FOSSI: Could you share a few highlights about your first few semesters at Hampton University? Has anything surprised you about college life so far?
During my freshman year, I did not expect to not have a roommate in my dorm room, but it was great to have my own space! Certain buildings on campus close at certain hours such as the student center and the science and technology building. I thought the student center would be open 24/7 because that’s a common area for people to lounge, socialize, and work. Since the student center isn’t open all night, sometimes my friends and I hang out in the 24-hour room in the library.
Furthermore, I didn’t expect to have a curfew during the first semester of my freshman year and I'm also not permitted to visit other dorms on campus until fall semester of 2022. On the bright side, I went to a couple of parties on campus with some friends. Some other events I attended were The Sophomore Class Election debates, Homecoming, Open Mic Night, Parents Week, and a few football games. Recently, I went to H&M, Green Turtle, and a movie theater in Peninsula Town Center with some friends. I’ve been meeting a lot of people on campus and building good relationships with people in my department and in my classes.
FOSSI: How are your studies going – what are the biggest challenges and what do you like most?
I had some language barriers in Physics and Calculus 2 last year and currently for Linear
Algebra and Differential Equations. It was also a challenge to get enough sleep last semester and during my first semester. My hardest classes this semester might be Differential Equations, Physics lab 2, Circuits Analysis 2, and Circuits Analysis Lab 2. My easiest classes are probably Linear Algebra and Health Education.
Last semester, my favorite class was Digital Electronics because it discussed some signal processing concepts that occur in computers, which I’m curious to learn more about. During Spring Semester of 2022, the easiest class I had was Intro to Structured Programming and I learned to utilize MATLAB, which is another programming application.
FOSSI: What extra-curricular activities are you enjoying on campus?
During freshman year, I participated in the Hampton Players, which is a theater/acting organization, and I curated background music for a podcast. During the fall semester of 2022, I participated in Partnership for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) and I listened to students with STEM majors give presentations on their research projects.
In addition, I volunteered at a PREM event to help high school and middle school students use their critical thinking, creativity, and engineering skills to build (fake) prototypes of weapons inspired by the Black Panther movie. My friend and I guided, encouraged, and supported a group of kids with their prototype designs and prototypes. We had fun connecting with the kids. As a reward, me and other undergrad volunteers were given free movie tickets to watch the new Black Panther sequel, Black Panther Wakanda Forever.
FOSSI: Tell us about your experience at your internship with a FOSSI sponsor company.
The tour around the Hopewell Plant and understanding some of the processes involved in the production of nylon material was very interesting. The steps it takes to produce this material are very complex based on many pipes I’ve seen around the plant. The breakfast meet and greet at the Advansix headquarters was very nice and it was a good way to ease in employee introductions and discussing a typical day on the job from engineers and technicians, to chemists and environmental lawyers.
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