The Observer, December 7, 2007
Volume XL, Issue 13
Student Profile: Demetrius Colvin
click to enlarge
Demetrius Colvin is a third-year student who seems to do everything around campus. In addition to his major in international studies (pre-law) and three minors in Russian, theater, and history, he's involved in everything from Footlighters to USG to Residence Life.
Katie Chioran: What made you choose Case?
Demetrius Colvin: After talking to a bunch of people, it seems like the big popular answer is the money kind of drew them here. You get the literature from all types of places, and I got some from Case, and my counselors told me to apply. So I started to read up on it, and I started to really look into it, and I liked the fact that it's far enough from home to make me feel independent, but it's still close so I can go home. It seemed like the smartest decision.
KC: Did you know your majors going into college?
DC: I was dead set on doing history, and I knew I was going to do Russian because I had taken a Russian class at Carnegie Mellon the year before. I wanted to do theater because I've been doing performing arts since…1952. I knew I wanted to do those things, but I didn't know exactly what order. The nice thing I like about Case is you can do a bunch of stuff: there are no separate school entries, so once you're in, you're into everything. It seemed like there was a lot of flexibility. So I just felt my way through and saw what I liked best.
KC: How have you been balancing all those activities with your classes?
DC: It's definitely been a learning process. Freshman year, I thought I could do better, but I'm not that bad off. And then sophomore year was bad. You get your harder classes and you start going into higher-level major classes, and just something about sophomore year in general just seemed more difficult. You keep on thinking, "I'm going to learn from my freshman year," but I really didn't. So this year, seeing that stark contrast and knowing I can't go back to that again, I really have to put academics first.
KC: Do you have any suggestions for exam studying?
DC: Don't wait until the last minute. I know what you're thinking, but I think part of the good thing about college is that it is a time to learn how to learn, if you know what I mean. I've learned that I really absorb things from texts better instead of just hearing it, so I really start to take notes or writing things down or looking up stuff on the Internet that I didn't quite understand from the lecture.
KC: What's your favorite thing about Case?
DC: I guess my favorite thing about Case is its individuality. I like how everyone is their own person, but at the same time, you can be in groups. In other schools I've been to, it's really clique-ish, almost like the 13th grade of high school.
KC: What are you looking forward to the most over winter break?
DC: Seeing my friends. I haven't seen them in a while. I've kind of made Cleveland my home, which my parents aren't too happy about, but the last time I went home was over the summer for about a week, so Case and Cleveland are pretty much my world. Also, I'm looking forward to seeing my family and helping them out. It's so frustrating to be away and hear about situations going on and knowing you can't do it all and be everywhere at once.
