Sofia Zaman and Juan Juarez plan to get married in the spring of 2024. While the young couple initially met working together at Target, it was Sofia’s suggestion that Juan take specific classes at Georgia Highlands College (GHC) that helped them to find a shared interest and topic of discussion.
“As a newer student she recommended that I take Charles Grimm and Rachel Wall for my English classes and I thanked her for that because she put me on to the best English teachers ever,” Juan said.
Juan first enrolled in Grimm’s English 101 class. Sofia said Grimm is an “absolutely amazing” professor whose teaching style makes it easy to understand the material. Another reason she recommended the class was Grimm’s willingness to work with students.
“I always went to him for papers even if I was not in his class,” Sofia said. “I went to him recently about a college application paper I wrote, and he helped me with it.”
Sofia now attends Kennesaw State University (KSU) and is considering attending law school following graduation. She said GHC helped her to grow and take on new challenges.
“GHC helped me learn to be a college student. Going into college straight out of high school Is a huge change and I was honestly very scared,” Sofia said. “GHC is a very welcoming place to their younger students and older students.”
Juan echoed Sofia’s sentiments and said attending GHC has made for positive experiences inside and outside of the classroom.
“GHC has always been a peaceful school for me,” Juan said. “The fact that there is help and resources everywhere is nice, but one thing I notice is that it’s not that hard to make friends here. Whether in or out of class I always find myself talking to someone that I know or am meeting for the first time.”
He plans to graduate in 2023 and pursue a bachelor’s degree in engineering at KSU with hopes of gaining a job or internship.
“GHC is an amazing school,” Juan said. “You really do have friends everywhere here, and they may end up even being your teachers. One thing for sure is to be sure to take advantage of everything you can here and don’t be afraid to be yourself.”
