Anne Arundel County Public Schools, MD AVID Achievers, 16 Nov 2021

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From YouTube: AVID Achievers: Stories of Success featuring Dayvon Cuffey, a former AVID student

Description

Former AACPS student talks about how AVID has helped him in college

A

Hello and welcome to avid achievers- I am your host dot areta coordinator of avid this season on avid achievers. We will be joined by avid teachers from across the county, who will be interviewing their former avid students in their college settings. These interviews will help us to learn more about local colleges and see what skills these avid students from aacps are putting to use in the college setting. We hope you enjoy these interviews.

B

Hello, my name is jennifer ballard and I was the avid site coordinator at glen, burnie high school and now I'm an avid elective teacher at north county. I am your guest host for avid achievers today today. We're excited to be joined by davon, who is a glen burnie alumnus davon. Thank you so much for being here today. Can you start by introducing yourself and telling us what college you're attending.

C

Yes, my name is davon cuffy. I attended glen burnie high school from 2013 to 2017..

C

Currently now I am I'm finishing at mercy college in new york, dallas ferry, but I've I took a little a little route, so I went to la coleman, college and williamsport pa there's a couple of people from globally. That actually goes there now and then I went to aacc anne arundel county community college and then I finished that mercy where I'm currently at now.

B

Okay, that sounds like a journey. I hope that you can tell us about that in a little bit. um First of all, let's take a step back. Tell me about your elementary middle and high school, which schools did you go to so.

C

Elementary um if you went to glen burnie north county, any of the surrounding schools, north county glen, bernie battle, the bona bars every year right next to each other. So far, I'm not sure I went to point pleasant, I'm pretty sure. If you're at north county or glen brown, you can relate to north uh element, um point pleasant elementary, but middle school. I went to marley middle and same goes for that. You can relate to either one.

B

All right cool and how long were you in the avid program.

C

I was in an abbott program for about five years, including my eighth grade year at marley, and it's crazy because for avid you had to start sixth grade, but they allowed me. I knew the teacher real well. She knew me real well and not because I was a good student at the time, but because I was more so coming from becoming what I am now from being at one of the head cases, kind of thing you know, so she let me in and ever since then it just. It was just something that helped me through.

C

My through my career in high school.

B

Now, what made you want to join avid at the middle school level.

C

So for me like abbott for me, I I had a couple friends in avid and they would tell me what they would do sometimes and then you would think I didn't join until eighth grade so six to seventh grade. It wasn't clicking for me, but once it clicked avid was more. So it was a preparation, like all of our hall monitors, all of our honors students were inhabited.

C

So I'm like all right. So there's one thing in your schedule that I don't have on my schedule, so it must be making a difference so and the teacher was really she was outgoing. She was first one in the hallway in the morning you're walking down the hallway she'll, tell you to walk she'll, stop you and tell you why you should walk so it was more so like for me. I I enjoyed getting that that, even though it wasn't just me that she talked to that way, I enjoy getting that personal confrontation every morning.

C

So for me I was imagining what it would be like in her classroom, and I also had a tech, ed class right next to that at the classroom and they seemed like they were doing more than that. Sometimes so.

B

Now was your um avid teacher, miss anderson.

C

Mr anderson yeah.

B

Miss anderson's a classic she's, the one that actually got me into teaching avid.

C

Yeah, miss anderson was definitely my. uh She was my ever teacher, um but miss anderson. We actually our family has a history. So my whole family's went to marley from my dad to me to my oldest sister, I'm the youngest so to my oldest sister. We brought with marley. Mrs anderson knew everybody like she knew all of us, so that also helped me reel in to have it like. She would be the one to stop me and be like. I know your dad like.

C

I will call your dad and I'm like you're, saying she ain't gonna. Do that like no need for that.

B

That's awesome, um so it sounds like you had a great experience in the middle school. What do you remember the most thinking back at your high school level, um with your avid class.

