LLAMA LEGACY: CHOOSING THE OUT-OF-STATE ROUTE
LLAMA LEGACY: CHOOSING THE OUT-OF-STATE ROUTE
Noel was recently named Student of the Quarter for her achievements with Neumont’s Women in Tech club (of which she is the president). She led the effort to get the WIT club to this year’s SheTech Explorer Day hosted by Womentechcouncil, an event dedicated to inspiring female youths to pursue a career in STEM.
SO, WHY cOMPUTER SCIENCE?
“It’s a funny story: when I was in fourth grade, I would help in the library instead of going to recess (yeah… the nerd has always been there). When our school got our first set of iPads, they downloaded Scratch, which is a block coding app that helps beginners understand the concepts of programming. The librarian couldn’t figure it out, and since she knew me so well, she asked me to give it a try. I got so good that by fifth grade, they had deemed me the “Tech Leader” (I got to make my own sparkly badge and everything), and I would come in and teach the other fifth grade classes how to use Scratch. When she told me this was a real job and I could become a programmer, I said ‘okay’ and I just started to chase my passion for tech.
By majoring in Business Technology Management, Noel is able to stay in the computer science field (which makes her nerdy side happy) but also allows her to follow her passion to one day be a Product Owner. She says, “I will definitely stay in the computer science industry, one day leading a team of developers that are creating a product. Instead of just focusing on the how for my team, I’ll get to look from the business side and represent my customers, my executives, and my team in various ways.” Sounds like a well-rounded and exciting career!
OUT-OF-STATE VS IN-STATE
There are many factors to consider when making the decision of going to college in your hometown or making the jump to another state. Now that Noel’s been at Neumont for two years, we asked how she feels about her decision because moving to Utah from St. Louis, Missouri was no easy task but Noel explains why Neumont was the best decision for her:
“I had taken several coding classes through high school, and while I enjoyed it, I knew it wasn’t exactly what I wanted to do as a career. But, I decided to keep going anyway and decided to attend a state university for a computer science degree. Then, I got a bright yellow letter in the mail that caught my attention. Most college scouting letters went straight to the trash, but this one was different and caught my eye. After reading a bit about the institution I learned about their Business and Technology Management degree. I got really excited because it actually sounded right for me.”
Out-of-state became an easy decision after flipping through Neumont’s viewbook and seeing the hands-on curriculum offered. Noel goes on to say that “the school hasn’t disappointed me and I’m on track to graduating early as the first student to do so in Neumont history. I’m glad that I moved away from home because it forced me to develop an 'adult’ personality and allowed me to become more independent.”
Is attending an out-of-state college the right choice for you? Check out College Raptor’s article: How To Decide Between In-State Or Out-Of-State Colleges. They explain how your choice of major is a huge factor when deciding on which college to attend.
If you’re looking for a successful college journey like Noel’s, request a viewbook to learn more about Neumont.