Starting Off

Xavier Baisden

Higher education. This phrase has many different definitions for different people. Some define higher education as high school, while others define it as a collegiate degree or even post-graduate study. One commonality with all types of higher education is that they are optional. Each person truly can decide whether or not to further their education, and to which degree they wish to do so. The path for higher education truly can be defined as a journey. Personally my definition of higher education, my journey, involves earning a degree in chemical engineering from Georgia Tech. Although it will be a difficult journey, I along with many others here at Georgia Tech are prepared to pursue our individual paths and where they will take us. As we begin our journey here at Georgia Tech, we know that there will be many ups and downs that we will experience, many highs and many lows, many surprises and disappointments. Although we all come in with high expectations, many of us will experience many disappointing and surprising firsts, such as the first time we will actually have to study, the first time we will have to stay up all night doing homework, the first time we will fail a test, and for nearly all of us, the first time we will be truly independent and reap the rewards and repercussions of all of our actions. All of these will come and we will have to experience them with each other. I feel the foremost aspect of this higher education will be finding out who we each individually are. I have already experienced some of these moments during my experience with the Challenge program. However, I still eagerly anticipate both new experiences and new knowledge of who I am, along with who my peers are. Some of us will change, some of us will not succeed, and some of our paths will not be what we expect them to be, but we all will have our personal experiences. Higher Education: The process of finding out who we are and what we will be. That is my definition, and what I look forward to finding out during my journey into higher education.