C

High school level it was avid for me, was one of the classes that I can go to and be free and not be free as and do what I want to be free, as in I don't have to sit and write notes. I mean there came times when you had to do that. It was more hands-on. You know it was more hands-on. We were on a computer, a lot not on a computer playing games on a computer, filling out things for the future, helping to prepare for the future.

C

So for me having a high school, like, I didn't, really know about college or anything like that until my sophomore year. So when I was coming up in high school, like I was more so thinking, let me get this degree. That's the only degree. Let me get this diploma, that's so that's what you know. My family preached kind of thing. You know, I'm being me being a first generation college student too. You can understand why they preach the diploma. That's the first thing they preach for me.

C

So when I first found out about this college, it was like I wanna. I wanna see what it's about. You know like no one.

A

Else can tell me their.

C

Experience from where I'm from so let me let me, go and be able to be the one to tell experience about.

B

Okay, so it sounds like you learned a lot about college during your high school years. Is there anything that you learned in avid as far as like skills or strategies that you've used throughout your college experience to help you academically.

C

So one thing that I just mentioned that you didn't really have to do, but you did have to do it with more of a homework for us. You know taking notes you had to take notes. You had to fill out notes and bring back the classroom with the class we did before. So for me, that's something heavy that I took to my my college experience. That's something that helped me along the way like when I was sitting avid. There would be some time I'm like.

C

Why are we filling out notes like what are we doing notes for like this in the class? I do notice in every other class, but the notes in the avid class and the notes in your regular class like for math, I said you're taking math notes in every class you're taking strategic strategical notes, so it it prepared me to be able to not only take notes, but in a different way. I had many different ways, so if I couldn't get it this way, I got it this way.

C

If I couldn't get this way, I got it that way. So when it came to strategy that definitely helped me with that.

B

That's awesome and you mentioned that you've been to three different schools. So when you were you're a senior in avid, um you know naturally avid seniors, they spend a lot of time on college applications and letters of recommendation.

B

um Looking at uh like financial aid and scholarships, what made you decide on lycoming what stood out for you about lycoming to go there so.

C

Lyco, for me, was a liberal arts, so in other classes, when I did my research about liberal arts, I think it was actually an assignment. We had to do research, one of the schools that you want to attend. But for me it was liberal. Arts were well-rounded, you know, so you can get your degree in whatever you want to get it in, but you're still going to take them. Science classes them everything.

C

You need to take science, math, history, everything so for me, michael when I seen liberal arts and I'm like basketball too, I'm like yeah. Definitely I can definitely go. Do this.

B

Okay and tell us a little bit a lot about uh lycoming: where was it located? Is it a big school small school.

C

So lyco was probably the equivalent size, maybe a little bigger than glen burnie itself, but it was in williamsport pa people will tell you it's the country when you're driving towards the country, but just like you go out north county glen burnie and you got richie highway right there. It's the same thing. You got everything on that one strip. So for me it was so so to me it was kind of the country because I didn't know anybody around there. So I couldn't just pull up to the neighborhood goes to my school.

C

I know go somebody's house, I know, and you feel me chill with them. Talk to them, hang with them play games with them. The same thing I did in high school, but it got to a point where you could do that, because also I like that off campus housing and off-campus housing at lyco was the same housing as regular people.

C

It might be a college student living to a limited to a 60 year old, grandmother or a family of four. You know so. For me, lyco and I visited. I went visit a live code. They had a football team, it was just like a perfect fit for me. Coming from glen bernie football team, basketball, team, volleyball team, anything you could think of that. You had to do.

B

And why would you recommend visiting college campuses um before making a decision.

C

You have like it's it's it's. You must visit a college camp before you attack, like that's a must, unless you're going to a community college where you're staying home if you're staying on campus, you must feel you. It's a must because for me lyco, I kind of knew like college. Where I wanted to go because of the athletics I knew who the coach was. I met the team before I came to the school, but before I went to live call I did a couple other business too.

