Page 13 - Laker Connection Spring 2012

When the subject of student success at Clayton State is broached, it makes sense to mention a group of the University’s most successful students... the Presidential Schol- ars.
Part of a program that originated in 2010, there have thus far been two groups of Presidential Scholars at Clayton State, five who matriculated in August 2010, and six more who received their scholarships start- ing in August 2011. The first group included Tawan Holmes from Westlake High School in Atlanta, Sotheavy Vann from Riverdale High School in College Park, Kathleen Bar- bosa from Chattahoochee High School in Alpharetta, James “Kirk” Muse from White- water High School in Fayetteville, and Khalea Crowe from Miller Grove High School in Lithonia. The current academic year’s group features Jacob Caldwell from Woodland High School in Stockbridge, Jonathan Blake Anderson from Stockbridge High School, Riverdale’s Thao Duong from Mount Zion High School, Griffin High School graduate Chaston Matheny, North Oconee High School graduate Jon Skinner, a resident of Statham, and Todd Burke from Shaw High School in Columbus.
As part of the application process for the Presidential Scholarships, each applicant submitted an original essay on the subject, “What I Wish to Accomplish with My Col- lege Education.”
“These students represent the academic best of our incoming freshmen. They are very talented academically, they wrote com- petitive essays, and they chose Clayton State,” said Clayton State President Dr. Thomas Hynes, Jr., at the time of the first
group’s acceptance.
Even when talking about outstanding
freshmen, the transition to college life is not necessarily an easy one, even for the Univer- sity’s academic best. In the spirit of Clayton State, and the spirit of student success, the first group of Presidential Scholars, with a year’s worth of experience behind them, re- cently had some advice for the second group.
“The advice I would like to give to the incoming freshman of the program is to not bite off more than you can chew,” says Bar- bosa, a Biology major. “It is great to be in- volved in activities and student organizations, but you have to always keep in mind that your studies come first and it is crucial to keep those grades up.
“Be reasonable when choosing classes and always leave enough time to study. If that isn’t taken care of, the outcomes are not pretty.”
"Your college career is what you make of it. It can be a piece of nice paper, or it can be the experience of a lifetime, a stepping stone to a better life and a better you,” says Vann, also a Biology major who started at Clayton State as a Dual Enrollment student. “You can achieve the latter by learning from every class you take, every person you meet, every obstacle you face, and every mistake you make. Get to know your professors -- they can be pretty cool -- do things you enjoy, but don’t take on more than you can handle. Never be deterred by a challenge -- it will make you stronger -- and explore new frontiers.”
It’s interesting to note that the two sci- entists both caution their peers to focus on
learning, but not to take on too much... pos- sibly since Presidential Scholars may also be overachievers by nature.
Muse, another former Dual Enrollment student, is a Computer Science major. He also has some very practical advice, direct from the classroom.
“Although it seems tedious, take notes from the book as well as from the profes- sor,” he says. “It works as a double-check to make sure you have everything you need.
“Always take notes; you can’t rely on memory alone. One of my high school teachers always said, ‘If you’re dumb, you think you’re smart, so you won’t write any- thing down. If you’re smart, you know you’re dumb, so you write everything down.’”
As Presidential Scholars each student in both groups has received an annual univer- sity grant, a housing and meal plan grant, and a bookstore award, for a total annual value of approximately $12,000. These schol- arship awards are in addition to any HOPE Scholarship funds for which the students would be eligible.
With two groups of successful students already enrolled in Clayton State, it seems safe to say that the Presidential Scholarship program is already itself a success. And, al- though academic prowess is certainly a key role in student success, so too is attitude. As such, Barbosa has the final word.
“I also would like to congratulate the in- coming freshman and hope they have a wonderful time at Clayton State Univer- sity.” she says. “It is a wonderful school, and it’s one I hope they are proud to be attending as I am.”
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