Lincoln Hall Project
Alexiaa Jordan (junior in molecular and cellular biology) and Adrienne Pickett (AM ’05, art history, African studies; graduate student in educational policy studies; and academic advisor in the English department) talk about the challenges of coming to the University and overcoming pride in order to succeed.
Alexiaa Jordan: One big thing for me to learn as a freshman was learning to branch out, one, communicate, two, and, hmm, I’m not too sure how to put this eloquently, but to get over yourself. I believe, well, I know for a fact that most of the students that we take in at the University of Illinois, they are scholar students, from wherever they came from. So I know I was one of the kids that didn’t reach out for help, you know, I was going to do my own thing, I could do this by myself. And that was a very bad attitude for me to have in the major that I had. So once I got deeper into my major I recognized that getting myself out there and networking and socializing is very important to every major. And I want to say especially to science majors, because I had to personally get over myself and recognize I can’t do this by myself. I need tutoring, I need group studies, and I found that has taken me a long way in my major and in my future career. I found out a lot of things about internships, classes to take, help, things like that, and I think that’s really important once any student decides on a major.
Adrienne: That’s perfect advice. That’s so true. Undergraduates, often, they’ll come in and they did really well in high school as you said. Top of their class, you know, and then come here and everyone else is at the top of their class too. (Laughs)
Alexiaa: Exactly.
Adrienne: So right, there is a need to get over oneself. At the same time, or not at the same time but rather in addition to that, it seems the point about communication is well-taken. (bell rings). And I’m wondering if this is also what you’re implying by communication. So reaching out to classmates, reaching out to professors, instructors, TAs.
Alexiaa: Yeah. You know, I respect communication majors just because they’re spending their life on something that’s so vital to intra- and interpersonal relations. So communication with everybody.
Adrienne: Everybody, yeah.
Alexiaa: Honestly, even strangers sometimes. You never know who you’ll meet.
Adrienne: Yeah, yeah. That goes along with your point of networking, right?
Alexiaa: Yes.
Adrienne: Yeah, yeah.
Alexiaa: Networking and college is vital to your life.
(Length: 2:56)