C

So when I went to lyco as soon as I stepped on the campus, I didn't hear it. I didn't have anything the coach said to me as soon as I stepped on campus. I was like this could help.

C

This could be the place for me like this could be the place for me so visiting a college campus is important because you get the you get to see what you're around like, for instance, I was born in the city raised in the county, so it's two different like counties really the country to the city, you know so. For me, it was like a mixture of both, but I got to see that with my own eyes, rather than somebody telling me I had people texting me.

C

The team texted me the whole time like it's a good school bro like it's a good place to be, but I had to see it for myself like and that's anything you do. You got to see it for yourself before you just jump in.

B

That makes a lot of sense. um How long were you there and then why did you transfer to um the community college here.

C

So I was at like coming for a year, um I'm not I didn't transfer for any academic reason. It was more so basketball. Like me just following my basketball journey. At that point I was a freshman going to my sophomore year. My coach had left and my coach was pretty known. He coached team usa, so he was pretty known so once he left.

C

He didn't tell us until the end of the year, which I understand he didn't want everybody to do what I did you know so once he told us I was kind of last minute too. I was like that's why I went that's kind of the reason I went to aacc. I was last minute, so it wasn't like I was sitting in my dorm room. I like hold typing the application for other places.

C

I came home and I was like I sat in my room and it was just like what's the next step for me like what's the next step, so eventually I built up the courage I met. I I emailed because you know some older people, my coaching acc is pretty old, so older coaches, don't do the whole text thing so I had to email them. I let them know hey like I'm coming out.

C

How are you doing good afternoon coming out to tryouts um whatever your child is just, let me know, conditioning whatever it is, so I showed him that I wanted to be there kind of thing. So another thing this, like I'm thinking I'm gonna say, is when I left my first school, the new coach came in and he actually came in um interviewed like the players. I had three other players from baltimore interviewers told us about him, told him about himself. I would love to have you back kind of thing and I'm just like coach.

C

I just don't feel comfortable going back to life hope right now, because when I committed there it was not only the academics but for the coach that was there at the time. So when I committed there- and I left- I was like coach- I appreciate the offer- I just don't feel I just don't feel right going back there and for me the best.

C

I wasn't playing a lot too, like coming from a school where I played 36 minutes and 36 36 minutes in a game going to play in two minutes three minutes in every other game. For me, it was more so like I was losing my never my love for the sport, but I was losing what I put into it over the years. So for me come back to aacc. I knew I'd be home more like just more more more more comfortable.

C

That's what I'm use comfortable, just more comfortable being in my my safe zone.

B

Okay and describe your time at um asucc, so how long were you there? um What was it like? Just you know, driving to campus? Did you attend anything on campus, like student events other than your basketball games? What was your experience like.

C

So, yes, I attended a lot of events um so aacc. I was at acc for a year just a year, um but that goes into transferring as well. So if I would have went to acc the first two years, I would have been good after my sophomore year. May I end I would have been out, but because I transferred not every credit transfer from my first school now, every credit transfer there's some schools from a liberal arts that people don't understand, but there's some schools from liberal liberal arts schools that different colleges don't take.

C

Liberal arts are kind of like in their own section. You know so. When I went to acc I had. I had a lot of transfer credits a lot, but when I went to acc it was two credits: maybe that didn't transfer or two credits. I was behind on that. Maybe I took at lyco, but they weren't good enough for aacc standards. You know to get associates at acc, so once I transferred acc, I had a summer course. I had two summer courses. They were excelled, so I was there from may 15th. I think we ended.

C

I was there from may to july 12th once july, 12th came my associates was in my hand, you know so, but other than that I attended. Volleyball games, soccer games, baseball games, I mean student events, seminars, everything and it wasn't because I felt like I had to at all. It was more so because acc like it's like that, that's a place that makes you it really makes you feel at home. So if I know I'm going home at the end of the night land in my bed I'll stay at campus long. If I need to.

