{"642080":{"#nid":"642080","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Timothy Weiler: Nontraditional Student Makes the Grade  ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETimothy \u0026ldquo;TJ\u0026rdquo; Weiler, 43, was a nontraditional student with an unusual educational background. He graduated over the weekend with a Georgia Tech degree in civil engineering with a focus on structural theory.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWeiler, whose hometown is Athens, Greece, grew up traveling the world with his parents, who were engaged in missionary projects. As a result he did not get a chance to regularly attend school. When he was in his thirties he decided he wanted to get a proper education and become a structural engineer.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I began my academic journey by getting my GED, enrolling in community college, and teaching myself basic math,\u0026rdquo; he said. He worked his way up to advanced engineering classes and eventually transferred to Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I am beyond grateful that I was accepted into Georgia Tech, the number 1 college for civil engineering in the country. It\u0026rsquo;s truly been a dream come true,\u0026rdquo; Weiler said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHis time at Tech overlapped with his nephew, Derek Weiler, who graduated last spring with a degree in computer science. His niece, Cherish Weiler, has a master\u0026rsquo;s degree from Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHe said that any time he would tell someone he was at Tech, they would ask if he was a professor. His reply? \u0026ldquo;No, I\u0026rsquo;m just a very old student,\u0026rdquo; he laughed.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAnd although he is relieved to be completing his degree, he will miss the intense academic challenges he faced \u0026mdash; and overcame \u0026mdash; at Tech. He, like his fellow students, also had to deal with the isolation caused by the pandemic. \u0026ldquo;There certainly was a lot more stress involved, even though I did not want to admit it at the time,\u0026rdquo; he said. \u0026ldquo;I missed the interaction with my classmates, and group projects were not the same on BlueJeans. The regular group dynamic was really missed.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EBut Weiler persevered. He said he was most looking forward to hearing his name announced during the ceremony.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWeiler, who has a background in construction, will pursue a career as a structural engineer.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Student continues his academic journey and earns a degree at age 43. "}],"uid":"27713","created_gmt":"2020-12-14 13:35:41","changed_gmt":"2020-12-14 14:06:23","author":"Victor Rogers","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-12-14T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2020-12-14T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"642082":{"id":"642082","type":"image","title":"TJ Weiler ","body":null,"created":"1607954042","gmt_created":"2020-12-14 13:54:02","changed":"1607954079","gmt_changed":"2020-12-14 13:54:39","alt":"TJ Weiler sitting on the ground","file":{"fid":"243937","name":"FB_IMG_1607554177805.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/FB_IMG_1607554177805.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/FB_IMG_1607554177805.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":106076,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/FB_IMG_1607554177805.jpg?itok=E5ByjWtp"}}},"media_ids":["642082"],"groups":[{"id":"1317","name":"News Briefs"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"627","name":"commencement"},{"id":"186439","name":"Timothy Weiler"},{"id":"1897","name":"Civil Engineering"}],"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\u003EVictor Rogers\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["victor.rogers@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}