced technology and software would play a major role in uplifting digital learning and the way it will be beneficial for the student’s personalized learning experience.

 

 

Work Cited: –

 

George Veletsianos. Learning Online : The Student Experience. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020.

https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=nlebk&AN=2266286&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=gsu1&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_158

 

Patel, Fay. Online Learning: An Educational Development Perspective. Nova Science Publishers, Inc, 2014.

https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=nlebk&AN=801984&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=gsu1&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_161

 

Kim, Kyong-Jee, and Curtis J. Bonk. “The future of online teaching and learning in higher education.” Educause quarterly 29.4 (2006): 22-30.

http://faculty.weber.edu/eamsel/Research Groups/On-line Learning/Bonk (2006).pdf

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.

Daniel Gonzalez: Academic Profile

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. 

Dominique Lawson Academic Profile

                                           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.

Molly Hamaan

 

 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

 

 

 

Nicole Berry: Academic Profile

        This is a glimpse of Nicole Berry’s academic self. I had the chance to interview and explore more in detail what this meant for her. Questions about how she has gotten to where she is now, and what makes her unique in her way as a student. Nicole is a first-generation student who graduated from Henry Grady High School in 2020 and currently majoring in Nursing at Georgia State Perimeter College. She later is planning on transferring off to the Georgia State University downtown location. These are the more general details about her, but Nicole is so much more than just you’re your typical “college student.” She is enthusiastic about her lifelong goals in her academic career. 

            While attending high school, Nicole was eager to reach out for more opportunities. She has a curious mind and a yearning to learn more. She explained to me that at the time there weren’t many resources to reach out to. She did what she could and searched for these resources herself. Nicole found an awesome summer volunteering opportunity at her local hospital. This gave her a path to a whole new environment and got her hands-on tools that could later help in college. She also got access to mentors at this hospital. After graduating high school, she enrolled at Georgia State. She told me, “College isn’t much different from high school, when I came to Perimeter I didn’t know that what we are doing here would be similar to doing work in high school”. I saw that as a sign of confidence. I believe it is because of the opportunities she had during high school.

            As both Nicole and I continued to communicate. Three primary words clearly expressed her academic self as hard-working, motivated, and inspired to make changes in the world. She is very eager about learning new things. Nicole works a lot both in and outside of school. She dedicates a lot of time out of her day to focus on schoolwork and being a student. While at the same time having to also work on the side. We went into talking about how she also takes care of someone who has a disability. She takes her time to communicate, listen, cook, and clean for them. She is certain that having an education can help provide better care for the people around her.  She mentioned that at the beginning of this semester that she ran into some issues regarding her schedule but managed to balance it all at the end of the day. I got to ask Nicole about where exactly her motivation originates from. She told me “I’m motivated to work to learn”, this is especially true for all of us as students but for her, it means she can impact the community around her. Another motivation for her is her family. She strives to make them proud. Inspiration is also one major component of Nicole’s academic self. She has had a vision since the age of nine. While at a doctor’s appointment for a family member who needed to get their tonsils removed. She knew it was meant for her from a very young age and has stuck with it since. Almost like a promise to herself. Just the fact that she does all this proves a very strong person. 

            While being as motivated and hardworking as Nicole. We all still run into small inconveniences. Nicole had said to me that she had closely related to the video on “How to get the most out of studying” video series specifically “Developing a Mindset for Successful Learning” with Dr. Stephen Chew. Her approach towards this specific video is that she is trying to get more effective with picking up information while studying. Not just skimming through unnecessary information. It is something she is personally trying to improve and continue to work on. She makes the most out of what she has and uses it wisely. 

           This interview allowed me to reach out and learn more about a person who works very hard. Even though Nicole has a very occupied schedule she still manages to make the most out of it. She is very inspiring as a person and as a student. She wants only the best for herself. I am super hopeful that her academic approach will lead her to become a great Nurse! 

Hannah Feinstein:Academic Profile

Hannah Feinstein possesses a quirkiness that is reminisce of the actresses from the show Broad City, rectangular glasses upon her face and an enviable short haircut that she casually flips back in mid conversation. You can immediately get the perception that Hannah is the kind of individual who sat by the weird girl in class or defended the quiet boy at lunch who painted his nail lavender. Hannah doesn’t seem to fit into any of the high school or college archetypes. She’s uniquely herself with an impressive sensitivity and a keen awareness of her privilege.