B

Now you said that um lyco was a pretty small school and aacc has really developed over the years. You know we there's like um two different campuses: almost where, like there's a road that you have to drive through or a bridge, you can walk across. So um how could you compare that to liko in size with aacc.

C

uh It's it's kind.

B

Of uncomparable.

C

Like glenn bernie, even that glenn bring until my junior year, I I've seen a new face. Every day kind of thing I went to liko every face, I've seen walking to class. At the same time, I'm all in the class like literally it was like. We was all in the same time frame. I want the class at 10 55. I see somebody walking that class 10 55. It was all the same, but when I went to acc like ac's, are pretty people don't understand it's a pretty big school.

C

When I was there, they were just starting to development. They were just starting it. So when I was walking in the gym there would be construction fences all the way around now in that the construction area that they were building, there's a building there. Now you know so for me, acc. I seen a new face every day, whether walking the class walking to and it might have been people. I knew like throughout the county, like aacc you'll, see a lot of people that you know like that.

C

You know a lot of friends that you see like throughout the county that you won't even think they go to acc. You know I walk in the library I had. Somebody checking me out that I was close friends with you know, so that was the size. Comparison is major, but when it comes to aacc like if you're from glen burnie, you don't know anything outside of glen burnie, no other high school, you don't know about anybody from other northern high school, then you'll be it'll, be like you're at a division.

C

One college, like you'll, see a new face every day, but for me I knew I knew a couple people you know. When I went to aacc on the basketball team. I was playing with people that I used to play rivals I was playing. I was playing with rivals that I had in high school at acc, but we still made it work, so it was good to see that bond to form, and I still talk to all these dudes to the same day like I.

C

I live on the water, for instance, and I just had all these guys coming down. We were fishing on a period the other day.

B

That's awesome cool, um so tell me about your the school that you're currently attending um like where is it located um size wise? How does it relate? Is it small, medium, large.

C

If you look up on google as large okay, but that's because we have a lot of commuters, so we only got two- and this is what I'm saying like it's so like this- is it might get confusing here but mercy the school I'm attending? Now we had two college dorms, just two. They were big, but it was just two and and off campus. We had off campus too. We had off-campus housing, 15 000 students, but there were a lot of commuters the what was it called the train. I don't know what was called the subway.

C

It ran right through my like my school had to stop for the subway, so.

B

Like the light rail.

C

Yeah it compared it be compared to light rail, but it's called the. I can't remember the name for it. I never took it. I never took it, but I had my car up there. I was blessed to have my car up there, but I never took it, but it was compared to light rail. You know so, and we had um shuttle buses too. We had shuttle buses, pick kids up drop them off, but compared to compared to aacc in my first school mercy was big but mercy.

C

If I had to compare it to something, it would be my first school because I still see the same face every day. You know I still see the same face every day. The only time I see a different face is when I went to the library, maybe or in a class, because you got a lot of commuters.

C

Fifteen thousand students. Maybe five thousand live on campus, you know so it was pretty small, but it was. It was bigger at the same time like our gym. Wasn't too big, our gym was probably the same size as glen brown, but games would be packed. So you know people that, like t like even teachers, teaching like I'm coming to see you play today, we're like all right cool, like you know like come on like.

B

That's nice, so it seems like it has that small campus feel um where is it located? The.

C

Albus ferry new york, so people consider upstate, I'm not from new york, so I don't consider that upstate, it's 30 minutes from manhattan. I consider that new york, the big apple.

B

Okay and um when you were living on campus, what were some of the things that you like to do there like? What did it have to offer students.

C

So I mean they got trails, mercy has trails, they have bike riding, like literally like I don't know if anybody's been to the city. But if you go to the city, you got the scooters. Now now you got the school. That said you can rent. We had bikes, you can rent, um you got. We had bike racks for your personal bikes. There was a gym right under the college dorm they had, they would play things like freeze tag. You know like they would have earphone parties.

