{"678840":{"#nid":"678840","#data":{"type":"news","title":" Helluva Journey: Graduate Student Reflects on 13 Years and 4 Degrees at Tech","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor 13 years, \u003Cstrong\u003EKantwon Rogers\u003C\/strong\u003E kept coming back to Georgia Tech for more.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMore degrees to earn. More opportunities to teach. More lives to change.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe held six internships at companies such as Amazon, Google, and Intel Corporation, and each time he couldn\u2019t wait to return to Georgia Tech\u2019s campus.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHis experiences at Georgia Tech have made it clear: Education is where he belongs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cEvery time I\u2019ve interned, I didn\u2019t like it, so I came back to school,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cBeing in school for this long has never felt like compromising something else I would rather have been doing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERogers said he\u2019ll walk across the stage Thursday at McCamish Pavilion with no regrets as he receives his Ph.D. in computer science (CS) \u2014 the fourth degree he\u2019s earned since arriving at Georgia Tech in 2011. He also holds his bachelor\u2019s in computer engineering, a master\u2019s in electrical and computer engineering, and a master\u2019s in human-computer interaction (HCI).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat first master\u2019s degree was mandated by his mother, Joan Dennis. She worked as a single parent without a college education in a competitive field in which most people had a master\u2019s.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe second master\u2019s changed his life. Rogers planned to pursue an engineering-based Ph.D. after his first master\u2019s, but he missed the application deadline. He looked for alternatives to searching for industry jobs, and he learned the application deadline for master\u2019s programs was later than Ph.D. programs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt was a blessing in disguise,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cMy background before the second master\u2019s had been in computer engineering. It wasn\u2019t people-focused, and I realized I cared more about people than electrons. Doing my master\u2019s in HCI, I learned what it meant to do research with people in mind and how to design technology with people in mind.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat decision put his research on a new trajectory. When he earned his master\u2019s in human-computer interaction, he knew the Ph.D. he wanted to pursue. Accepted into the CS Ph.D. program, Rogers worked with former School of Interactive Computing professor and chair Ayanna Howard, who is now the Dean of the College of Engineering at Ohio State.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHoward still advises Rogers along with School of IC associate professor \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/rail.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESonia Chernova\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E. Rogers found a niche research field within human-robot interaction and built his dissertation around the ethics of robots and artificial intelligence and whether there are acceptable situations for a robot to lie to humans. For example, what should a chatbot tell a child if it is asked whether Santa Claus is real?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 2023, Rogers became a finalist in Georgia Tech\u2019s Three Minute (3M) Thesis Competition in which graduate students compete to explain their research in three minutes. He successfully defended his dissertation in November.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EStudent Teacher\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERogers hasn\u2019t lost touch with the new waves of incoming students over the years. Thousands of current students and Georgia Tech alumna know him as an instructor of the Computing for Engineers course (CS 1371), a CS course required for engineering majors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s the same class Rogers took his first semester as a freshman, and it became one of his favorite undergraduate courses. A master\u2019s degree is required to teach the course. He inquired about becoming an instructor when he knew he would return for a second master\u2019s.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERogers remembered the first day he taught in front of hundreds of students as his best and worst day at Georgia Tech. He taught the class in the morning, and later that day, he learned his mother unexpectedly passed away.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt was a very conflicting time for me,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cBeing able to teach the class helped me get through my mom\u2019s death. I poured everything into it and tried to do everything I could to help students and be selfless the way my mom was toward me and my sister.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERogers said he wanted the class to be more than a requirement for engineering students to learn the basics of coding and computer programming. He saw it as an opportunity for engineering students to think differently about CS. He said some students have told him they switched their majors to CS because they took his course.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI get to be the first exposure a lot of students get to computer science,\u201d he said. \u201cThis class has 700 to 1,000 students every semester, and being able to have that kind of impact is very enticing.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere\u2019s never been a time since I\u2019ve been teaching it when I didn\u2019t look forward to it. Every day, I wake up excited to teach.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEven when pursuing his Ph.D. consumed much of his time, he saw teaching as an outlet rather than a hindrance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMultiple people have told me to stop teaching because it doesn\u2019t get you a Ph.D. For me, teaching has always been the fun part. There\u2019s more in life than research, and teaching was an important counterbalance.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EStaying Connected\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h4\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERogers has also never been one to stay in a comfort zone or cut himself off from campus life. In addition to teaching CS 1371, Rogers has lived on campus throughout his time at Georgia Tech. As a grad student, he has been a resident advisor at Smith Hall and Hanson Hall, which house first-year students.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019m up to date on all the slang that comes out,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cIt helps keep me relatable. I know what it\u2019s like being a freshman taking this class, not knowing college, not knowing yourself, being confused. They\u2019ll be going through problems in their lives, and I\u2019m able to help them because I\u2019ve been through some of the same things.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERogers said his career goal is to become a university president, but what\u0027s next in the immediate future is still up in the air.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe\u2019s applied for postdoc positions and hasn\u2019t ruled out returning to Georgia Tech in that capacity. He may also teach CS 1371 one more semester in the spring while he sorts out his plans. However, he\u2019s treating this semester as his last and preparing his goodbyes.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI don\u2019t know what emotions I\u2019ll feel,\u201d Rogers said about attending the Ph.D. graduation ceremony Thursday. \u201cI\u2019ll let myself feel whatever I want. Throughout this process, I\u2019ve been delusionally proud of myself for everything I\u2019ve done.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EKantwon Rogers has spent 13 years at Georgia Tech. In that timeframe, he\u0027s earned four degrees and taught as an instructor for the Computing for Engineers (CS 1371) course for eight years.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Kantwon Rogers is set to receive his Ph.D. in computer science, which will be the fourth degree he\u0027s earned from Georgia Tech"}],"uid":"36530","created_gmt":"2024-12-11 18:56:14","changed_gmt":"2024-12-12 14:17:59","author":"Nathan Deen","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2024-12-11T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2024-12-11T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"675831":{"id":"675831","type":"image","title":"208A9900.jpg","body":null,"created":"1733943431","gmt_created":"2024-12-11 18:57:11","changed":"1733943431","gmt_changed":"2024-12-11 18:57:11","alt":"Three students sit at a table laughing.","file":{"fid":"259502","name":"208A9900.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/12\/11\/208A9900.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/12\/11\/208A9900.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":98798,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/12\/11\/208A9900.jpg?itok=BFLGQ5RM"}}},"media_ids":["675831"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"50876","name":"School of Interactive Computing"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"193157","name":"Student Honors and Achievements"}],"keywords":[{"id":"40171","name":"fall commencement"},{"id":"68621","name":"doctoral graduation"},{"id":"629","name":"graduation"},{"id":"40181","name":"fall graduation"},{"id":"175425","name":"georgia tech graduation"},{"id":"120531","name":"georgia tech graduate"},{"id":"172161","name":"GA Tech Ph.D. student"}],"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\u003ENathan Deen\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommunications Officer\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Interactive Computing\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["ndeen6@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}