He’s not a daredevil, exactly, but Jaeden Gbaba would happily go whitewater rafting or skydiving. In quieter moments, you might find him building a rocket. At his most relaxed, he’s reading sci-fi or an adventure novel such as “The Count of Monte Cristo.” This classic by Alexandre Dumas, originally published in serial form in the 1840s, is one of Gbaba’s favorite books. It tells of a sailor falsely imprisoned in an island fortress and his revenge against the men who framed him; its melodramatic plot is threaded with humor.
“It makes me laugh,” said Gbaba, a first-year Stephen Joel Trachtenberg Scholar in George Washington University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS). “I find it interesting that a book written so long ago can still make me laugh.”
As you may have guessed, Gbaba is open to discovery and surprise. During his first visit to the GW campus, as a junior in high school, he was one of several students brought to Foggy Bottom by Coolidge High School English teacher Jay Glassie, B.A. ’06, in partnership with the Animal Legal Education Initiative (ALEI) at GW Law. Before an audience at the Jacob Burns Moot Court Room, Gbaba and his team described their research on the effects of human infrastructure on animal habitats.
That visit sparked Gbaba’s interest in returning to GW as a student. A counselor encouraged him to apply for admission through the Stephen Joel Trachtenberg Scholarship program, named for GW’s 15th president who launched the program in 1989, which covers tuition, room and board, books and fees for academically talented students from D.C. schools.
It was a “shocker,” Gbaba said, when the GW mascot and camera crew showed up at his high school to deliver the good news. In fact, he first thought a classmate had been chosen.
“I didn't think it was me, to be honest with you,” Gbaba said.
The award couldn’t have come as a surprise to teachers familiar with Gbaba’s exemplary academic performance in high school, where he excelled in class and was active in extracurricular pursuits. Among other achievements, he was a director of the African and Caribbean Student Union (his family is from Liberia), team captain of a robotics club, and member of the swim and soccer teams. He also volunteered with Tree Fredericksburg, an environmentally conscious group, and Hazel Hill Health Care Project, a nonprofit provider of health services to low-income patients.
His environmental interests extend to space. In the future, Gbaba hopes to develop systems to help satellites avoid damage caused by orbital debris—in lay terms, space junk circling in the skies. This debris can be anything from a fleck of paint to an entire satellite that is no longer functioning; even the tiniest bit can disable a working satellite.
Gbaba occasionally joins his father, Jacques, a grad student in the Elliott School, for study sessions in Gelman Library. (William Atkins/GW Today)
Circling close to home
Gbaba’s father, Jacques, is also a GW student, working on a master’s degree in international policy and practice in the Elliott School of International Affairs. He also holds an M.S.W. and has been doing social service work for 17 years. Father and son occasionally meet to study together in Gelman Library. While grateful for Jaeden’s opportunities and proud of his success, the elder Gbaba says he is not surprised by it.
“He has always done extremely well,” Jacques said. “A lot of my siblings have master’s degrees, and my dad has a Ph.D., so he comes from a family that values education. He’s very independent, and he’s always focused.”
Jaeden’s independent streak has helped him adjust to college life. He’s been affectionately teased by friends and family members for being a “nerd” who was always a bit of a loner before coming to GW, where he has been surprised to find how much he has in common with classmates.
“I think I've actually had like a complete personality shift since coming to GW,” Gbaba said. “I’m trying to branch out and do the opposite of what I would have done in high school. And it’s working out for me so far.”
He’s making friends and enjoying life in his triple-occupancy room in Guthridge Hall. He is close with the other Trachtenberg Scholars in his cohort, often joining them to study or socialize. By coincidence, two of them share his given name, Jaeden, though they spell it differently. One pleasant surprise, he said, has been meeting peers with similar goals.
Gbaba relaxes in his room in Guthridge Hall. (William Atkins/GW Today)
“I have big dreams for myself,” he said, “and it’s nice to see other people who have similar dreams and the drive and the discipline to get there.”
His interest in science and engineering was sparked when, as a student in the fourth grade, he took part in an “egg drop challenge” to design a device that would protect an egg from cracking or breaking when dropped. The materials used include cotton balls, cardboard, tissue paper, popsicle sticks and other common items.
Students faced with the problem often try to solve it by fashioning a parachute.
“My idea was to fold cardboard into a zigzag shape and then fluff it out a little, to make a crumple zone to disperse the energy of impact,” Gbaba said. He succeeded on his second attempt, but on the first try, his egg cracked. “That really upset me. I was a sore loser in elementary school. I had to go back to the drawing board.”
Since then, he has learned to be more patient. But he’s still working hard in classes and has joined the GW Rocket Team, which designs and builds a rocket launched from the New Mexico desert in the spring. He is the first-year representative on the GW student branch of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), advised by Professor Sharokh Ahmadi.
“He's very passionate about the field,” Gbaba said, “and I really appreciate that.”
Gbaba’s favorite class during his first semester at GW was Ahmadi’s introductory course in electrical and computer engineering. He enjoyed building a robot (it looks a little like a small car on two wheels) that uses sensors to follow a path.
In his electrical and computer engineering lab, Gbaba works with the robot he built and named Tobor. (Sarah Hochstein/GW Today)
On weekends, he likes to sleep in and catch up on his reading. He is also exploring opportunities in D.C., including its cuisine. He likes a range of food, from burgers and fries to Italian or Asian dishes.
"I really want to stay in the area,” he said, “because the industry I want to go into is here—the Pentagon, the Department of Defense, all these government organizations and companies, all the tech startups. This is a great place to be for someone with my career aspirations.”