Hannah’s fledgling academic self was first discovered within the confines of her home. Her mother was a teacher and the guiding influence on her eventual career choice. Her mother had went back to school upon becoming pregnant with Hannah. She cheekily expressed, “I basically got a degree when being birthed.” A career in childcare wasn’t necessarily preordained it took a few walks in the dark to get to that consensus. She found herself at the University of Central Florida away from her family taking on the major of hospitality management. She quickly recognized that she didn’t like the structure and realized that most of what she was being taught could easily be learned through hands-on experience at a restaurant. She dropped out after one year, finding a job at Disney’s Orlando theme park. It’s the vision of tourists biting into gigantic turkey legs and children giddy after a ride on the teacups. It was a job, perfunctory and routine. Hannah didn’t envision ever going back to school, but a deadly fatal virus had other ideas.

March , April , May , June floated as the world became a zombie dystopia. It was a Shakespearean tragedy. Hannah regretted going out of state for school and saw it as a waste of money. She had dropped out of an English class that semester , fretting over a five page essay. Her academic self was shedding its skin at that point. She was creative, but only saw perfection in her writing. The first draft had to be the equivalent of  Shakespearean prose or she couldn’t fathom going further. Hannah preferred math. The answers were readily there and it was concrete. English asked more of her, begged her to determine more of the text and of herself. She spent the pandemic months with the idea that she would eventually be able to go back and work at Disney. The call never came. Without an air of anything special Hannah, thought to herself, “Where is the nearest place to get my degree.” 

The Alpharetta Georgia State campus became the newest space for Hannah’s academic self. She had admitted to being a procrastinator, a creative, but also even a little performative. She espoused, “The me I put on, versus the me I actually am.” For Hannah the focus academically isn’t primarily being the most intellectually inept but pursuing what is the most profound and actively kind. Passionately, she spoke of her conflict with the elitist spaces of college. This idea can be interpreted further with the article, Taking My Parents to College. In the article it explores the exact perception of elitism and how it can be isolating for marginalized individuals, creating an environment of feeling like an imposter, an alien in the room. It’s obvious that Hannah’s empathy translates to an academic self that is reflective and evolving. 

            For Hannah the academic setting has changed, and what she longs for is communication. The interaction with her classmates is what she misses. She finds comfort in the hijinks of the characters on Parks and Recreation. She admits that she prefers the quiet sound of nothing when she studies. The literature of Harry Potter books seemed to be the only books she could stomach. Her lack of  reading was an adolescent rebellion, she sought ways to be completely different from her sister, that meant no pages of Judy Blume to be discovered. It seems that with any person the academic self is a multitude of experiences. The first time you raised your hand in class. The first subject that challenged you. The book that gave language to your oppression. Hannah’s academic self-began with her mother, the teacher.  Hannah will soon become a fourth teacher one day eventually leading her pupils to the journey of their academic selves.

 

Sabria Hall Academic Profile

Hello class! My name is Hanah Feinstein, and I had the pleasure of interviewing Sabria Hall. Before I dive deep into my conversation with Sabria, I need to apologize to you, the reader. I need to apologize that you are only reading about Sabria Hall second hand as opposed to getting the privileged to speak with her directly. Sabria Hall is a one-of-a-kind, creative, and empathetic person who inspires anyone who meets her. So, I am sorry that while I won the lottery in getting the opportunity to talk with her, you are only reading about the glimmer of light that she is. But this is the position we find ourselves, so please join me as we learn about our inspiring classmate, Sabria Hall. 

