{"674403":{"#nid":"674403","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Growing Up at Georgia Tech ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMany students meticulously plan their Commencement outfits, but Courtney Curtis sewed hers.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe Douglasville, Georgia, native got her first sewing machine when she was 9, taking inspiration from her seamstress grandmother. Despite sewing through her finger the first time she used the machine, Curtis kept at it.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I am not someone who gives up or quits. If you sew through your finger once, that doesn\u0027t mean you\u0027ll do it again. Everything, whether it\u0027s a hobby or starting a new project, comes with a learning curve, and if I start something, I\u0027m going to finish it,\u0022 she said.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAround the time she started sewing, Curtis set foot on the Georgia Tech campus for the first time. Attending \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/ceismc.gatech.edu\/\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003ECEISMC\u003C\/a\u003E events and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/expandedlearning.ceismc.gatech.edu\/kidsclub\u0022 rel=\u0022noreferrer noopener\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EK.I.D.S Club\u003C\/a\u003E events, she remembers how expansive the 400-acre campus felt as a child. Over time, it became familiar as she returned often with her dad, who was earning a master\u0027s degree in civil engineering.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022When we were on campus with him, he would study in front of the same big tree on Tech Green. While he studied, I would do my homework, and that spot became one of my favorite study spots on campus,\u0022 she said.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EOn one of her many weekend trips to campus as a high school student, she attended a biomedical engineering student panel and felt an instant connection to the program.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As a high school sophomore, I listened to the panel talk about their experiences, what it meant to be in BME, and everything they do at Georgia Tech, and that was a primary reason why I gravitated toward it. I felt that it fit with who I was as a person, and in hindsight, getting my education here allowed me to pursue my passions,\u0022 Curtis, a John Lewis Leadership Fellow, said.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter graduating, she will join Owens \u0026amp; Minor as an R\u0026amp;D product engineer focusing on medical apparel, combining her interests in sewing and helping others. Owens \u0026amp; Minor was the primary sponsor of Curtis\u0027 capstone project, in which her team created a more inclusive cleaning coverall.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Unfortunately, the hoods currently used in cleaning coveralls don\u0027t accommodate the fact that people have heads and that those heads have hair. That was a glaring complaint we heard, especially from women who wear their hair in puffs or may have braids. Our coverall resolves that issue with an inclusive hood that covers your hair, keeps everything nice and sterile while you\u0027re working, and eliminates waste,\u0022 she explained.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFrom the Flowers Invention Studio to the Salsa Club, Curtis will miss plenty of aspects of campus life, including one that she knows goes against the norm for most college students.\u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022I\u0027m surprisingly going to miss the atmosphere and the vibes around final exams when everybody\u0027s super stressed and scrambling, and you see everyone cramming in the Library,\u0022 she said.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen she crosses the Commencement stage, Curtis will be thinking of all those who helped her get to this point \u2014 her family, the Georgia Tech Society of Black Engineers, the Black Women\u2019s Support Group, the Office of Minority Educational Development, and BME faculty members including James Blumling, Swati Gupta, Melissa Kemp, S. Balakrishna Pai, and Ankur Singh.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"From K.I.D.S Club to the Commencement stage, Courtney Curtis prepares for the final step of her Georgia Tech journey.  "}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFrom K.I.D.S Club to the Commencement stage, Courtney Curtis prepares for the final step of her Georgia Tech journey.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"From K.I.D.S Club to the Commencement stage, Courtney Curtis prepares for the final step of her Georgia Tech journey.  "}],"uid":"36418","created_gmt":"2024-04-26 15:30:23","changed_gmt":"2024-05-02 12:54:33","author":"sgagliano3","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-04-26T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-04-26T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"673867":{"id":"673867","type":"video","title":"Growing Up at Georgia Tech","body":"\u003Cp\u003EFrom K.I.D.S Club to the Commencement stage, Courtney Curtis will take the final step of her Georgia Tech journey in a dress she sewed.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1714146467","gmt_created":"2024-04-26 15:47:47","changed":"1714146467","gmt_changed":"2024-04-26 15:47:47","video":{"youtube_id":"R0d4mwzrwYc","video_url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=R0d4mwzrwYc"}},"673868":{"id":"673868","type":"image","title":"Courtney Curtis Commencement Photo","body":null,"created":"1714146633","gmt_created":"2024-04-26 15:50:33","changed":"1714146633","gmt_changed":"2024-04-26 15:50:33","alt":"Courtney Curtis in front of Tech Tower. ","file":{"fid":"257318","name":"Screenshot 2024-04-26 at 11.36.00\u202fAM.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/04\/26\/Screenshot%202024-04-26%20at%2011.36.00%E2%80%AFAM.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/04\/26\/Screenshot%202024-04-26%20at%2011.36.00%E2%80%AFAM.png","mime":"image\/png","size":2448532,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/04\/26\/Screenshot%202024-04-26%20at%2011.36.00%E2%80%AFAM.png?itok=WSOn51pJ"}}},"media_ids":["673867","673868"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"},{"id":"361651","name":"Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC)"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"},{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"175583","name":"K.I.D.S. Club"},{"id":"249","name":"Biomedical Engineering"},{"id":"411","name":"CEISMC"},{"id":"192072","name":"Flowers Innovation Studio"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"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:Steven.gagliano@gatech.edu\u0022\u003ESteven Gagliano\u003C\/a\u003E - Institute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["Steven.gagliano@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}