C

That's when you have when you listen to your own music and earphones. You have a party outside we play manhunt like we didn't, have a football team, but we had soccer. Our soccer was number like top in our division. Soccer games were lit. We had off-campus housing right down the street. We had a gas station if you needed to walk right. Next to us, we had a high school, actually there's a couple people that came out of that high school too, like pro players now, but it was pretty, it was pretty cool.

C

You had a pool um and there's another thing. I wasn't there this day. I wasn't there. I was late coming up because I had to get my car had to get a key made for my car pop smoke came to our um our school and performed at our school.

B

Wow, that's awesome and you missed it, because what did you lose your key? What happened.

C

It was o key. I had a mercedes, so the key is like chip, so it wasn't working. I get a new key put it in and start it up. So I was kind of mad. I missed it, but.

B

Okay, so thinking about lyco um the community college and mercy. What has been one of your, like favorite college memories to date or college experiences to date,.

C

I got too many of them. Favorite color experiences just chilling with my team, not even my team, but challenges with the people. I knew like at the college just me meeting new people like there's people. I met that I talked to today. You know like, but if a favorite college experience I gotta go with.

C

Probably I like to eat me and my team will always get together cooking eat or we would get together in the cav as a team. We go to the cafe so probably that.

B

What has been one of um like the hardest transitions that you've experienced in any one of your three schools um going either to a different college or from high school to college? Your first year.

C

C

This is so like basic, but for me, as long as ball was there, I don't care where I went so. The hardest transition was me for me was moving moving packing everything up on cue and I'm last minute on everything. So every time I moved for college, whether it was going to my first school whether it was coming back home from my first school going to the second coming back home coming back home the next year. It was moving so that for me that probably had to be the hardest transition.

C

um I never really. I was more. You could probably testify to this. I was more outspoken, always outspoken, you know, so I never really had a problem meeting new people. um People would be like. Where are you from like when I was in new york cause you sound like you from down south I'm like maryland, I'm not down south but to new yorkers maryland is down south, so the hardest transition for me was just adapting to to the new atmosphere. um That I mean.

C

That's it I mean school is cool. You know you you're going to get the same as you not. The same, but you won't get assignments you're going to have things turned in a different way. That's probably from high school is the biggest adaption for me because in high school you know I can tell the teachers like look.

C

How, like my night, wasn't the best or I didn't understand this. I didn't understand that and I'll sit down with you help you do it before. If you come in early to help, you do it before class starts, but in college they don't want to hear none of that. It's in it in college.

C

You turn it online, you don't you don't handle physical paper into the teacher unless they ask for it, and that's probably been three times out of my and if, if they ask for three times including if they ask for it, you have to turn it off online first and then go print it out and bring it to class kind of thing. You know, so the hardest transition for me was definitely moving.

C

um I live with my great grandma, so leaving her that's also another reason I came back to acc to be with her for a year um because she got fir. She got hurt the first year that I moved out taking the trash out, which was my job when I was here so definitely moving leaving my grandma things like that. That was, that was the hardest transition for me.

B

Okay, well, that makes a lot of sense um now, why don't we switch gears for a minute and talk about what are the differences with the demands of being a college athlete versus a high school athlete.

C

In high school, it's more so if you want to be here be here in high school me, I failed. I failed to get in the gym after practice hours I mean I was working a full-time job too, but I failed to get in the gym at the practice hour, but in college you get scholarships.

C

So there's no ain't, no job ain't! No excuse to why you can't do it. If you be here at this time, you know I hate it running still hate to this day, but I gotta do it. If I gotta do it, you know to play ball, you gotta run still hate it. So in high school you know you can miss a practice. You know be out for practice and you you might get a little consequence, maybe running up and down a sprint in college. It's a business so they take it as a business.

C

So, if you're missing, if you're missing, if you're missing practice, you're not playing the next game and while you're not playing this game and you're not playing that practice, so my coach, if I miss the practice, the next practice that I can't if I came late, get on the sideline- give me give me this this this and it's something that you didn't want to hear. Basically, I always like the workouts lifting look. You start over there first matter it wouldn't even over there. First, you do this working with the team.

