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For some people, if you mention the need to take Statistics, they might just look at you with pity as if you’ve been handed a sentence from the judge. For others they might just run in terror.
For Gina Roby, it’s just another day at the office…or classroom as the case may be.
“I’m taking Statistics 21 this semester; it’s required of all business majors. So far, so good,” she said with a laugh.
Of course, less than a month into the semester, things could change. Gina, however, has high hopes thanks to her professor.
“We’ve read the first two chapters on graphs, histograms, and bell curves to start. I like the teacher’s style,” she said. “He basically tells you, ‘You can do this if you don’t freak out. Just stay with me.’ He knows people are scared of math but he is willing to do what he can to help you. If you’re feeling intimidated, there are options right on campus where you can find help, such as tutoring.”
Gina has another one of those intimidating-sounding classes on her schedule this semester — Macroeconomics.
“Just the name sounds scary, but here again the teacher put me right at ease with his opening lecture. He has the knowledge, but he’s not trying to impress you with it,” she said. “I believe he could explain it to anyone and anybody could understand the concepts — macro is the economy of nations, international commerce while micro is economics on a more internal, smaller scale. I think that’s a sign of a good teacher.”
Concepts such as the consumer index and gross domestic product are now just stepping stones to Gina toward a broader understanding of economic concepts — and to top it off she’s looking forward to seeing what comes next.
“Sometimes math and economics can be very intimidating,” she said. “Often I think that comes down to the instructor. They can be intimidating or they can be engaging, and so far I’ve been very fortunate with the teachers that I’ve had.”
Looking back at last semester, Gina completed fall 2004 with a very respectable 3.42, though her goal is always to push herself higher.
“The goal every semester is straight A’s. I feel obligated to do my best; I’ve been very fortunate in having the opportunity that I have to return to school full-time,” she said. “I ended last semester’s Statistics course with a B+, for which I’m very grateful. Gradually I began to realize that I knew what I was supposed to be doing. That resulted in higher test scores and everything balanced itself out.”
In Intellectual Heritage 51 this semester, Gina has been doing a little bit of philosophizing with the likes of the Bible, the Koran, and the works of Socrates and Plato.
“This is the type of studying that I like to do — I could watch the History Channel all day. I like studying the different philosophies of the world,” she said. “I think with globalization and after the events of 9/11, everyone needs a course like this.”
As an older student, Gina said, “I think sometimes I do look at things a little differently.”
“I think the new generation needs to become less alienated from their ancestors. I see how we socially separate ourselves, often without even knowing it, because we look differently or worship differently,” she said. “I think to become more tolerant, you have to become exposed to different ideas, different philosophies. You don’t necessarily have to agree with every philosophy, but you can appreciate them.”
For one assignment, Gina said, students were teamed up into groups and asked what they might do if they were members of the nation’s Homeland Security Council.
“I felt in some respects it was a matter of using the technology that we have available to us today so that federal, state, and local intelligence agencies were all on the same page. Maybe something that tracked who was entering the country, who was entering flight schools, so that it’s not a matter of one branch trying to follow up where the other left off,” she said. “I think some of the younger students still don’t want to think that terrorism can happen here or they think that if it does it won’t happen in their community. They are going to be in charge one day so these are the types of issues that they do have to think through.”
Gina’s Human Resource Management 085 - Introduction to Human Resource Management class ties into the concept of globalization as well, though certainly from a different angle.
“In today’s corporate world, organizations are getting flatter — there is no more hierarchy or job security. You have to polish up your skills and stay marketable all the time,” she said. “On a larger scale, America has to stay competitive in order to maintain their place in the global market. Today that comes down more to selecting and recruiting. It’s more about the right people than it is about the capital.”
Today, Gina said, “to manage any organization, large or small, you have to educate the people that are working for you up to the standard where you need them to be.”
“Training and continuing education has become essential,” she said. “You have to invest the time in your employees so that they can measure up to their fullest potential.”
In many respects, that is exactly what Gina is doing for herself with her return to the classroom.
“If I do everything that is required in any given course, I know that I can get at least a B and probably an A,” she said. “I do not like C’s! I never want to see a C!”
Gina’s keys to success in the classroom: Do whatever the syllabus says, finish your work on time, read all of the assignments, take good notes, and steadily review them.
“In that way, I don’t need to cram, which is good because I’m not a good crammer. I want to read without stress and mediate on what I’ve learned,” she said. “It goes right out of my head when I cram. All it does is give me a headache.”
This is the fourth part of an “A Year in the Life” series featuring Gina Roby. Gina, who lives in Philadelphia, was a sophomore pursuing a degree in Human Resource Management at the timeof the series.
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