Freshman and sophomores picked up ideas on how to improve their college experience Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom from the “Ticks of the Grade” seminar held by the School of General Studies.
The speaker of the event, Joe Martin, a former FAMU professor, took the students down memory lane as he shared his rough childhood experiences of growing up in the projects in Miami. Through sharing his experience with the students, he hoped to encourage them to better improve their college experience.
“One thing I want the students to get out of everything I said today would be to understand they need a strong why,” Martin said “They need to know that having a strong reason and know why they are here in college. They need to never forget the reason why they are here.”
Martin also gave advice on how to not let a professor intimidate them. Martin told the students to think about professors running out of tissue on the toilet as an example to remind them that professors are human too.
Other than coming to hear Martin speak, some students went to the event because their advisers told them it would be beneficial to them.
Jonathan Ferguson, 19, a sophomore psychology student from Miami said he never had any plans to attend the event.
“[My] advisor asked me to come, but once I heard what the speaker had to say I was interested in what he had to say,” Ferguson said. “I would like to learn how to improve my grades.”
Not only were students satisfied with the speaker, but also with Dorothy Henderson, Ph.D., dean of General Studies.
Henderson said she planned the seminar because she wanted to ensures that students are successful in the classes they are supposed to take, and she wanted to make sure the students get the classes they need.
“There are other things to do to make higher grades,” Henderson said. ” The students need to know that the world is not fair.”
Henderson said this is not the first time the General Studies department brought a motivational speaker.
“[The] School of General Studies always have motivational speakers all the time, but we wanted the students to here something different,” Henderson said.