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Sandy Springs
resident Jon Jones and Chattanooga resident Judith Miller never
intended to enroll at Dalton State, especially because both had
already graduated from a college in North Alabama.
But Jon, who earned a bachelor’s degree in communications, has
since decided to pursue a career in pharmacy. His girlfriend
Judith, who has a B.A. in Accounting, has decided to come back
to school to become a math teacher. And because each of them
needed to take about a year’s worth of prerequisite courses to
be able to enter those graduate programs, the couple decided to
take a look at Dalton State.
“I used to pass Dalton State on the interstate when I would go
home to Atlanta from college in Alabama,” says Jon. “So we
decided to come up for a campus tour to find out more about it.
We came up and an admissions recruiter, Matthew Queener, took us
around, and gave us the history of the school. That tour made a
wonderful first impression.” |
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That impression was so good that Jon, 26, and Judith, 25, enrolled
last fall and have become enthusiastic advocates for the type of
education they’ve received here.
“I feel like this school is a diamond in the rough,” says
Judith, who hails from Ontario, Canada, and who originally came
to the U.S. on a student soccer scholarship.
“This is a place where you can really achieve what you want to,”
she continues. “It’s a small school, but that’s not because of
the size of the student body. It feels small because the faculty
members are so interested in your success.”
One of those faculty members, Dr. Geoff Poor, took the time to
help her master a mathematics concept that she was struggling
with well after normal working hours, and that spirit of
helpfulness is what spurred her on to work as a tutor in the
math lab.
“What I’ve learned working in the math lab is that I love
knowing that I’ve helped somebody understand math concepts or
helped them do better on a test,” Judith says. “It’s the best
feeling ever. I look forward to being in the classroom with high
school students and helping them learn to love math.”
Jon has also found the faculty to be a notch above instructors
he’s had in the past. “I used to hate upper level math, but in
Calculus I, Dr. (Tim) Hawkins made it as fun as possible. He has
made that subject easy to learn.”
Another advantage he’s found is that the class size is much
smaller than his alma mater’s, which contributes to the feel of
an intimate campus setting. “You’re not a number here like you
are at some schools in Atlanta,” he says. “That’s why I decided
to come up here.”
The hour-long commute from Sandy Springs to exit 333 has not
dulled Jon’s enthusiasm for Dalton State. “I’m actually going
against the traffic, so the commute hasn’t been bad,” he says.
“I am more than willing to drive the extra way to come up here.
“I tell everybody I know that Dalton State is a challenging
school that will treat you well. This school is solid. I tell
them that you have to go there to find that out, but if you do,
you will love it.”
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