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Carolyn Cheng Student Highlight October 2018

Outstanding GEW

Student of the Month

October 2018

Carolyn Cheng

GEW Student of the Month for
October 2018:

Carolyn Cheng

 

Carolyn Cheng, from Rachelle Fitzgerald's class, interviewed by Mea Hutson Hall

M: Thank you so much for taking the time to come in and do this!

C: Thank you!

 

M: Just to start off with, tell me a little bit about yourself. What do you want CSUSM to know about you?

C: I’m an Arts & Technology major. I really want to get into graphic design because I’ve grown up with my aunt, who’s a graphic designer, and my uncle, who was an architect but he’s now a dolphin whisperer, and a lot of artists. I feel like I’m really inspired by their work. I wanted to be a Film major for a long time, but I decided to go with a Graphic Design major because I thought it was more broad. I think there are many different forms of expression in this world. There’s visual, there’s writing, and Film kind of captured all of it. That’s why I wanted to go into Film in the first place.

 

M: So there’s still room to expand into that! You’re getting into the School of Arts when there’s a lot of exciting things going on and the program is expanding. It’s not one of our big majors, so that’s really cool. And you have some actual experience in that world, so that’s cool, too. Do you like it so far?

C: Yeah, I love it, although I am a freshman, so I am just taking mostly GEs. I’m taking one VSAR class, and it’s my favorite class.

 

M: That’s awesome! So you mentioned your aunt and your uncle. Obviously, you’re close with them. So where do you come from? Are you from here in San Diego?

C: I’m from by San Francisco, in Marin actually.

 

M: How did you decide to come all the way down here to San Marcos?

C: I don’t know why. I’m kind of impulsive, which isn’t very good, but I tend to trust my gut. When I saw this school, I gravitated toward it.

 

M: You felt like it was the right one.

C: Yeah.

 

M: I get that. And now that you’re here, how are you feeling about your decision?

C: It’s very different from NorCal, like people are a lot nicer.

 

M: Would you say that your life has changed at all in the last two months, since starting college?

C: I would say for sure. I’ve definitely become more independent, and I’ve learned how to cook.

 

M: Nice! Do you have a favorite dish that you like to make?

C: I’m not that great at cooking yet. I can make rice and pot stickers.

 

M: Nice! That’s important. Rice and pot stickers are good! You use the kitchen at The QUAD?

C: Yeah.

 

M: Awesome, awesome. So obviously, you’re feeling that sense of independence, right? Good for you! What do you think of GEW?

C: I actually love the class. I feel like it gives me creative freedom and allows me to express myself. I’m not very good at expressing myself through speaking, but I’m a lot better when it comes down to on paper.

 

M: It gives you a chance to think ahead and revise. A lot of students, when they think of GEW, don’t necessarily think of it as being a creative class, but that was where you went! What has been creative for you so far?

C: I’ve always liked writing, but these classes give you a very broad topic, rather than something very directed. My class is health. We have really broad topics, so we can choose anywhere in the realm of health, like physical or mental, which is really nice.

 

M: What’s your favorite assignment that you’ve done so far?

C: The first assignment. We were supposed to write about a health topic that affects us personally, and I wrote about anxiety.

 

M: So you were able to explore your personal connection and what anxiety means to you. What would you say is the most important thing that you’ve learned in GEW?

C: Being able to contrast two academic articles.

 

M: How about the most important lesson that you’ve learned so far at CSUSM?

C: I think just making connections and bridging people. I know it’s kind of a basic thing, but I hadn’t known anyone prior to coming here. I think that was a biggie.

 

M: And that definitely goes hand-in-hand with what you were saying about independence. I like that you went the direction of life skill, rather than academic skill. Are there any academic skills that you feel like you’ve picked up on, besides what you said about comparing and contrasting?

C: Note-taking. I have to be a lot more concise and a lot quicker with my notes and more

organized.

 

M: As compared to high school?

C: Yeah, because in high school, you had shorter lessons, but they talked a lot more. College is more point to point.

 

M: Do you have any advice for other GEW students?

C: To take their time with the prompts and to really focus on time management and make sure you write out all the dates for sure.

 

M: That’s great advice! I will actually tell my students, “So Carolyn Cheng says . . .” What about future CSUSM students? Like if somebody’s considering whether they should go here or someplace else, what would you tell them?

C: I would focus on the way classes are taught, like if they want a smaller, more intimate class, or if they want bigger lecture hall classes. I really do like the more intimate class. They’re all smaller, and you can actually talk to the teacher and professors and actually get the assignments one-on-one.

 

M: That is all of the questions that I have for you. Pretty painless, right?

C: Yeah!