Student/Alumni Profiles
Meet Jared Light
Learning All the Time
Jared Light may only have graduated from high school a little over a year ago, but he's already been working full time in the IT field for two years. Unlike many high school grads who have career-type jobs like his, however, Jared didn't want this job to stop him from going on to college. Jared works from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. and attends classes at Colorado Technical University in Colorado Springs from 5 until 11 p.m. most weekdays.
"Hard work now will pay later on," this dedicated student asserts.
Jared is certainly working hard. Three semesters in to his Associate's degree in Computer Science, Jared has made the Dean's Award List three times. "The only Bs I've gotten have been in a few prerequisite classes. Otherwise, it's been straight As. I was not an "A" student in high school, either. This time, though, I'm focusing on career-related classes. It's not just English, math, history and stuff like that. This time I am motivated because everything I learn now will help me in my career."
Jared doesn't plan on staying at the job he has now, however. He wants to get into more hands-on IT stuff. "I've already started looking at the kinds of jobs I want, and they all require an Associate's degree. I'll start applying as soon as I have mine and then continue on to get my Bachelor's degree in Information Technology."
Even if he's not yet in his ideal IT job, Jared is taking what he is learning in the classroom and applying it in his current position. He's also sharing some of what he has learned at work with his classmates. "I feel like I'm learning in everything I do: what I learn at work I can apply in the classroom, and what I learn in the classroom I can apply at work. All the students at CTU share their work experience as it relates to the classes we are in. The professors welcome this input and have their own real-world experience to add. I've had IT professors who have really been out there working in IT for places like Oracle and other big name companies."
While several of Jared's friends from Widefield High School are at CTU—one of the reasons he decided on the school was that already-enrolled friends spoke highly of the school's programs and academics—he is the only one taking night classes. In fact, because of his work schedule, all Jared takes are night classes.
"The demographics of the night classes are a little different—lots of students are in their 30s and 40s—but I've found this really benefits me. I have work experience, but not compared to these guys. They have so much real-world knowledge it intimidates me sometimes, but I can learn almost as much from them as I can from the professors. Sometimes after class, we'll sit down together, and they'll help me understand the course better. The professors are always around to answer questions, but it is nice when I can just go to another student, too. Everyone here is about sharing what they know and helping each other."
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