{"628682":{"#nid":"628682","#data":{"type":"news","title":"\u0027Illuminate Tech\u0027 Speaker Series to Feature Students","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EOn Wednesday, Nov. 13, graduate and undergraduate Student Government Association (SGA) are partnering to host a new speaker series called Illuminate Tech, where three students will talk about struggles they\u0026rsquo;ve experienced during their college careers and how they have persevered.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe event will be held from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the Student Center Theater.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIlluminate Tech will feature three student speakers:\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cul\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EVivek Garimella, undergraduate student in mechanical engineering\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003ELinda Nhon, graduate student in chemistry\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\t\u003Cli\u003EKantwon Rogers, graduate student in computer science\u003C\/li\u003E\r\n\u003C\/ul\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThrough sharing their personal experiences, each student has a unique message they hope their peers can take away from the event.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I want Tech students to know that they aren\u0026#39;t alone as they work through challenges, and that a bad day, week, month, or year doesn\u0026#39;t have to define them,\u0026rdquo; said Garimella. He plans to recount how discovering certain passions, programs, and people on campus helped him overcome the pressure he faced in his early years at Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe student speakers come from a wide range of backgrounds, which they believe makes it even more important for them to share their stories.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I acknowledge that my position as a young, black, queer male in power is not the persona that many people have the opportunity to learn from and interact with,\u0026rdquo; said Rogers. \u0026ldquo;I want to be the role model that the younger version of myself needed to see when growing up.\u0026rdquo; His talk will focus on turning setbacks into altruism and lifting others as you climb, as guided by his personal mantra, \u0026ldquo;Be great, do great, and help someone out today.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELinda Nhon was also motivated to share her story because of her background: She\u0026rsquo;s a first-generation college student and a Khmer (Cambodian)-Vietnamese American. Her talk will discuss micro-aggressions she has faced as a woman and minority graduate student.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I am speaking because I know that there are other students like myself who have felt invisible and even at times helpless when trying to navigate the unknown,\u0026rdquo; Nhon said. \u0026ldquo;I wanted to share my story to encourage those students to keep going and let them know that they are not alone in their struggles.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EIlluminate Tech seeks to build on the spirit of previous SGA speaker series, including Inspire@Tech and Revolutionaries, which featured faculty members from departments across the Institute. By showcasing students in similar roles, SGA hopes to share previously hidden stories to inspire Tech students and spark conversation around important subjects. \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.calendar.gatech.edu\/event\/627604\u0022\u003EVisit the campus calendar\u003C\/a\u003E for more information about the event.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThree students will be discussing the struggles they\u0026#39;ve faced throughout their college careers and how they\u0026#39;ve persevered.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Three students will be discussing the struggles they\u0027ve faced throughout their college careers and how they\u0027ve persevered."}],"uid":"34946","created_gmt":"2019-11-06 19:53:50","changed_gmt":"2019-11-12 16:35:57","author":"gwyner3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-11-11T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2019-11-11T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"628810":{"id":"628810","type":"image","title":"Illuminate Tech Flyer","body":null,"created":"1573243323","gmt_created":"2019-11-08 20:02:03","changed":"1573486785","gmt_changed":"2019-11-11 15:39:45","alt":"Event flyer for the Illuminate Tech speaker series on 11\/13\/19.","file":{"fid":"239494","name":"illuminate.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/illuminate_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/illuminate_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":215125,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/illuminate_0.jpg?itok=VBxWKHsf"}}},"media_ids":["628810"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/sga.gatech.edu","title":"SGA Homepage"}],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"166922","name":"sga"},{"id":"166923","name":"student government association"},{"id":"167227","name":"Speaker series"},{"id":"171419","name":"Student Speakers"},{"id":"182999","name":"illuminate tech"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:stucomm@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGrace Wyner\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}