As a young adult, doing what makes you happy is the ultimate life goal. We spend day in and day out dreaming of what can make life reminiscent to what we envision life.  As an artist myself I understand the passion and fire it takes to fulfill a dream from a young age as Christian Aycock is currently doing. Christian Aycock, a seventeen-year-old musician is a true reflection of chasing your dreams from a young age. After numerous unsuccessful meetings on my part, I finally was able to sit down with Christian and discuss the components which make up his artistic and academic self.

                        What makes Christian so phenomenal is the multifaceted attributes of his life. A chorus singer from Drew Charter School to a Kroger courtesy clerk, advancing toward his dreams. All while being a part of a nine-sibling family, we can only imagine the beautiful chaos of his family. Being one of nine builds character, Christian described some of those character traits as determined, productive and helpful. All attributes that will assist him along his academic journey. Christian Aycock’s academic journey began as a typical K-12 experience. Commencing at Hope Hill Elementary and now Drew Charter School. Christian has dreams of continuing his secondary education at esteemed colleges such as Morehouse, Clark Atlanta and Georgia State University. In order to facilitate this goal Christian made good grades and became a dual enrollment student, which is how I met this wonderful soul. As a dual enrollment student, Aycock hopes to gain some college experience to aid in the transition from high school senior to college freshman. Aspiring to live out his dreams as a music conductor and music composer. While diligently participating in academic pursuits.

Manuel Alcoser-Mejia is a Freshman at Georgia State, and he graduated from Macintosh High School. The main reason he is going to college is for his family.  Both of his parents are immigrants, and he is a first-generation college student. One of the bigger reasons his parents moved here was better opportunities to go to school. If he doesn’t go to college, he feels like he will disappoint them.  He has two younger siblings, 7 and 12, and he wants to set an example for them. 

His 3 words to describe his academic self are lazy, hard-working, and procrastinating.  If he could change anything about his work ethic, he would change his scheduling because sometimes there are conflicts with his schedule, and he does not really feel like doing something, so it is hard for him to find the motivation to finish it. His mom is his biggest influence on his academic self, as she pushed and helped him through high school.  

One of his favorite subjects is math, and that is the one he is most proud of. Sometimes it is hard to understand, but he likes learning it. He takes an online math class that challenges him. It takes him a long time to complete the assignments, as they are difficult.  The major he wants to pursue is engineering, as it was his pathway through high school, and he really enjoyed it. When he is older, he wants to become a mechanical engineer. The article I feel that most relates to him is Intro to The New Education because he wants to not just learn technology, but also apply it to help the world. He wants to set an example for his younger siblings so that they too can go to college. These ideals are very important to him.  

In high school, he felt stressed with the SAT test, as he didn’t know how much it influenced college decisions. Towards the end of the year, he realized this and booked a last-minute SAT, and it was the last one he could take.  On testing day, he forgot his ID, so he had to go back home and grab it. When he got back, the doors were closed, but the people inside were able to bring him in at the last minute and put him in a different testing room.  

One thing about college that frustrates him is not fully knowing what classes he needs to do for engineering. He asked academic advisors, and he has a plan of classes he needs to do, but he doesn’t know if he needs to do them. If he could go to another school, he would go to Kennesaw and get a bachelor’s in engineering and a lot of his friends go there. He would also like to go to Georgia Tech because he believes it is the best in the state. He doesn’t know what degree to get yet, hoping bachelors then get a job. If it’s hard for him to get a job to get a bachelor’s degree, then he will go and get a masters. 

Audrey is a senior in Charter Highschool. When it comes to her academics, she sees herself as hard working, self-compassionate, and persistent. Since Audrey is a senior in high school, she was given an opportunity to do programs that could help with her academic self and for her final year she decided to join the dual enrollment program. Dual enrollment is a program that is common among every high school in Georgia. It takes any willing student that wants to go to a college to gain experience and even gain college credit.  

One of her main reasons for joining was that it was better than staying in school and getting caught up with classes she did not care about. It would also help her gain college credit that could help towards getting scholarships. When she first joined the program, she originally wanted to go to a college in the downtown area but did not have high enough grades to get into it, so she decided to go to Perimeter. Since she is a hard-working student, after a few months, she did end up meeting the criteria to get into the downtown college but ended up staying here in Perimeter. So far, while staying in this college, she has found nothing confusing with the challenges it has to offer and is confident with the challenges that may come up in the future. 