Today, Sabria Hall is a student at Georgia State University majoring in film and media studies. But to see how she got here, we need to rewind back to 2011. In 2011, Sabria dropped out of high school, and she never expected to return to formal education. Instead, books were her education. Through reading, she was taught creativity, world building, and how limitless her potential is. Books empowered Sabria to develop her own individual academic self outside of the classroom. Instead of just memorizing facts, she views academics creatively, and through critical thinking. While she was educating herself through books, she was also gaining life skills as an employee at Chik-Fil-A. The company was impressed by Sabria’s leadership initiatives and compassion for her coworkers, so she was quickly promoted to a managerial position. As a manger, Sabria gained confidence in her capacity to achieve anything she put her mind to. This confidence encouraged Sabria to go back to school despite her friends doubting her. In 2019, she proved her cynics wrong by getting her GED, and soon after she applied to Georgia State University. This decade has awarded Sabria with life lessons that she translates into her academic self 

Sabria Hall is a named to rememberOne day we are going to see her name in lights as she wins Oscars for filmmaking. Sabria is studying film with a focus in directingscreenwriting, and editing. She loves all genres of films, and she observes aspects of movies that the typical viewer would never notice. She applies his type of critical analysis to her school academics as well. Her earliest influence was Spike Lee. Sabria immediately fell in love with his films, but she felt discouraged to enter the film industry because of the lack of representation of Black female filmmakersHer perception changed when she discovered filmmaker Ava DuVernay. Seeing Ava DuVernay’s success as a filmmaker inspired Sabria to pursue her dreams. Sabria’s determination and intelligence will be the momentum to making her dreams a reality.  

Sabria is an excellent writer. Her creativity shines in her ability to convey language in the written form. She is a prose pro. However, she admits that her biggest weakness is not being receptive to criticism. She does not like getting feedback on her writing, and this inhibits her stories from being as great as they could be. Even great writers need to revise their work and receive constructive criticism. The interactive, social nature of writing makes peer review not only an effective source of feedback, but also an essential skill” (Friend 276). Bad Ideas About Writing teaches us the benefits of receiving feedback and constructive criticism to improve our writing. Sabria’s goal for this class is to become more comfortable with receiving feedback 

As our conversation progressed, we started talking about our favorite TV shows. We shared our love for Parks and Rec, and Sabria says she identifies with Leslie Knope. Leslie Knope is a compassionate leader who is motivated by her ambitions and devoted to caring for the people around herSabria Hall really is a real-life Leslie Knope. Like Ava DuVernay inspired her, Sabria Hall is going to inspire so many young girls to follow their dreams.  

Friend, Christopher. “Student Writing Must Be Graded By The Teacher.” Bad Ideas About  Writing.” Edited by Cheryl E. Ball and Drew M. Loewe, The Digital Publishing Institute,  2017, 273-276. 

Clettis Stephens: Academic Profile

Picture of Clettis Stephens

Selfie of Clettis Stephens

An adage that we all have likely heard before goes: “patience is a virtue”, which truly fits Clettis Stephens. Along with using the Japanese proverb: “fall seven times and stand up eight” (Reynolds, 2011) to describe him, I have the pleasure of introducing our resilient classmate Clettis Stephens who recently allowed me the opportunity to view his stance on his academic self. Through learning more about him, I came to find that he can be a bit too critical towards himself, but this has only served to keep him humble and motivated as he strives to achieve a personal goal whilst refusing to give up for his own and his family’s sakes. Currently in his third semester at GSU majoring in computer science, he has shown he is a persistent individual who treads carefully due to an ongoing fear of failure. This fear, though, serves as a driving force to try his hardest in his third attempt at receiving a college degree.

Clettis comes from “an area where a majority of my family members did not make it to college”. He expanded on that statement by adding “I’m not sure most of them made it out of high school”. Given this explanation, it’s understandable why he carries this fear of failure as it is apparent that he doesn’t want to simply be a statistic along with that majority of his family members he mentioned. With this kind of environment as a foundation in mind, his self-reflected description of his academic self was: nervous, pessimistic, and overworking. However, now at a point in life where he has his own family (a wife and three children), Clettis has made yet another attempt to ensure he has a different outcome from the setting he grew up around despite carrying a negative outlook on his academic self.

