UNG alumnus John Dees decided to take charge of his academic future at the age of 33.
"To be perfectly honest, I had gotten really off track in my 20s," said the 2015 University of North Georgia (UNG) alumnus.
He had dropped out of high school, and only had a GED and good SAT scores. After a brief first stint at college, he worked a variety of jobs. After overcoming struggles with substance abuse in his late 20s, he spent four years in his first career working for a manufacturer of custom toolkits for military, government and industrial customers. But, at age 33, he decided to change the direction of his future and pursue a degree at UNG.
"I had a lot of professors who saw that I worked hard and took time to cultivate me and gave me a lot of special attention," Dees said. "They helped me find skills that I didn't know I had. My experience at UNG allowed me to see what was possible."
He credits most of his academic success to his professors, including Peggy Strickland and Dr. Anastasia Lin, who helped him realize his writing potential. Strickland is a former professor of English, and Lin is assistant vice president of Research Engagement at UNG.
For three years, he served as a tutor in the Writing Center, which allowed him to develop a meaningful relationship with the UNG community and realize his desire to teach.
He enrolled as an environmental spatial analysis major, a program that combines the use of geographic information systems and mapping to analyze environmental data while taking space into account, because of his inclination to work for the benefit of the environment.
"As I dove into it, I realized how much this was being utilized and thought that it was probably a really strong career path with a lot of growth," he said. "I think I initially chose it because it made a lot of practical sense. There's a lot of hiring going on in that field."
He also appreciated the interdisciplinary flexibility of the program. Through this major he could take courses ranging from environmental studies to law and philosophy. The broad experience prepared him for his graduate studies at the University of California at Berkeley.
"It prepared me for the graduate program that I'm in, because I was exposed to a lot of things besides mapping," he said. "I just finished my master's degree in energy and resources, and I've just completed my first year of my Ph.D., also in energy and resources. I'm starting my second year soon. I study renewable energy politics and policy."
Ideally, Dees hopes to complete his doctorate and become a professor. He wants to help cultivate successful students, just as he was during his time at UNG.
"I learned that I was capable of a lot more than I originally thought I was. UNG was a good place for that," he said. "It (UNG) gave me a space to stretch out and realize what was possible."
