Outstanding Students

Curtis Graham

Where are you from? I’m from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Why did you choose Kirkwood? I chose Kirkwood because it’s the cheapest college in my hometown, and the only one with two-year programs that help you immediately get into the job market.  Even though I do well in academics, I didn’t want to have four years of college in a highly technical field without any on-the-job experience.

What is your major and how did you choose it? I chose Electronics Engineering Technology because I’ve always been fascinated by how electronic systems work and I don’t believe that knowledge will be irrelevant any time soon, which means pretty good job security.

What has been your proudest moment at Kirkwood? Only one?  I’ll have to continue to think about that one.

What are your plans after Kirkwood? I plan to get my own place, work in the industry and learn as much as possible while doing it.  What young person wouldn’t answer this question in the exact same way though, am I right?

What inspires or motivates you? One of the best feelings in the world is to have a circuit that originally wasn’t working at all finally work after you’ve diagnosed the error(s) by yourself.

Tell us about who you are outside of Kirkwood. I play guitar, watch random documentaries, learn useless facts/trivia and spend time with family in my free time.

What does being named an Outstanding Student mean to you? I would’ve done the exact same thing whether there was an award for it or not.  It’s nice that someone is noticing but I feel as if it is my duty to do the best I can do regardless of what other people see. This is because life is short and, in the end, the only person on earth who can adequately reflect on the entirety of your life is you.

Is there anything else you’d like to add? If you are reading this right now, and college/work is stressful, just know that the more hard work you put in now, the more likely you will get where you need to go in the future.

Categories: Outstanding Students