We first reported on Thessalonika Azru-Embry when she was a 14-year-old this wiz kid graduating college, and her community couldn’t be more thrilled. Now, at 17 she has her sights on a Ph.D.
Now, the Illinois phenom, who lives with her family at Great Lakes Naval Station, has a masters degree and is close to finishing her doctorate.
She was home schooled and started college at 11. In the fall of 2016, she started a Ph.D. program in aviation psychology.
“When I began to think about a profession, I chose one where I could make an impact,” Thessalonika says.
“I feel honored for the opportunity to help others at an early age. I feel very glad to enter college and help people,” Arzu-Embry said.
Arzu-Embry is particularly interested in the aviation industry because of her father, Carlos Arzu. A military veteran and a private pilot, he now works as a manager at O’Hare International Airport.
“I grew up around airplanes,” Arzu-Embry said. “We took flights all the time.”
(Photo credit: Twitter)
The interest in psychology was helpful as Arzu-Embry pursued her schooling, helping her overcome and respond to questions involving her age as she sought the necessary approvals to enroll in academic programs, she said. She’s still encountering those barriers in the business world, but she finds that knowing how to speak the language — be it with developers or those in another industry — helps people know that she’s qualified.
Arzu-Embry is writing her dissertation on dreams, which she said a lot of people think of as “junk mail” but can be an interesting way of looking at what they’re experiencing in life. She hopes a degree in aviation psychology will give her the knowledge to work for aviation companies and reduce what she called “human factor errors,” the types of problems that can cause plane crashes.
Using psychology to recognize when a pilot is agitated, is dealing with stress or is having other issues that negatively affect job performance can help a company avoid potentially deadly mistakes in the air, she said.
“That’s really a blend of psychology and business,” Arzu-Embry said.
In addition to her scholastic success, Arzu-Embry is also pursuing her various business enterprises, developing apps for Google and Apple systems, pushing her books and attending speaking engagements. She has already written five books to help others do the same things she’s done.
Perspicacious Investing is a book designed to motivate and energize you. Thessalonika Arzu-Embry challenges you to uncover a deeper understanding of financial investing with wisdom from God. Each chapter promises to keep you inspired and drift away from destructive actions and attitudes that cause financial ruin. The book teaches you how to live with wisdom, achieve success, and build up a career in investing.
Jump The Education Barrier is another book that helps people discover the interpersonal habits and behavior patterns necessary to finish college resiliently and efficiency. Learning how to discern and transform the cycles preventing you from graduating is one of the major points of the book. It teaches you how to systematically develop the best practices for staying on top of your game and achieving your short-term and long term goals.
