PSFA Student Q&A: Abraham Kinghorn

As we enter the fall ‘21 semester, the College of Professional Studies and Fine Arts wants to know what students are up to. Read how Air Force ROTC’s Abraham Kinghorn is adjusting to and reflecting on a new and very different school year.

by Gabriela Romero

September 27, 2021

1. How has your perspective on in-person learning changed since the pandemic began?

By the end of the spring 2020 semester, my perspective on online learning was a scenario in which we as students were being challenged to continue our studies in the face of a national pandemic along with adversity. I’d like to say now that online learning isn’t as challenging as I had originally thought, yet something that takes getting used to and understanding to become fully effective.

2. What did online learning teach you about your learning style and time management?

Online learning taught me more than I would have ever expected and things about myself that I feel I needed to learn. An able and willing student has to always be willing to adapt not only to learning styles but professors’ requests, like number of assignments, typical due dates for assignments, and so forth. As for learning style, very few if any were accustomed to online learning, so the adversity brought about change within everyone. For me personally, I’ve become more focused during online interaction due to learning habits, I’ve also learned to set a high standard for myself off the bat as not to fall into bad habits. Time management was surprisingly easier to handle than expected, as the routine travel time to and from campus was mitigated within the shift to online, making it relatively easier for students to handle larger workloads if they were able to take on the larger amount of classes.

3. What is your favorite part about being on campus for classes?

My favorite part about being on campus for classes was (and is) getting to see SDSU’s campus filled with so many students again along with the social interaction of meeting new people. The experience during COVID-19 taught me that I was as much an extrovert as I was an introvert, so I was extremely cheerful to see and meet so many other students not only from the area but from all over the state, country, and world getting back to in-person instruction!

4. What has been the biggest challenge or adjustment you have experienced this fall?

Managing my time - having adjusted my schedule to zoom university, I now have to readjust back to in-person courses. While in zoom land, it was very easy to shift from an online Air Force training class to another, or from one SDSU class to another, as it was as simple as changing zoom links within the comfort of your room. With in-person instruction, adaption has certainly played a factor, and now find myself shifting my calendaring system from a planner to fully virtual, and carrying lots of equipment, textbooks, and electronic devices from one class to the next. With all this, I now find myself factoring in travel time, time to ready myself as far as clothing and overall preparation goes, as well as completed the assigned tasks before heading to class or from one class to another.

5. How are you setting yourself up for success this school year? What resources or techniques are you using?

Having tackled more than I could chew, my calendaring system was due for a change and I found this out quite early on in the semester. Within the COVID-19 era, a desk calendar was sufficient as you were at your desk all day during lectures, training, and other events. Now in-person, a student or Air Force cadet finds themselves all over the place throughout your typical weekday. With that, my desk calendar would no longer suffice and I shifted to a fully electronic calendaring system. I purchased an Apple watch and synced all of my calendars (Canvas calendar, work calendar, and Gmail calendars) to both my cellphone and apple watch to have my daily schedules literally on my wrist! The online calendar made my schedule significantly easier to cope with being able to tell the activities within any ROTC or school day and be able to plan accordingly with time in advance.

6. What are the perks of your school schedule?

All of my classes are in person! Luckily, I was able to fit all of my ROTC training, SDSU classes, and meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays which makes my schedule infinitely easier to handle knowing the mass majority of my activities fall on these days. My current schedule also allows for me to continue working Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays to be able to pay the bills along with rent! I would say to any student looking to make their schooling schedule easier, plan your classes to fall on certain days and allot time for yourself to take mental breaks/study/eat between classes - it surely has made my schedule that much more beneficial to myself!

7. What is your favorite place on campus?

Without a doubt, my favorite place on campus is the third floor of the library on the northwest section of the building. There are many neat studying areas there to “loose-yourself” in, and be able to focus on your studies, school work, or even take some time to yourself. The vintage books that are racked on the floor and next to you while studying give you the feeling of entranced studies, as if you’re in the library conducting research like a professional or schoolwork just like any college student would and this feeling only enhances my love for the study area.

8. Do you have any faculty you would like to shout out for going above and beyond to make your online or in-person experience especially valuable?

I’d like to shout out to all of the faculty at San Diego State for continuing to teach and enhance the lives of all of the SDSU students during a national pandemic - their work certainly doesn’t go unnoticed. As far as certain faculty that has gone above and beyond for me personally, Ashley Knuckels-Cuevas taught me about the importance of mental health and promoting ones’ self to take mental health breaks. Thanks to Ashley, I continue to take time to myself for mental health breaks and it has noticeably decreased quite a bit of stress I face in day-to-day life. I would also like to shout out all of the Air Force ROTC cadre members (who are active duty Air Force personnel) who have enabled us as cadets to continue doing our job even during this pandemic, who have continued to teach us lessons that will enable us to serve the Air Force and our country better than ever imagined, and have gone above-and-beyond to allow us and support us in our pursuits and dreams of becoming future officers for the United States Air Force.

The content within this article has been edited by Lizbeth Persons.

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