His appearance influences others to view him as a stereotypical Africa American but his academic success proves otherwise. “I’m based on first impressions,” said Christopher Augmon.
“People tend to think I’m just another delinquent when in reality I’m pretty smart, (just) don’t tend to show it.”
When Augmon came to Stagg his junior year he still struggled to control his anger, the cause for his transferring from school to school.
“I got into six fights in my first semester my freshman year.”
His actions were the consequences of recent relocation and family conflicts.
“I’ve had a lot of home problems,” Augmon said. “Me and my family don’t get along.”
He feels he was never disciplined and that his upbringing has a lot to do with his anger and difficulty succeeding in school.
Having lived in the Bay Area, Augmon didn’t have any motivation to go to college but his SAT score of 2000 sparked an interest in furthering his education.
And not just test scores, but his impressive abilities were soon noticed and addressed by teachers.
Math Department Chair Andrew Walter was one of the first to recognize Augmon’s intelligence when he gave his Algebra 3-4 students a problem to solve in class.
“While everyone was punching it onto a graphing calculator, Augmon just looked up at the ceiling and answered it to the second decimal point.”
Another teacher who has witnessed Augmon’s intelligence is biology teacher Marcus Sherman. It was last summer during summer school.
“I had a short answer question about ATP formation and I expected students to give a simple answer but he gave me a long detailed college level answer about phosphorylation and bonding,” Sherman said.
Since then Sherman and Walter have acquainted him with the University of the Pacific.
Having teachers’ support and guidance has persuaded Augmon to want to go to college.
“I’m getting my work done now and I’m doing it cause I gotta go to college,” Augmon said. “I can’t go to jail. I can’t sell drugs.”
But even someone as intelligent as Augmon who acknowledges the wrong choices in life has conflicts getting what they want.
The thought that his high aspirations and advanced test scores wouldn’t be enough was one of the hardest conflicts he had to face.
“I thought it was going to be easy,” Augmon said.
Nobody ever really took anything away from him for him to realize the difficulty it would be to succeed in high school and even harder in college.
Walter acknowledges Augmon’s struggles, “his past environment keeps him from being focused. It has given him some limitations.”
Some of those limitations involve finances and not having the right courses for college completed.
He continuously battles to keep good grades and good attendance. Augmon falls back on what he calls “little kid problems,” old habits that create obstacles in his path towards success.
His primary interest besides school includes his motorcycle. Augmon feels most comfortable when he rides; it is like his home, a place where his life flashes through his mind.
Another reason why Augmon enjoys having a motorcycle is because he views it as a culture.
A lot has changed since he first stepped foot on campus.
He plans to attend UOP and he recognizes his flaws. Now instead of using violence to release anger, Augmon has his motorcycle.
“Do your homework! People tell students all the time that they should do their work because you don’t wanna regret 20 years down the road that you could have done better in life.”