Typically, we interview our college students and alumni and share their stories with you here. In this case, Alexis wrote her own update, which we share with you here in its entirety.
Dear Carver Community,
The past two semesters I experienced this last year at Thomas Jefferson University have been a rollercoaster of emotions due to the current events happening in the world.
Currently, I am a senior undergraduate interior design student with a minor in real estate development going into my last semester at TJU. When the pandemic hit, the life I knew as a college student was altered, and the experiences and lessons I learned throughout those times continue to have benefited me in ways I never imagined. The skillset to adapt that I developed through my educational experience is the greatest lesson I value during the country’s shut down.
In my major, I have developed the ability to adapt and accept changes through the numerous design projects I had to complete these past few years. During the process of completing multiple projects, I needed to continually adapt my design to ensure that my project correlates to my concept and the knowledgeable insight gained from conversations with professors and professionals in my field.
As a result, this ability helped me successfully transition into online learning in just a week without any stress or problems arising with this new learning lifestyle. In response, with this new learning lifestyle, these past two semesters (my junior spring semester and senior fall semester) have been the strongest, as I made the dean’s list for the first time at the collegiate level; and just this past fall semester, I obtained a 4.0 GPA.
With my strong academic success, I received an invitation by the dean of my college and my professors to become a member of the Phi Alpha Chapter of Tau Sigma Delta, a national honor society for architecture and the allied arts. This society consists of undergraduates and graduate students at the top 20% of their class in GPA and recognizes intellectual achievement, effort, initiative, as well as leadership and character.
Additionally, I also received an invitation to join the Gensler University Connect program where I am mentored by two Gensler employees this year to help me improve my presentation abilities both visually and conversationally and guide me in the right direction, preparing me for the professional world after graduation. Furthermore, in the Gensler program, we have also had robust discussions about the ongoing conversation about inclusive design regarding community equity and black lives as the design world strives toward achieving equity in design.
As graduation slowly peeks around the corner, and my time at Thomas Jefferson University dwindles, I am very proud of all I accomplished while being at TJU these past four years. As a discombobulated freshman, I started and faced many challenges of learning new skills and information and getting used to Philadelphia as this new place I call home. Now, I am a strong-minded senior who embraces new challenges.
I am also managing to stay committed to the Campus Activities Board, The Black Student Union, The National Society of Leadership and Success, the International Interior Design Association, and the university’s track and field team for four consecutive years.
I am forever grateful for the beautiful experiences, lessons, and memories I gained at TJU, and I hope it will help me become a great interior designer and real estate developer with time. Upon graduation, I hope to be working for a firm as an interior designer in New York City or the surrounding area, as well as developing my career as a real estate developer, starting with properties in the sectors of hospitality and affordable housing.
I am ready to take the lessons and knowledge gained from my time at TJU and from my professors to tackle problems, situations and opportunities in the professional world.