She hopes by the time she graduates that she can get in the college she wants to go to which is the University of Georgia. She has been wanting to go to it ever since she was in school and hopes that she will be able to qualify for it. Once she gets to college, she plans to get a master’s degree in something related to business. So far in her preparation for college, she has done the SAT. When asked about how it was, she said it was stressful and hard. She tried it a couple times but was not able to get the scores she was hoping to get. She eventually hired a tutor that helped her finally get the scores that she wanted. She did not give up and kept trying to become her best academic self with her persistence. 

She has worked hard to achieve her goals like joining the Dual enrollment program, working on getting better SAT scores, and working on her academic self. When looking at all the things she had to do to achieve what she wants it reminds me of a sentence I read in the “The New Education” “students are on a journey, making sacrifices of time, money, and attention to strive for a significant change in their lives” (Davidson 3) which she is clearly doing. In a way it makes me feel motivated to work on my academic self and hopefully for others reading this it can help motivate themselves too.  

The person I interviewed is Tom Nguyen. He is a dual enrollment student at Georgia State Perimeter College. He is a junior in high school and attends Dekalb Early College Academy. He has lived in Stone Mountain, Georgia all his life. He refers to himself as a gamer who prefers first-person shooting games. He is also considered to be well-traveled. He has been outside the country multiple times and has been to Japan and Vietnam, his home country.

Three words that Tom chose to describe his academic self are “out of the box, creative, and different”. His biggest influencers for his academic self are his family, more specifically his two older siblings and his parents. His brother, was the one to pave his path of going to the same high school, doing dual enrollment, and then later going to Georgia Tech. Although he has realized that he doesn’t want to follow in his footsteps completely but wants a head start in college. As of right now Tom does not have a major but has an idea of what he wants to major in computer science.

This being his second semester at GSU, he is really enjoying his time here. He appreciates the certain freedom that comes with college and professors not hovering over you the way high school teachers do. Things that frustrate him about college is the way professors use multiple sites when it comes to assignments, it becomes complicated to check everything so that you won’t be late or miss assignments entirely. In the video, “Developing a Mindset for Successful Learning” by Dr. Chew, he speaks about the 10 study strategy principles. One of them is, “successful learning requires planning ahead”. This can be related to the multiple sites, being that communication with your professor is very important to the planning process.

Not really knowing what aspect he wants to focus on within that major, he is confident that he wants to work with technology because it is something he is passionate about.

Chew, S. (n.d.). How to study. How to Get the Most Out of Studying. Retrieved from https://www.samford.edu/departments/academic-success-center/how-to-study

Over the last week, I had the chance to get to know one of my colleagues a little better, Asia Shakir. As of right now, Asia is a student at GSU enrolled in her first year of a dual enrollment program and is in her senior year at the Drew Charter School. For the majority of her academic life, she has only ever attended this one institution. This being her last year, Asia has made the great decision to venture out and learn about the world of college. Things seemed tough for her in the beginning, but Asia is one passionate student who is determined to “stick it through” to the end.  

When I asked why she decided to enroll in GSU’s dual enrollment program, Asia answered it seemed a great fit for the pre-college experience and to explore the many opportunities it had to offer. As her senior year comes to an end, her full college years are to begin. She plans to major in Business, aspiring to own her own business someday. One thing that you may not know about Asia is that she is a student with many talents. In the world of cosmetology, Asia has honed her skills as a nail technician and hair stylist. With a passion for beauty and a drive to continuously improve, she aims to expand her services and grow her expertise in the industry. 

Regarding academics, it is no question that Asia has an aptitude to learn. However, the things that really motivate her are the idea of completing things to the end and her Aunt Chynahn.  When it comes to college, Asia believes that investing in her education is something that in the long run will help develop her skills and that “sticking it through” will benefit her.  At first, I didn’t quite understand what she meant by sticking it through. Through discussion, I learned that she meant college, for her, is more than just getting a degree, but learning meaningful principles she can apply to herself later in life. Kind of like the ones from Stephen Chews’ studying videos. She resonates with his enlightenment and has taken a liking to his straightforward teaching.   

