A&S v4.0: Christine Elizabeth Hickman

Christine Elizabeth Hickman is one of six students from the College of Arts and Sciences to graduate this spring with a straight-A average. A French major, she took time from the final days of her University of Colorado experience to answer five questions. Here’s what she had to say:



1. Does academic success come easily to you?

I wouldn’t really say that academic success comes easy to me, because like all things in life, everything takes time and effort. Throughout my undergrad career I have put time and energy into each class that I have taken, not because my parents told me to and not because I was focusing on the grades but solely because I was there to learn. I wanted to get as much out of what I was paying for, and through that came academic success.

2. What was your most rewarding experience at CU?

This question is hard in that I have hand many rewarding experiences at CU. I have loved the four years that I have spent on campus as well as the time that I have spent abroad. I think, however, that the most rewarding experiences that I have gained and that have shaped me as a person were the semester I spend with a French host family in Rennes, France, as well as my student teaching experience with a wonderful cooperating teacher at Southern Hills Middle School this past semester. Through both of these experiences, I was able to gain in inside perspective to learning as well as teaching through hands-on practice. When I was in France, for instance, it was very much a sink-or-swim situation in that I had to apply all that I had learned in a real-life living situation in a foreign country. What seemed like a scary experience at the beginning quickly turned into a life-altering expansion of my knowledge of the French language as well as of myself. As I look at the semester spent at Southern Hills, I see that the experience has in a similar way allowed me to learn and grow in my academics as well as in my understanding and growth as a person. In my opinion, it is through these experiences that one gains more perspective and understanding not only about the world around them but also about themselves. Therefore, I grant these two as the most fulfilling among many other wonderful experiences I have been able to be a part of during my CU career.

3. If you had children about to go to college, what advice would you give them?

I think the first piece of advice that I would give to my kids as they headed to college is to experience life as much as possible and to find a balance in their lives. College is about learning new things and having the freedom to chase after your dreams.  Therefore, I would make sure that my kids took advantage of that before the seriousness of a job and money and life began. I would make sure they experience all they can whether it be like I did through traveling or whether it be through their involvement on the CU campus and/or with friends.  They need to be able to find their own balance between classes, friends, studying and just enjoying life, and I would encourage them to find that for themselves.  I would also encourage them to be themselves and to do what moves them and what is inspiring to them personally.

4. How will you translate your academic success into success in other areas of life?

Throughout my undergraduate career, although I have had academic success, which has been wonderful in that it has allowed me to learn a variety of things and has also opened doors for the future, I would also say that my focus throughout was to take that success and apply it to other areas of my life. Ever since the beginning of my freshman year at CU, I really wanted to become active on campus and decided to become a member of any and all honor societies that I was invited into. As a result, this allowed me to expand my horizons and meet new people as well as become a part of volunteer activities in Boulder. I was also able to gain a leadership position (president) for the Golden Key International Honor Society and thus take steps in expanding the society as well as my skills as a leader. My academic success also has allowed me to create a personal balance in my life between work, school, honor societies, volunteer activities, friends, and traveling. This all has enriched my life and my experience over the past four years, and I hope to be able to continue that in the future.

5. What do you plan to do after graduating?

After a lot of thought and consideration and planning and thinking, I decided to let it all go and follow my heart and let my gut and heart lead me toward my future path. I decided to take a teaching-English job that I applied for in Bordeaux, France, for next year so that I can expand upon my understanding of the French culture and language.  I also hope to travel to other countries to continue my world view.  After a year of teaching English in France, I am seriously thinking of attending Middlebury’s French Language Master’s Program in Vermont for the summer and then an academic year in Paris, France! I am very much looking forward to the experiences that I will be having and I hope that they will shape me in a positive way, just as the last four years at CU did.

We asked these five questions of all our straight-A students, and the articles on each are linked below. The ace students comprise:

Brittany Ann Bilderback, International Affairs
Christine Elizabeth Hickman, French
Stacy Danielle Killebrew, Psychology
Tyler Drake Menge,  MCDB
David White Silver, Economics
Lindsay Michelle Talbot, Humanities

May 3, 2010