C

First then see me right after you got some more work out now to do you know, but for me um the difference like like I said in high school: it's if you want to be there. If you want to be there, if you're talented enough to be there in high school, you can be there, you can be there eat whatever you want, go to see baptizer, but in college it's a whole different ball game.

C

Everybody was you in high school, everybody was a top athlete in high school and you get recruited, then you're a top athlete. So everybody was a top hat top athlete in high school. Everybody had what you had. So it's not you just you're, not fighting for planning time you're fighting for a position over another guy. You know so that it was it was. It was a major transition major because another thing, too is my coach was real cool with the weightlifting coach.

C

So he would give us a schedule monday, wednesday, friday get in the weight room. If you don't get in there I'll know, I've tested it out a couple times, not not only me, but teammates have tested it out a couple times. You know test it out, not go! That's cool like all right bet. You don't go to you, don't go to work. Weightlifting, see me after practice. You know so and- and that makes you more it disciplines you that's what it did for me, and I mean I can see it in my teammates.

C

That's what it did for them too. It disciplines them. You know. So it's a lot more discipline and high school itself. High school is a lot more self-discipline in college. You get disciplined like if you were a kid and you did some wrong time out. You get disciplined there's! No, if it's a butt about.

B

That's good to know um so you love ball. That's totally obvious! um What are you majoring in school for like what do.

C

You hope to do I plan on going into criminal justice. um I got two more classes, two more classes. I have a science criminal justice major after that I plan on going into not not right away. um I'm gonna take my time going into it because it'll be my career, so I wanna, I wanna, make sure I'm ready because it's a dangerous job at the end of the day, so I wanna make sure I'm ready to go in there. Maybe do some more research myself. You know, maybe shadow shadow officer. Anything I'm not sure.

C

I don't want to be a po. I wanted to be a police officer, but it's getting dangerous, so I I think I'm going to probation parole, which is kind of the same thing more. So it's like a daycare for older people. You know or people that just released, you know getting them back into the community and then not only that, but it's for more for me. The reason I want to do it is because I'm young myself 23, you know so there's a lot of guys. 18 18 you go to jail.

C

You get charged in as adult. So you get charges if you were 21, you know. So that's a lot of guys that could use reaching out to you know to change their life around different things like that, and I really don't see myself doing anything else, but that because, like I said I failed sixth grade, I had to do it myself change my life around. That's what I'll help! That's. Why else money pushed me to do it? That's what my own motivation! You know so.

B

So, with the criminal justice background, um you hope to become a parole officer.

C

Yeah parole probation, I mean, if I can do both I'll do both, but if not parole, probation they're the same thing so either one. I think it's something anyway,.

B

Okay and what inspired you like, why are you interested in that.

C

So, even if you like my grandfather, for instance, he passed away 18 december be 18 years. We use the so I live right by the water right by molly creek. Anybody. Can anybody from around knows what that is. I like right by the water, um I always see fire engines go down, fill their tanks with water or go spit their water out whatever it is. So once I've seen that I've seen the lights, I'm like that's what I want to do so at first it was a firefighter you know, but I'm like growing up.

C

I'm like. I can't see myself going no burning building like I just can't see it. You know. Unless I have to as a cop, you still have to do it. So then I change the cop. You know so top for me. Is it's dangerous.

C

You know and like people don't have regards nowadays well somebody has to do it, but maybe me eventually, but for me I want to do probation because you have to start somewhere in criminal justice to move anywhere. You got to start from the bottom to move to the top, so I want to start probation, parole and then maybe go into fbi somewhere around that lines.

B

Nice um well, davon. I wish you the best of luck this year finishing out your last two classes. um Thank you so much for taking the time to be with us today and please join us next time when we learn about additional college experiences and how avid can help students prepare for life after high school.

A

Thank you for joining us today on avid achievers join us next time to meet some more avid graduates in their college settings.

C