Ashton Baumgarner- Austrian ancestry; Dr. Ashton Baumgarner is an outwardly pleasant, kind, mild-mannered, and intelligent psychology professor who teaches Emma Ngo's cognitive psychology course at Seton Hall University. Although he is usually easygoing and forgiving and offers leniency with some of his assignments, he is occasionally short-tempered and impatient, if somewhat neurotic when under stress, though such emotions are usually warranted. A graduate of Auburn University, he takes his subject matter very seriously and has high expectations for each of his pupils, encouraging maturity and responsibility in everyone who enrolls in his course. He often tries to challenge his students and sharpen their memory by compelling them to study for his class through his continuous pop quizzes and examinations, which could sometimes prove overwhelming to Emma with her lack of focus on the material being taught after experiencing a difficult time of loneliness and isolation in her life. Dr. Baumgarner has great metaphors in his head for explaining what life is, as his ideals in life become helpful in giving inspirational speeches and pep talks. He nevertheless tries to be receptive to his students and be available when needed and is a trusted resource among many of the psychology majors at the university. He is generally well-liked and respected by both the college's faculty and student body, being characterized by his charm and quick wit. His charisma is most evident when he is giving instruction to his students, who often claim he can easily simplify complicated material and explain concepts with clarity when approached in between classes.
Professor Baumgarner is also a composed person who tends to approach things through a neutral state of mind, although he has a habit of cracking old jokes and puns. Regardless of his usually bright and even-tempered demeanor, he was not above displaying favoritism among some of his students, a habit that appeared unfair and unethical to many of them after becoming aware of this behavior. He also tends to quickly form strong opinions and jump to conclusions about his pupils, causing him to act in a somewhat elitist fashion when boasting about his accomplishments and subconsciously look down upon students who failed to grasp his teachings as quickly as he'd anticipated. Emma's excessive attempts at trying to socialize and pursue empty one-sided friendships with other students in the class, especially males, made her deflect attention away from her studies and fail to maximize her potential when receiving mediocre grades on tests and assignments. This further prompted Professor Baumgarner's erroneous assumption that Emma was simply incompetent in learning his material and unmotivated as a student. Among his favorite students were the smart and diligent Rolando Estrada, whom Emma secretly fancied and admired for his knowledgeability and deep comprehension of the subject matter being taught. In the meantime, another student named Robin Leija made continuous attempts to ingratiate himself to the professor in an often affected, exaggerated way to earn a better grade in the course. Emma consistently proved to be a challenge to him however due to her struggles in effectively mastering the expected writing style for his courses.
She turns in a disastrous research paper upon enrolling in a second course of his, Experimental Psychology, culminating in her receiving a C average towards the end of the term. Her time spent enrolled in Dr. Baumgarner's courses proved to be strenuous for her, particularly as she tried to overcome her personal struggles with social anxiety and depression. She nonetheless gained a heightened perspective on the structuring of academics at the university and felt motivated to prove her professor's false perception of her to be incorrect. Emma vowed to succeed in her future psychology courses to come, and Dr. Baumgarner tried to balance married life with his wife, who is of Belarusian descent in the meantime. She was a post-doctoral fellow with aspirations of working in psychological research, with new job opportunities as he worked sporadically. He taught at the university and conducted research himself at a public health science center in Buffalo and normally wore smart casual attire and is around average height and build at 5 ft. 8. He has short blond hair and a receding hairline, along with grayish-blue eyes and a fair complexion, and he is a regular at Specs and contains many Les Misérables posters in his office. Dr. Baumgarner's ancestors were Christians who belonged to the Apostolic church, although his family members have become less strict with their beliefs over the course of centuries, with the current generation identifying as secular. His loves king cake and dreams of going visiting Salzburg in Austria whenever he has the opportunity, in addition his having tried venison meat. His teaching experience includes traditional lectures and distance learning, which he administers through online & hybrid courses.
He has previously played padel with a Hispanic friend of his back when he was vacationing in Acapulco during a trip he once made across the border to Mexico. He also considers himself to be a Centrist when it comes to his politics but openly supports people having access to guns for self-protection. Dr. Roberts is a smoker who routinely purchases Marlboro Light 100s, although he has set a goal for himself to quit this bad habit once and for all by using nicotine patches. He is shown to be living in a craftsman bungalow in the South and enjoys spelunking in his spare time, and he has a pet Corgi. He has hiked up Enchanted Rock in Texas and also been to be Big Bend, as he has a godfather who resides in the state. He has advocated against Tik Tok and considers the app to be "a cancer of society" and also tries to encourage literacy among the current youth. Dr. Baumgarner later faces a lawsuit at his university when a student alleges that he made an inappropriate comment regarding Palestinian women and the ongoing Israel-Hamas War. He is suspended from his teaching duties until the matter is fully resolved, and it is ultimately discovered that there is no evidence to the claims that were made. He still transfers to the University of Alabama in his home state so that he can be closer to his parents, who live in Montgomery and enjoys sprinting, as well as Captain America and Parks and Recreation. He also listens to songs in his spare time, with his favorite musician being Lionel Richie and food being the muffuletta sandwich from Schlotzsky's, in addition to driving a Ford Edge. ENTJ 3w4
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