Georgia Highlands College student Josie Maddux, of Trion, pulled a leaf from her family tree in a creative approach to the final project of her Latino Literature class while wrapping up the semester remotely this spring.
The daughter of country music singer/songwriter Derry Maddux, from the country music duo Buck and Duke, Maddux teamed up with her father to set some of her favorite poems from the course to music and posted the videos to YouTube.
“I knew that I wanted to do something music related for this project because music has always been what has inspired me the most,” Maddux said.
Maddux selected poems she felt were inspirational and related to her personally.
“For instance, ‘The Rose’ by Gabriela Mistral has a very beautiful story, referring to one’s heart as the rose, saying to keep it open and scatter it everywhere,” she said. “We loved this poem because that is how we try to live our lives as well.”
Maddux is majoring in Psychology and attends classes on GHC’s Floyd site. She said she chose to take Latino Literature because she is interested in other cultures.
“This whole course has been truly intriguing. I love the fact that we were able to have a project-based learning experience,” Maddux said.
Georgia Highlands College moved to remote operations in March. Maddux said this change has not had a negative effect on her experience as a student.
I’ve enjoyed going on that adventure with my dad and being able to learn in a way that interests me,” she said, adding that, “If you’ve been hesitant about doing (classes remotely), don’t be. The GHC staff is amazing, and they do everything in their power to make your experience go as smoothly as possible.”