Embracing a Growth Mindset: Mireille Umulinga, Akilah Class of 2020

We couldn’t be prouder of the way our students and faculty have rapidly pivoted and adapted to distance, online and blended learning modalities in the past year. They have embraced the opportunity to learn new knowledge and skills, and are now thriving in the new normal.

We recently caught up with Mireille Umulinga, Hospitality & Tourism Management student, Akilah Class of 2020, to hear how she overcame challenges by adopting a growth mindset.

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What challenges did you face when studying online?

Studying online was so much fun, but it came with challenges that I did not anticipate. The biggest challenge was managing my time between school work and my personal life. During the first few days it was hard not to get distracted with home chores or my siblings, but I created a group with my classmates and we would remind each other of what classes we have and any pending assignments. That helped a lot and I ended up creating a timetable to follow, which enabled me to find more balance in my days.

Another challenge was doing group assignments. In school, we were used to sitting in a group and working together, but with online classes we couldn’t meet in person to discuss. This was hard to get used to at first, but now we have mastered it and we set up a time that works for all of us to do group discussions and assignments.

How did your instructors at Akilah help you to overcome those challenges?

Akilah helped by creating a timetable that worked best for us. It wasn’t overwhelming and we managed to cover all of the coursework as it was initially planned if we had been on campus. Also, we were provided with different platforms that we could use to communicate with both our instructors and colleagues. Those two main things helped us a great deal!

Being able to continue studying while schools were closed helped me to stay sane. It would’ve been very hard to be at home without being engaged in anything. I am so grateful to have had that opportunity to learn online because I know there are so many people out there who are not able to study.

How did Davis College and Akilah foster a sense of community while students were away from campus?

Davis College and Akilah feels like a home to us. Immediately after the Covid-19 pandemic hit in March, we thought that we were going to stop studying because it was going to be very hard to get internet connectivity for some students or even tech devices. We started receiving calls from Davis and Akilah staff asking us how we were doing and if we felt okay to opt in for distance learning. They provided tech devices to all students and we all received internet connectivity. To me, that’s a community that I am super proud of!

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