By Isabelle Zhu/reporter
NE student Sisi Kang woke up at 5 a.m. She put on her black sportswear, grabbed some fruit and rushed to her car. She drove to Watauga to work out at 6 o’clock.
“After you work out, you feel really positive and increase your metabolism,” she said. “I feel that it makes you sleep better as well.”
Then, she dressed up, put on her backpack, picked up her bass guitar and drove to her 8 a.m. class.
“Every day, my schedule is very busy,” she said. “My classes start one after another. Sometimes, I just have a 10-minute break in the middle, so I just try to manage it better. It’s just really important because it’s not only that you are in college, you need to manage your time, but also after you finished college, you need to do that to move on with your life as well.”
Since coming to TCC as an international student from China, Kang has filled her days with trying to achieve her music ambition as well as being a leader in NE Campus’ Phi Theta Kappa chapter.
“It is hard to balance social, work and study at the same time,” she said.
She has a calendar to keep track of her time every day.
“The first important thing is that you know how to control and manage yourself, such as managing time, emotion, etc.,” she said. “I really love my phone because if I don’t have my phone to tell me where I should go or what my next schedule is, I won’t be able to make it.”
Kang has been to college before, but because of her dream, she chose TCC to start her musical journey.
“It’s a really amazing platform for me to learn because learning is such a great experience,” she said.
Hsinyi Wang, Kang’s music professor, said Kang was comfortable walking in and out of both the Asian and American cultures.
“It’s really fun to see how she just immerses herself in this new culture and environment but never once loses who she is,” Wang said. “She is balancing both so well, and you just see this new Sisi coming out of there, which I think that’s quite amazing.”
Because the education system is different in America, Kang was almost lost after she came to TCC.
However, she would never waste a chance to improve herself.
“I just always wanted to work hard because I feel that we are young, and we have assets to do a lot of things,” she said. “Why don’t we do the best because we only live once.”
She is a student in TCC’s Cornerstone honors program. She is also interested in filmmaking and production lines.
“My original interests are to do events management, music festivals and write music from movies for different scenes,” she said.
As an international student, Kang became NE’s president of the Phi Theta Kappa honors society.
“I’m really grateful to all the officers and advisors that I’m here today,” she said. “I’m the new president not only because of myself but also because of all the people who helped me and encouraged me.”
Cesar Baltazar, former NE PTK president, said he looks forward to seeing what Kang will accomplish this year.
“Sisi has a great personality. She’s going to take Phi Tau Chapter really far,” he said. “She has a really strong base on who she is, what she wants and how she wants to help others.”
Kang joined Phi Theta Kappa in October 2016.
“The most important thing for new students, if they want to be successful, is to really be careful of their GPA to establish themselves,” she said.
Students need to have at least 12 credits hours and a 3.0 GPA to be a lifetime member of PTK.
“PTK is for those people who want to achieve better and have fellowship to grow and learn together,” she said. “PTK also provides bunches of scholarship opportunities. A lot of universities will provide PTK scholarships.”
As an international student, Kang has to pay a lot more tuition than other students. However, she solved this problem by her own efforts.
“It’s very interrelated that if you do this one, you maintain the GPA, you apply for scholarship, you apply for financial aid, then eventually everything’s going to work out,” she said.
She suggested TCC students make a plan for their academic life.
“The reason I joined PTK is because when I was doing the orientation here, the very first chance I met a TCC student was Rebecca Reyes who was the president in PTK, and she was so welcoming to me,” she said. “She introduced PTK and the campus to me. I feel that at least I know somebody here. I’m not alone.”
She started to go to every meeting, to pay attention to everything and to get involved.
“I think that’s the first thing you need to do is that you need to do the action,” she said. “You need to want to find more information. You need to take more initiative.”
She also suggested students not only gain knowledge but also be a better self.
“I feel community service is so important,” she said. “Our lives are not just for material things or money. That’s not going to make you happy. If you achieve something, if you do something for other people, it’s going to make you happy as well.”
