{"565351":{"#nid":"565351","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Biomedical Engineer to Address Incoming Students at Convocation","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EEach semester, dozens of rising second-year students apply for the privilege to address incoming students at Georgia Tech at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.calendar.gatech.edu\/event\/546881\u0022\u003ENew Student Convocation\u003C\/a\u003E. The ceremony was even made famous in 2013 by alumnus \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Irl_6h_55eo\u0022\u003ENick Selby\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis year, new students will hear from\u0026nbsp;Ben Rapsas, a rising second-year biomedical engineering major. Rapsas felt like this was something he was called to do.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe process of becoming Convocation speaker includes writing a speech that is judged by faculty and staff. Prospective speakers must also deliver that speech to a group of judges.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Delivering my speech to the selection committee was the hardest part,\u0022 Rapsas said. \u0022That may sound funny because I will need to deliver this speech to thousands, but the panel was deciding on me versus many other qualified applicants, whereas my Convocation audience has no choice. They\u0027re stuck with me!\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of the main reasons Rapsas wanted to give the speech was to overcome one of his biggest fears: public speaking. Throughout high school, he pushed himself to step outside of his comfort zone, and he\u0027s continuing that process here at Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERapsas is also part of the Georgia Tech Honors Program and lived in its Living Learning Community last year.\u0026nbsp;Thanks to guidance he received from administrators in the Honors Program, he feels confident in his abilities to give a memorable speech that will inspire and motivate Georgia Tech\u0027s newest additions.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The support and encouragement I received from our group of talented administrators allowed me to feel confident in my ability to explore opportunities and take chances,\u0022 he said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo those who may want to someday speak at Convocation, or just conquer a fear in general, Rapsas offers this advice: \u0022If it is something that you are passionate about, wrap your head around it early. I really think that allowed me to develop the heartfelt message I wanted to deliver.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENew students will be welcomed to Georgia Tech at \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.calendar.gatech.edu\/event\/546881\u0022\u003ENew Student Convocation\u003C\/a\u003E on Sunday, Aug. 21, at 5 p.m. at McCamish Pavilion.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThis year, new students will hear from\u0026nbsp;Ben Rapsas, a rising second-year biomedical engineering major. Rapsas felt like this was something he was called to do.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"This year, new students will hear from Ben Rapsas, a rising second-year biomedical engineering major. Rapsas felt like this was something he was called to do."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2016-08-19 09:01:15","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:22:23","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-08-19T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-08-19T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"565341":{"id":"565341","type":"image","title":"Ben Rapsas","body":null,"created":"1471611672","gmt_created":"2016-08-19 13:01:12","changed":"1475895371","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:56:11","alt":"Ben Rapsas","file":{"fid":"206905","name":"a537e5ca-86d8-49d7-ba35-da1917370939.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/a537e5ca-86d8-49d7-ba35-da1917370939.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/a537e5ca-86d8-49d7-ba35-da1917370939.png","mime":"image\/png","size":131546,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/a537e5ca-86d8-49d7-ba35-da1917370939.png?itok=IXXcBRoG"}},"434151":{"id":"434151","type":"image","title":"Freshmen Enjoy Convocation","body":null,"created":"1449256148","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:09:08","changed":"1475895174","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:54","alt":"Freshmen Enjoy Convocation","file":{"fid":"202955","name":"freshmen-convocation-2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/freshmen-convocation-2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/freshmen-convocation-2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":673133,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/freshmen-convocation-2_0.jpg?itok=vwXH6Shj"}}},"media_ids":["565341","434151"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.specialevents.gatech.edu\/about\/events\/convocation","title":"New Student Convocation"}],"groups":[{"id":"1182","name":"General"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"4230","name":"convocation"},{"id":"4223","name":"freshman"},{"id":"10743","name":"New Student Convocation"},{"id":"6367","name":"new students"},{"id":"167378","name":"special events"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:cory.hopkins@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ECory Hopkins\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EUndergraduate Education\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}