In citing his biggest influence on his academic self being his fear of failure, Clettis referred to previous college attempts by saying “I tend to deal with thinking I will have to retake classes halfway through the semester due to not receiving the grades that I would like to have”. However, a fear of failure is not Clettis’ only influence on his academic self. He also cited his wife and kids as also being his largest influence as “they motivate me to do better at everything I do”. During my opportunity to pick his brain I came to realize that while Clettis is rather negative towards himself in self-reflection, his wife and children serve as an even bigger inspiration for him that supersedes his own fears and self-description evidenced by the fact that he has returned to school now three times. He endeavors to be a father who shows his children that nothing is impossible, and that they “can do any and everything you put your mind to as long as you put the work in”.

Despite now having his own family to care for, Clettis has given college education another shot in becoming a career corporate systems analyst showing that nothing in life really is ever “too late”. My advice to Clettis is to continue trying your best to organize your time help make you successful, for as Dr. Chew of Samford University states, “You have to commit the time and hard work necessary to succeed” followed by his advice, “You have to recognize that the time you have will limit your likelihood of success” (Samford University, 2011). Clettis has likely accomplished more in his personal life than many of his fellow students at GSU (with many personal/ professional high and low points), but that hasn’t stopped him from trying to complete a degree from a college institution. I found myself relating a lot to Clettis’ self-description, but ultimately felt that he should give himself more credit. I enjoyed my chance to get to know Clettis, and would really enjoy if he gave me more opportunity to learn from him in the future to further develop my own academic self.

 

 

 

Sources:

Reynolds, G. (2011, March 24). Fall down seven times, get Up eight: The power of japanese resilience. Retrieved February 05, 2021, from https://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2011/03/fall-down-seven-times-get-up-eight-the-power-of-japanese-resilience.html

Samford University. (2011, August 16). How to Get the Most Out of Studying: Part 1 of 5, “Beliefs That Make You Fail… Or Succeed” [Video]. Youtube. Retrieved February 05, 2021, from https://youtu.be/RH95h36NChI

 

ACADEMIC PROFILE FOR John Dinh

 

I had the pleasure of being paired up with John Dinh, and upon making initial contact I was able to determine a friendship will be established after this class assignment is completed. From our first few exchanges, I was able to tell he is an immensely helpful, considerate, and all-around generous individual. We had some hiccups trying to get our scheduling down and I could not have been more relieved with the way he wanted to go over and beyond to make sure we were able to get this interview completed. The questions that I compiled together came from trying to figure out what will help me learn about John as a student and an individual.

John went to Hapeville Elementary from kindergarten to fifth grade. During the grades of 6th through 8th, he attended Paul D. West Middle went on to attend West Lake High School where he graduated from. After high school, he went to Oxford College of Emory University for 2 years obtaining his Associates of Arts. He decided that he needed to take a mental break from learning to do some soul searching to figure out what he wanted to major in and what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He is currently at Georgia State University pursuing a degree in business administration he wants to transfer to Georgia State University Business School where he will be obtaining a dual major in CIS (Computer Information Systems) and Managerial Services. John wants to start a career as an HRIS (Human Resource Information System) analyst, or any kind of work dealing with information systems.

Some of John’s biggest influencers and motivators of his academic self are his siblings and someone that he worked alongside. John refers to himself as a more indecisive person and expressed that he struggled for years when it came to deciding what would be beneficial for him. He uses his brothers for daily motivation, their eagerness, and quickness when it comes to figuring out what it was that they wanted to do career-wise, supplying him with the push he needed to finish his journey into choosing his career. A human resource manager and mentor of his, while he was working at Delta, inspired him to strive for a career in human resources.

During this current climate that we are living in with having to do online learning compared to face-to-face learning, John expressed that networking has been very baffling and frustrating. Due to the pandemic, he is not able to take part in any of the activities that are hosted by Georgia State University which makes it harder for him to reach out and build relationships and network to get guidance from peers on his career path and options.

In the conclusion of the interview with John, it is ok to take a step back if you are not confident with what it is that you want to do career-wise or even what you want to obtain while you are in school. Some people can maneuver through life with everything figured out but sometimes you must take a break, rely on some of your mentors and influencers when you are “going with the flow” without any direction on which way you should be going. I can say that I related to john throughout this interview, and I know it is more of us out there “just going with the flow” but we will get it done. Don’t be afraid to reach on and introduce yourself to John he has been a very informative and enjoyable person during this project.