Muska is a bright and bubbly dual-enrollment student from Afghanistan. She loves to travel and has been to several different states and countries. She’s traveled to places like Quebec, Toronto, Texas, Alabama, and Virginia. A couple of her hobbies include creating beautiful Origami flowers and playing video games. The fact that she plays video games is unsurprising, considering that her two siblings she looks up to are older brothers. The first thing someone notices about Muska is the optimistic attitude she brings to the conversation. Her current academic self would be described as adventurous and curious. This was evident by her upbeat tone and inquisitive nature when I interviewed her.
She is an easygoing, relaxed 16-year-old girl, attending GSU Perimeter College full-time to earn college credits while earning her high school diploma. She graduates from high school in 2024, but she is still learning about majors and her options when it comes to college. She still has plenty of time to figure that out, especially since she is attending college classes for free at the age of 16, because of her high school’s affiliation with Georgia State. This means that she is doing what a lot of high school students don’t get to do, exploring her options with higher education.
Muska is just recently getting exposed to ideas outside of the high school curriculum and is figuring out what piques her interest. This means she is just now figuring out how to learn college material, even in classes that don’t pique her interest. Even so, she sees the value in getting an education. Muska states, “I think learning new things allows us to discover interests that we didn’t know about.” In her classes she’s taken a particular interest in Macroeconomics as well as Media and culture. Math used to be her favorite, but now she is not very fond of it. This broad range of classes she’s taken interest in shows the benefit of being undecided in your major at first. It has allowed Muska to not be constrained in what would be her major.
“At the end even if knowledge is the most important thing, it depends on the person; for me it might be hard to learn new things, but if it’s something I like, then I’m willing to see it through.”, Muska states. This means that she is aware that learning a new subject is hard, but it’s not hopeless. In addition, she is aware that as a college student, you do not have to see everything through. Everyone has options. Everyone is figuring out their place in the world and in education post COVID-19.
According to the reading we did for Dr. Weaver’s English Composition 1102 class, “COVID-Era College: Are Student’s satisfied”, By Melissa Ezarik, studies conducted Inside Higher Ed and College Post showed that “Only 10 percent of respondents [college students post the COVID-19 outbreak] report having spent time using career center services or focused on career development.” (Ezarik, 2021). Therefore, not many college students are necessarily focused on what they’re going to do in the long run by planning a career. In addition, Ezarik stated that, “It’s clear to anyone paying attention: the majority of college students look forward to more carefree days.” (Ezarik 2021). In other words, students after dealing with the stress if having their high school education interrupted by a pandemic want to socialize and learn without stressing about what their going to do with their careers and specificities, especially when a virus like COVID can throw a wrench in whatever they have planned. So, for now high school and early college students, like Muska, are exploring what an education has to offer to them.
What Muska helped me realize is that people don’t have to have 5-year and 10-year plans before they create an educational foundation for themselves. She showed me that staying curious and easygoing is enough to get the ball rolling with your future, even if you don’t know what that future looks like yet. Muska is excited to figure out what that future will look like, whether that is in business, in media, or even architecture, she is figuring that one class at a time.
Citations:
- Muska Shahem, Interview, February 2023
- Melissa Ezarik; “COVID-Era College: Are Student’s satisfied”, Inside Higher Ed
- Rebecca Weaver, PhD; Major Project #1 (Academic Profile) February 2023, GSU Perimeter Campus