{"585277":{"#nid":"585277","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Meet Fall 2016 Graduate Jeffery Hendrix","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJeffery Lee Hendrix graduated with a B.S. in Biology. He came to Georgia Tech from Bulloch Academy, Statesboro, Georgia. He is headed to Guyana, with the Peace Corps.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat attracted you to study in Georgia Tech? How did Georgia Tech meet your expectations?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs one of the most rigorous public universities in the whole country, Georgia Tech offered me the opportunity to challenge myself. I\u0026rsquo;m from a less-than-wealthy, small farming family, so finances were the biggest factor. I\u0026rsquo;m also the first person in my family ever to go to college, and I wanted to make a good first impression and to set the bar for those who follow me. Tech proved to be more challenging than I ever expected\u0026mdash;in a good way\u0026mdash;and it offered a multitude of organizations and activities to challenge me.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is the most important thing you learned while at Georgia Tech?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EYou\u0026rsquo;re never the biggest fish. There\u0026rsquo;s always someone smarter, wittier, or stronger than you. At a high-caliber university like Tech, it\u0026rsquo;s important that you become neither complacent nor self-doubtful. Just because I was valedictorian of my class doesn\u0026rsquo;t mean that I\u0026rsquo;m gonna be top student again.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat surprised you the most at Georgia Tech? What disappointed you the most?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech is a lot less nerdy than you think it is. Okay\u0026mdash;maybe just less. But there are so many ways to socialize, have fun, and grow on campus: being Greek, on the student body, in study groups. Whatever!\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI was a little disappointed that many classes and professors were a little harsher than I expected. Yeah, it\u0026rsquo;s not high school anymore. But I think some leeway and empathy from professors is crucial to students\u0026rsquo; success. Without wiggle room, things tend to break.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhich professor(s) or class(es) made a big impact on you? Why?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.biosci.gatech.edu\/people\/chrissy-spencer\u0022\u003EChrissy Spencer\u003C\/a\u003E. She was consistently there for any advice I needed, as well as a recommendation letter for the Peace Corps and future recommendation letters for medical school. She was a constant reminder that some professors are spending their time and resources making sure you can go on after Tech and make an impact.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is your most vivid memory of your time at Georgia Tech?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EStudying abroad on the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/pacific.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EPacific Program\u003C\/a\u003E. Every memory on that program is a vivid today as I lived it then. Specifically the hiking and camping in \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.waitomo.org.nz\/\u0022\u003EWaitomo Caves\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.doc.govt.nz\/parks-and-recreation\/places-to-go\/nelson-tasman\/places\/abel-tasman-national-park\/\u0022\u003EAbel Tasman National Park\u003C\/a\u003E with new friends every week. If it wasn\u0026rsquo;t caving with glow worms or hiking volcanoes, it was bungee jumping and going on in Sydney on a Friday night!\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIn what experiential learning activities did you participate? What was the most valuable outcome of your experience?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI studied abroad on the Pacific Program. It was an amazing experience being in another country, another continent. The cultures are so different, and I learned to appreciate the diversity in the world. I even realized I might not stay in the U.S.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI also had an internship selling books door-to-door for two summers. It would take a book to say what I learned from that; mostly it was how to stay grounded and get off the emotional roller coaster life tends to drag you on.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBeing Greek also was a big part of my growth, because it taught me that it\u0026rsquo;s important to connect to all kinds of people, especially when you might not like what they have to say.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EOn the basis of your experience, what advice would you give to incoming freshmen at Georgia Tech?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ETry new things and activities. College is about experiencing new things and finding what fits you best. Don\u0026rsquo;t stick with just one or two organizations. Try them all! Discover the real you and what makes you happy. You might be surprised!\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat feedback would you give to Georgia Tech leaders, faculty, and\/or staff to improve the Georgia Tech experience for future students?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EMany professors have extra room to support their students. I know professors are so busy, but that extra five minutes to not only give advice on that old test, but also to give \u003Cem\u003Eencouragement \u003C\/em\u003Eon the next one matters. Students experience a lot of emotions, pain, and distress in college on so many levels: heartbreak, deaths, failure. It\u0026rsquo;s easy to forget that students are more than just, well, students.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere are you headed after graduation? How did your Georgia Tech education prepare you for this next step?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EI am going to the Peace Corps to work with child and maternal health. They are sending me to Guyana for 27 months! Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s rigorous training and Chrissy Spencer\u0026rsquo;s astounding recommendation letter have allowed me to be bold enough to go make a difference in the world in ways that will be painful, lonely, and challenging. However, it\u0026rsquo;s the difficult things that are going to make it that much worth it in the end!\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Advice to new students: Try new things and activities"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJeffery Lee Hendrix graduated with a B.S. in Biology. He came to Georgia Tech from Bulloch Academy, Statesboro, Georgia. He is headed to Guyana, with the Peace Corps.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Jeffery Lee Hendrix graduated with a B.S. in Biology. "}],"uid":"30678","created_gmt":"2016-12-20 17:54:11","changed_gmt":"2016-12-20 17:54:11","author":"A. Maureen Rouhi","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-12-20T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2016-12-20T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"585276":{"id":"585276","type":"image","title":"Meet Fall 2016 Graduate Jeffery Hendrix","body":null,"created":"1482256213","gmt_created":"2016-12-20 17:50:13","changed":"1482256213","gmt_changed":"2016-12-20 17:50:13","alt":"","file":{"fid":"223149","name":"Hendrix.IMG_2412.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Hendrix.IMG_2412.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Hendrix.IMG_2412.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":310398,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Hendrix.IMG_2412.JPG?itok=Tom5c5IB"}}},"media_ids":["585276"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA. Maureen Rouhi, Ph.D.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDirector of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECollege of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}