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Alumni Spotlight: Ramson Siblings Make Their Dream a Reality
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Sherri Ramson (IE 2011) and Eric Ramson (IE 2011), a
brother and sister duo from South Florida, recently graduated from the H.
Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE). Unlike most
traditional ISyE undergraduate students, Sherri and Eric decided to make their
dream of earning a college degree a reality after being in the workforce for
ten years. With the support of their
family and each other, Sherri and Eric graduated from ISyE with high honors.
Since graduating, Sherri has been working as a consultant
at Clarkston Consulting, and Eric is a software implementation consultant at
Power Plan Consultants. They both share a common goal for the future: never
stop learning.
ISyE: What prompted you to pursue your
undergraduate degree after being in the workforce for ten years? Was it something you always wanted to do?
SR: I would have
liked to go to college after high school, but it always seemed like an
unrealistic option for me. I come from a family of a single mom with three
kids, and no influential adults in my life had a college degree. Finances were
tight and school was expensive. My mother doesn’t have a degree, but she has an
amazing work ethic and a constant desire to succeed in life. She instilled
those values in me and my brothers, and it helped me to excel professionally. I
worked for a few companies and was always put on the fast track to management.
I came to a point where I was on a great track to make a career out of retail
management. But I wanted more. I wanted something more challenging.
ER: I always
wanted to go to school, but as Sherri stated, I didn’t really have the
opportunity. Although I had a relatively
successful career, I never felt that I was intellectually challenged at my
job. After talking it over with my wife,
then girlfriend, Sandra, we came up with a plan to send me to college. Without Sandra’s encouragement and influence,
I probably would have never gone to college.
ISyE: What influenced your decision to study at
Georgia Tech?
SR: Both Eric and
I were attracted to Georgia Tech because it had the #1 IE program in the
nation.
ISyE: How was it that you and your sibling decided
to get your degree at the same time, and at the same school?
SR: We both had
toyed around with the idea, and then Eric started talking about really taking
the steps and moving to Georgia to pursue a degree from Georgia Tech. The more
we talked, the more we realized how much we could be there and support each
other. I was nervous about going back to school, but when Eric told me I
wouldn’t be alone, I knew this was the time to take the leap or I may never go.
ISyE: Did you both have the same class
schedule? In what ways did you support
each other with your work load?
SR: Though we
didn’t always have the same schedule, were always there to motivate each other.
We each have different skills and were able to combine those.
ER: We always had
a reliable study and homework partner in each other. We each have different
strengths and skills, which made us a great team.
ISyE: How do you think your “non-traditional”
undergraduate experience compares to that of a traditional one?
ER: Our experience was very different than that of a
traditional undergraduate experience. We missed out on the social side of
things, like living in dorms and being involved in Greek life. It had been some
time since we had been in a classroom, and there were many times when we fell
behind in the information needed for the class. The age difference
automatically makes you feel a little different. At first this seemed like a
negative trait to have, but as we got to know more students, we realized we had
a lot to offer them by having some real world work experience. We felt at times
almost like an unspoken mentor.
On the plus side, we were very focused and able to
appreciate the value in learning the material. We viewed the classroom in the
same way we would a work office, and treated it with the same maturity and
professionalism.
ISyE: What was your favorite spot on campus?
ER: The ISyE main
building was near most of our classes where we did most of our studying, and
there was a microwave there.
SR: Juniors was my
favorite spot on campus, and our favorite place to eat. We were always looking for an excuse to go
there. Sadly, it closed.
ISyE: What is your fondest memory of your Georgia
Tech experience?
SR: Graduation day
at the Dome when Professor Chen Zhou walked over and shook my hand, congratulated
me, and wished me luck on my future. That was the moment I realized I did it!
ER: The week
before we started at Tech, Sherri and I snuck into the IC building. We walked around, looked at the classrooms,
and talked about what we thought it would be like to go to Tech. We were both so excited at the opportunity to
go to such a prestigious school.
ISyE: You both graduated with high honors. What do you feel contributed to your academic
success?
SR: Determination.
We both knew how great the opportunity to attend college was for us. We had
both had a challenging path just to get there, and knew that we were setting
the example for future generations. We didn’t want to just get through it, we
wanted to achieve success.
ISyE: What is the most important thing you learned
while at ISyE?
ER: Both of us agree that learning how to handle any
problem presented to us was very important. In ISyE, you are given problems
outside of your scope of knowledge. You have to be able to do research to find
answers, leverage all available resources , and break the problem down into
small achievable pieces. You gain a special confidence after solving a few
problems that seemed impossible in the beginning.
ISyE: What advice would you give to a student
considering coming to Georgia Tech to study ISyE?
SR: Be prepared to
find answers outside of the classroom. The professors give you work that is
beyond what is covered in the lecture, and you have to learn how to research
and solve problems on your own. It’s hard and can be frustrating at times, but
it prepares you to have confidence when faced with something outside of your
comfort zone—a valuable tool to have when starting a career.
ER: Be prepared to
work hard!
ISyE: Can you tell us one interesting thing about
yourself, that you don’t mind us sharing with the rest of the world?
ER: I’m
happily married and the father of a three and half year old daughter , who was
born my second year of college. My
family has served as my support structure; I don’t think I would have done so
well at Georgia Tech if it weren’t for them.
Status
- Workflow Status: Published
- Created By: Ashley Daniel
- Created: 11/02/2011
- Modified By: Fletcher Moore
- Modified: 10/07/2016
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