Stephen Chew’s videos aren’t the only candid things that seem to impact her. Another major influence in her life would be her Aunt Chaynahn. Asia describes her as a force to be reckoned with. Her admiration for her aunt’s boldness and fierce attitude is something I noticed that makes her beam ear to ear.  I can tell that her aunt really motivates her to be the person she wants to be. Asia says her Aunt Chayahn is a person who sets her heart out to do what she wants and never lets anything stand in her way. She is motivated by this to complete her own journey through college and seeks to have a similar attitude of not letting any hardships get in the way (sticking it through).  

In short, what I’ve learned from Asia is that she is a person who strives for not only success but efficiency.  As she sets out into soon-to-be adult life, it can be said that with her willingness and determination, she can do anything she puts her mind to. It was an amazing opportunity to get to meet her and be able to talk about who her Academic Self is. I think she is on a great path to being the person she seeks to be.    

-Shakir, Asia. Interviews. Conducted by Shamis Saeed, Jan-Feb 2023. 

-Weaver, Rebecca. Class Lecture, Jan. 2023.   

     Hello peers. I would like to introduce Asma Nadir. During the over an hour phone call we had, I learned quite a bit about her and her academic self. Asma is 20 years old and is a current sophomore here at Georgia State Clarkston campus and has been attending since she first started as a freshman. She is a middle child and she values family, friends, loyalty, and education. She currently works at Target as a cashier and has been for the past 2 years. In her free time, she likes to hang out with friends, watch Turkish shows, and play badminton. 

     Asma attended kindergarten through middle school in Afghanistan, then came to America when she was 15 and attended Clarkston high school. She graduated high school with a 3.95 gpa being top 10 in her class. Asma decided to go to college immediately following high school. She chose to attend GSU’s Clarkston campus because it was the cheaper option compared to other popular colleges/universities, but she still wanted the college experience.  As of right now, Asma plans to earn her associate degree majoring in engineering at GSU Clarkston, then transfer to Georgia Tech majoring in architecture this fall. She wants to earn her master’s degree and be an architect. Her goal is to design homes for the less fortunate here, and back in her country Afghanistan.

     The three words Asma used to describe her academic self were: hardworking, social, and independent. Those words go to show a lot about Asma. The biggest influence on her academic self are her friends, teachers, and the people she follows on social media because they are very hardworking. When she sees them it’s like positive competition for her, and they motivate her to stay on track. When it comes to her academics, she is proud that she is responsible for the work that is given to her and always manages to turn in her assignments on time. Asma’s favorite video that we watched in class was the “How To Get The Most Out Of Studying” video series by Dr Chew. Similar to the topic, the video series is simply just tips and tricks to train your mind to study. Which Asma found very beneficial.

     Something that Asma finds frustrating about college is the fact that advisors don’t care about what students need based on their major. They often throw students in classes that they don’t necessarily need, and it seems to be a waste of time and money. She believes that the classes taken in the first 2 years of college aren’t a necessity, but the classes more related to your major are what really counts. So essentially, it comes down to the classes being taken.

Academic Profile

This is an interview done with the remarkable Shelby Crum. Shelby is a 21-year-old young woman who was born in California but grew up mostly in Indiana. Seven months ago, she and her boyfriend, Jacob, decided to make a change and move to Georgia, which landed her at GSU. During her time here, she encountered a lot of trial and error within her academic journey. With these experiences, she seems to have a unique perspective on academics and describes it as a way to conduct oneself in a learning environment. She expressed herself as reserved and curious, traits that have helped her explore different career paths after her high school graduation in 2019.

To begin, one would say Shelby’s academic journey has been a winding road. After considering a degree in business, she decided to pursue a career in beauty. However, she soon discovered that her true passion was in the healthcare field. This realization led her to switch her major to nursing, a decision she has not regretted yet. Shelby is deeply invested in her nursing studies and enjoys learning about the human body. She finds anatomy and physiology particularly interesting and has a strong desire to understand how the body works. Her curiosity to learn make her a dedicated student and a future asset to the healthcare industry.

