December 1, 2023

My Favorite Academic Classes

I want to share with you some of my favorite academic classes. In EXCEL, I can take classes that are specifically created that can help me and my classmates in different parts of our lives such as health and wellness, exploring career interests and preparing for life after we graduate. I can also take classes called inclusive classes with other Georgia Tech students in areas such as introduction to computing (CS 1301) and information systems and digital transformation (MGT 2210).

Digital Design Methods

The first class I would like to talk about is Digital Design Methods which I’m taking now. In this class, I’m learning about 3D modeling which is done on the Fusion 360 platform. When I first started class, I was having a hard time learning the functions of the platform and the fundamentals of 3D modeling. Also, I didn’t have a tutor during that time. So for my first assignment, I watched a video on how to make a 3D model of salt and pepper shakers and then I read the directions my instructor, Tim Purdy, gave on how to make the salt and pepper shakers. I was able to make my 3D model which you can see on my personal blog on Substack and also pictured on the right. I met my tutor Mandy later on, who helped me out a lot in modeling. For example, she taught me how to use the form function where you can freely shape the model into anything you want. It took some time, but I eventually got it with the help of her guides. Hopefully, I’ll be able to share more models in the future.

Current Events/Social Diversity

My other two classes are current events and social diversity. My current events class is about learning about the world around you and my social diversity class focuses on how people interact with each other and the importance of appreciating everyone’s differences. The reason I like taking these two classes together during the same semester is because I’m able to express and share my thoughts on the social complexity of how we behave in society and how this affects our local and global communities and beyond. Another reason that these two are my favorite classes is because of my instructor Nadiah Blackman. Nadiah is the best teacher because she lets us share our opinions with no judgement and the conversations stay private within our classroom communities. She also tells us stories about the experiences she had before the development of advanced technologies that we now use on a daily basis such as the internet and social media. From her stories, I became more interested in some of the big events she talked about. Then she also makes us laugh at some situations that either were questionable at best or just absurd. I hope for my next semester when I take psychology with her, we will have a similar interaction again.

Those are my favorites classes and the reason I’m sharing them is to give a general idea of what class to pick for next semester for freshmen moving up to sophomore.