{"644248":{"#nid":"644248","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Naomi Davis: Behind the Mask","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENaomi Davis is a Georgia Tech student who you may have seen around\u0026hellip; sort of. The second-year business administration major\u0026rsquo;s photo donned in a Tech protective face mask taken this past summer has made its rounds in several campus publications. And, the Institute\u0026#39;s internal image portal lists the photo in its \u0026#39;most viewed\u0026#39; category. Get to know more about the music-lover and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/omed.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EOffice of Minority Educational Development (OMED)\u003C\/a\u003E volunteer.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EQ: Tell us about yourself, Naomi.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;My name is Naomi Davis and I am a second-year student majoring in business administration with a concentration in information technology management. On campus, I\u0026nbsp;am involved with the Georgia Tech Society of Black Engineers, the\u0026nbsp;African American Student Union, and the Sports Business Club. I\u0026#39;m also a member of Heard Atlanta which is a collective for writers, poets, and lyricists.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;I love music and sports; I play tennis and basketball. I mostly write and perform hip hop, rap, and alternative rap music. (My artist name is NTiGer.) I have been engineering music since age six and been writing songs since the fifth grade. I\u0026rsquo;m often asked, \u0026lsquo;What \u003Cem\u003Ecan\u0026rsquo;t\u003C\/em\u003E you do?,\u0026rsquo; referring to my versatility.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EQ: What made you want to attend Georgia Tech?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;I\u0026rsquo;m an Atlanta native and I\u0026rsquo;ve always loved the midtown area. In ninth grade, I participated with a math internship program here [Georgia Tech]. While in high school, I began to fall in love with the campus and knew I wanted to attend. I\u0026#39;m the first in my family to attend a PWI [predominately white institution] for an undergraduate degree.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EQ: What drew you to participate with OMED?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;What drew me to OMED was the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/omed.gatech.edu\/programs\/challenge\u0022\u003EChallenge Program\u003C\/a\u003E, OMED\u0026rsquo;s numerous resources, and the great people who run OMED. OMED also has a lot of opportunities and events throughout the year that are very fun. Everyone in OMED \u0026ndash; from the student participants to the staffers \u0026ndash; is a family and I really like the energy that I get every time I step into the Chapin Building [home of OMED, located in Harrison Square].\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EQ: Tell us about the work you\u0026rsquo;ve done for OMED.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;As an incoming first-year student, I participated in the Challenge\u0026nbsp;Program; that was my first taste of OMED. Challenge was one of the best experiences I\u0026rsquo;ve ever had and I will never forget it. I got to meet so many people and recognized all the support that I would have throughout my time here on campus. I was hired as a Challenge counselor for the 2020 program. Needless to say, Challenge 2020 was very different because it was hosted in July, just a few months after the coronavirus pandemic was announced and the campus went into quarantine-mode. OMED organized the program extremely effectively and safely.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EQ: Your photo in a Georgia Tech protective fask mask taken during the 2020 Challenge Program opener\u0026nbsp;has gone somewhat viral on campus. How do you feel about that?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;It\u0026rsquo;s been crazy! It was opening day and I was just chilling on the steps in CULC [Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons]. This guy, I think his name is Chris, [Chris Moore, Institute Communications photographer] came up to me and asked if he could take a picture and share it. I thought it was just going on the Challenge landing page on the OMED website; I was wrong. People started to send me screenshots of my face everywhere in publications around the campus.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EQ: You opened for Jason Derulo at Homecoming in 2020. How did that come about?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;One of the things on my college bucket list was to perform as part of Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s Homecoming Concert.\u0026nbsp;I had been working on some popular songs, so I knew I could turn people up. I really wanted to take part because I knew I could bring something different to our Homecoming Concert (being a Black woman rapper\/artist). The \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/studentcenter.gatech.edu\/scpc\u0022\u003EStudent Center Programs Council\u003C\/a\u003E treated me with lots of respect and were excited to see my performance. I got lots of great feedback from people after my performance and I would love to do it again.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EQ: What are your hopes for the rest of your time as a Georgia Tech student?\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026quot;My hopes are to meet and network with as many people as I can. With the pandemic going on, this might be a little hard. But still, I hope to gain all the experience I need to be successful after I graduate and enter the workforce.\u0026quot;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA photo of second-year student Naomi Davis in a Georgia Tech protective face mask has gone viral around campus.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A photo of second-year student Naomi Davis in a Georgia Tech protective face mask has gone viral around campus."}],"uid":"34932","created_gmt":"2021-02-15 16:58:53","changed_gmt":"2021-02-25 02:33:35","author":"Courtney Hill","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2021-02-15T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2021-02-15T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"644250":{"id":"644250","type":"image","title":"This photo of Naomi Davis taken during OMED\u0027s 2020 Challenge program has appeared in several campus publications.","body":null,"created":"1613408674","gmt_created":"2021-02-15 17:04:34","changed":"1613408674","gmt_changed":"2021-02-15 17:04:34","alt":"","file":{"fid":"244599","name":"Naomi mask.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Naomi%20mask.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Naomi%20mask.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":386810,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Naomi%20mask.jpg?itok=pmSFpKM4"}},"644249":{"id":"644249","type":"image","title":"Davis is a self-described \u0022sneakerhead,\u0022 who owns more than 20\u00a0pairs of designer sneakers.","body":null,"created":"1613408541","gmt_created":"2021-02-15 17:02:21","changed":"1613408541","gmt_changed":"2021-02-15 17:02:21","alt":"","file":{"fid":"244598","name":"6F971800-2403-4497-803E-83B248EDB34E.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/6F971800-2403-4497-803E-83B248EDB34E.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/6F971800-2403-4497-803E-83B248EDB34E.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":581939,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/6F971800-2403-4497-803E-83B248EDB34E.JPG?itok=_hq3ztEK"}},"644251":{"id":"644251","type":"image","title":"\u0022I hope to gain all the experience I need to be successful after I graduate and enter the workforce.\u0022","body":null,"created":"1613408761","gmt_created":"2021-02-15 17:06:01","changed":"1613408975","gmt_changed":"2021-02-15 17:09:35","alt":"","file":{"fid":"244600","name":"IMG_8632 2.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_8632%202.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_8632%202.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":678173,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/IMG_8632%202.JPG?itok=e-aLLpAT"}}},"media_ids":["644250","644249","644251"],"groups":[{"id":"1313","name":"Institute Diversity"},{"id":"58061","name":"Office of Hispanic Initiatives"},{"id":"1307","name":"Office of Minority Education and Development (OMED)"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"184442","name":"mask"},{"id":"184298","name":"PPE"},{"id":"2511","name":"black"},{"id":"736","name":"diversity"},{"id":"11484","name":"NSBE"},{"id":"4539","name":"aasu"},{"id":"167058","name":"Student"},{"id":"6045","name":"OMED"},{"id":"181875","name":"Challenge Program"},{"id":"4100","name":"challenge"}],"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\u003ECourtney Hill\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nCommunications Manager\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\nInstitute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\ncourtney.hill@gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["courtney.hill@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}