Moreover, Shelby believes that learning new things is a critical component of becoming “our most authentic selves.” She acknowledges that knowledge is important for everyone, as it allows individuals to speak confidently and express their thoughts and opinions effectively. Despite the challenges of learning, she remains motivated and engaged, even in her favorite subjects. Although Shelby recognizes that learning can have its difficulties, she remains dedicated to her education. She understands that staying motivated and committed to her goals is essential to achieving success.

Her dedication and focus have led her to attain great knowledge. She believes that the key to attaining knowledge is to start small and gradually build up. Rather than diving into the hardest assignments right away, Shelby begins by completing smaller tasks and thoroughly reviewing her work. This approach not only helps her to solidify her understanding of the material, but it also gives her a sense of accomplishment and motivation to tackle more challenging assignments. Through her methodical approach to learning, Shelby is able to immerse herself fully in her studies and gain a deep understanding of the subject matter.

This deep understanding allows her to stay on top of the academic competition because she believes that the grading system is important in measuring academic progress; however, she also feels that the current education system is too focused on competition and places too much pressure on students to perform at a certain level. She believes that the approach to education should be less restrictive, allowing students to explore their interests and strengths without fear of failure. This perspective aligns with ideas presented in “The New Education: How to Revolutionize the University to Prepare Students for a World Flux” by Cathy N. Davidson, where the author argues that traditional teaching and grading methods are outdated and instead suggests a more personalized and student-centered approach to education. The book highlights the importance of fostering creativity, critical thinking, and passion in students rather than just teaching to the test. Shelby’s thoughts reflect the need for a shift in education that prioritizes a student’s growth and well-being over grades and competition.

In conclusion, Shelby Crum is a remarkable young woman with a unique perspective on academics. Her journey has been filled with trial and error, but she remains dedicated to her education and is deeply invested in her nursing studies. Shelby believes that knowledge is essential for becoming one’s most authentic self. She also believes that the key to attaining knowledge is through dedication, focus, and a methodical approach to learning. Furthermore, she feels that the current education system places too much emphasis on competition and grades and that a more student-centered approach to education would benefit students. Her views align with the ideas presented in The New Education by Cathy Davidson, further emphasizing the need for a shift in the way education is approached. Shelby’s dedication and commitment to her education make her a promising future asset to the healthcare industry.

Works Cited 

• Davidson, Cathy N. The New Education: How to Revolutionize the University to Prepare Students for a World Flux. 2nd ed., Basic Books, 2017.
• Crum, Shelby, Pair interview transcript, February 2023
• Weaver, Rebecca, PhD; Project #1, Profile of fellow student (“academic self” interview) February 2023, GSU ATL

  Academic Profile of Trinh Bui 

Trinh Bui is 18 years old and is in the second semester of her first year at Perimeter College. She was born in the USA but her parents are from Vietnam. Her overall academic self is confident and intelligent as she has put her studies first throughout her life. We are going to take a look at how her academic self has grown and developed through Trinh’s education and life experiences. Trinh’s academic self has been shaped by many things in her life, starting when she was young. She has always felt a great deal of pressure from her parents and environment to study hard and put her academic goals first. Her parents are quite traditional and they wanted her to go to medical school, but instead, she took inspiration from her uncles and decided that she wanted to pursue computer science or software engineering.

Thrin attended Catholic school from pre-k throughout high school. This also had a big impact on her academic self as she was taught from a young age to have a differing set of morals and values compared to children attending different schools like public schools for example. At this Catholic school students wore uniforms and said prayers. Thrin said this helped her in some ways because she did not have to worry about the daily struggle of finding an outfit but she disliked it in a way because students were not able to express their personality and individuality in the same way because of the enforced uniforms and strict dress code. Overall Thrin enjoyed her time at Catholic school. She was involved in many sports during her time there, these include volleyball, soccer, and tennis. Volleyball was her main and favorite sport. Because she played so many different sports they ended up having a big impact on her academics self. This was because they taught her the precious skill of time management. Thrin had practices almost every day and during this time she also had events such as games and matches on many of her weekends. This forced her to develop good schedules to balance all the things she had going on in order not to fall behind in her studies. During later years Trinh has been very happy that she was able to develop a sense of self-control and consistency so early on in her life because she found it very useful during her college career.

