Houston Hart

Hey there, I’m Houston. I’m a student living in Athens, Georgia, attending the University of Georgia. I went through a very good public school system as I grew up, which I’ll forever be grateful for. I started elementary school a year earlier than most, so I was always one of the youngest kids in my grade. My elementary school was a sub-five minute walk away from my house, so my brothers and I would walk to and from school almost every day. That age was a joyful time in my life as it consisted mostly of playing with my neighbors and playing sports at a very simple, but enjoyable level. Learning at school was not too challenging and was very low stress.

I progressed to middle school which wasn’t the best experience for me. I was young and unaware of what really mattered and got caught up in the middle school struggle of popularity and friendships. School started becoming more difficult and I worked hard to make sure I was getting good grades. I didn’t realize then that middle school grades didn’t matter for much, but looking back on it, I believe my study habits then prepared me for high school.

As I entered high school, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I worked hard in school and tried my best to balance school work with sports and my social life. I did well my freshman year and started to better find my place in the social scene as I entered my sophomore year. Then, spring of sophomore year presented a challenge that most definitely had a long lasting impact on me: Covid-19. The Covid situation severely changed my study habits, motivation, and the way I went about doing my school work on a regular basis. I went through the rest of high school doing the bare minimum and somehow ended up doing well enough to get into UGA.

Coming to UGA, I knew that I wanted to change my mindset on learning and wanted to show a greater sense of appreciation for my education. Since my first semester was a bit of an adjustment period and was very busy, I didn’t focus up on my learning as much as I should have. However, I hope to appreciate my learning as much as I can going forward and do a better job of retaining material so that I’m really getting the most out of my education. My educational route has been an extremely fortunate one and I plan on making the most out of the rest of the time I have as a student here at UGA.