As mentioned before Trinh is in her first year at Perimeter College and has enjoyed her classes for the most part. Trinh explained to us how she considers herself lucky to avoid COVID during college because if she had needed to take classes virtually she might have delayed college for a semester or a year due to the situation COVID was causing. Hearing Trinh talking about this issue reminded me of one of the readings that we did during the first week by Melissa Azaric in the article COVID-Era College: Are students Satisfied? In this article, the author talks about how students often dread having to take classes online and feel like they are missing out on the college experience but also feel like their learning is suffering because of how covid affected their college experience. Students who had to take college courses during COVID did not get the chance to develop relationships and understandings with their professors. At the same time many professors, according to this article, felt like they were not able to do enough for their students. Vice President for Enrollment Audrey Smith said  “Because there was so much activity in terms of the change in[residential] status, staff were behind,”. This was said in response to teachers being moved around, and administration and such being confused which led to people not being able to rely on staff to relay information, and often students and parents could not even get a hold of staff reliably. Trinh feels lucky that she was able to avoid all the stress that covid caused college students and is happy that she chose a school where students can take in-person classes. 

  One of Trinh’s future goals is to transfer to Georgia Tech after finishing two years at Perimeter. After that, she wants to pursue a bachelor’s or possibly a master’s in Computer Science or Software engineering. Besides her uncles inspiring her to follow this future career path, Thrin had a teacher in high school who taught computer science, and he helped her a lot. She refers to him as one of her mentors and inspirations because he was able to show her the joy and interesting parts of computer science and that prompted her to want to learn more and pursue it in her future. Many students can probably attest to how having a good or bad mentor, coach or teacher can completely influence how you view a certain subject or activity. Luckily for Thrin, her teacher inspired her to work hard and learn more about her subjects of interest. She has a deep interest and enjoyment for what she is studying and is a great example for college students around the world to take a look at their lives and ask themselves if they truly are inspired by what they are studying because if you are your academic self will truly thrive.

The below writing is the synopsis of my interview with Kayla Graham. Kayla is a first-year pre-med nursing student at Georgia State University, and her journey to get to where she is now is evidence of her determination and versatility. Born with Jamaican roots, Kayla grew up in a strict household where academics were highly valued. However, it wasn’t until she joined the National Guard that she truly valued her education. Despite going through high school just because she had to be there, Kayla is now determined to finish what she started. She says that is evolving, learning to “enjoy” the academic process, and embracing the opportunities that college has to offer.

Out of the three words I asked Kayla to describe herself with, the first one was discipline. Kayla attributes the army as being her biggest motivator, shaping her into the disciplined individual she is today. Kayla was initially intimidated by the pressure of academic expectations but soon realized that her military background had prepared her well. She began to embrace the learning process and started to appreciate the results of her discipline and hard work.

Kayla’s interests are far-reaching, in addition to her academics, Kayla has a passion for aesthetics, graphics and design, and she has already completed her certification as an esthetician. In addition, Kayla is a spiritual person, which has helped her maintain balance in her life. Hence why the second word she used to describe herself is broad.

Kayla’s third word to describe herself was evolving. She has come a long way from just wanting to attend high school because she had to, to now being determined to finish what she started and fulfill her goal of becoming a nurse and her realizing that learning can be enjoyable. Kayla believes that her determination and discipline will overcome the challenges she is set to face. As Dr. Stephen Chew said in his principles to develop a mindset for learning video, Kayla aspires to find value in what she is studying to do her best in it.

In conclusion, I asked Kayla, why college? Kayla answered by saying that College was a chance for her to evolve and try new things and she decided to embrace it. She hopes that the obstacles that are to come, like the ones she has faced before, will help her continue to grow and evolve. For me, Kayla’s background really shows that a positive attitude, an open mind, and determination could help someone grow as an individual. She is a reminder that anything is possible with hard work and discipline.

Sources:

• Kayla Graham, pair interview transcript, January 2022
• Chew, Stephen. Https://Www.samford.edu/Departments/Academic-Success-Center/How-to-Study.