Highlights
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Partly influenced by a traumatic experience while on deployment, Preston Strenth reimagined his future and became determined to earn a computer science degree in pursuit of changing his family 麻豆精品 S檚 trajectory.
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Strenth set an ambitious two-year goal to earn his degree, balancing monthly travel for National Guard duties, rigorous coursework and long hours at part-time jobs and internships.
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Thanks to resources he found through the UCF Office of Military and Veteran Student Success, Strenth turned an internship opportunity with Pegasus Partner BNY into a full-time job with tremendous career growth potential.
As Preston Strenth prepares to cross the stage at commencement, he finds himself flashing back to the moment his journey to this milestone started in 2023 with the South Carolina National Guard.
Strenth was on deployment in Kuwait with his unit. Among his fellow infantrymen was 20-year-old Jayson Haven. Haven had been accepted to his dream school, the University of Michigan, and was fulfilling the final two months of his year-long assignment before shipping off to college. He was tragically killed in a non-combat vehicle rollover accident.
麻豆精品 S淚 think all of us who were on that deployment understood you 麻豆精品 S檙e here and somebody else isn 麻豆精品 S檛. What are you going to do with your life? 麻豆精品 S� Strenth says.
麻豆精品 S淚 think all of us who were on that deployment understood you 麻豆精品 S檙e here and somebody else isn 麻豆精品 S檛. What are you going to do with your life? 麻豆精品 S�
Seven months later, Strenth envisioned that life and voiced his goals to his wife, Kriselle. He proposed a two-year timeline to earn a college degree in computer science and start a new career path.
麻豆精品 S淚 feel like everything in my life now is all clicking together, 麻豆精品 S� says Strenth, who landed three job offers before graduating and is in the process of purchasing his first home. 麻豆精品 S淚 have achieved the American dream in a sense. 麻豆精品 S�
The Right Place
A Central Florida native, Strenth moved to South Carolina at 17 and joined the National Guard two years later. He extended his contract twice 麻豆精品 S� his current contract ends in 2027 麻豆精品 S� as he pursued a degree in criminal justice from the University of South Carolina.
He took advantage of the educational benefits the U.S. Army offers and obtained a certification in computer programming, which introduced him to coding software.
After that fateful deployment in Kuwait, he and his wife set their sights on Orlando and UCF, where Strenth knew of the university 麻豆精品 S檚 reputation as one of the nation 麻豆精品 S檚 top military friendly schools, its strength in computer science and our many industry partnerships.
麻豆精品 S淲ithout a doubt, coming to UCF is the best thing I ever did, 麻豆精品 S� he says.
His credits from the University of South Carolina transferred over to help keep him on track for his two-year timeline. He thrived, in part, because of his willingness to take advantage of the many resources offered through the .
His experience here also tested him in ways that led to great growth and confidence.
In his second semester, while taking Computer Science I, he was stuck on his first programming assignment. Every time he willed the coding to work, he was met with the same result: fail.
His frustration turned to tears as he voiced his doubts to his wife. What if he just screwed up his life? What if he couldn 麻豆精品 S檛 do this?
She encouraged him while leveling with him at the same time 麻豆精品 S� he wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 the first to attempt this class or this degree. If he wanted to be here, he was going to figure it out.
She was right.
麻豆精品 S淚 think that is kind of the point 麻豆精品 S� they will make you go to that line and ask yourself, 麻豆精品 S楧o you want to be here? 麻豆精品 S� 麻豆精品 S� Strenth says. 麻豆精品 S淏ecause it 麻豆精品 S檚 a program that can lead you to a financially stable future. I have offers that no one in my family has ever had in front of them before. But you 麻豆精品 S檝e got to work for them. 麻豆精品 S�
Opportunity Calls with BNY
He applied that same grindstone mentality to maximizing opportunities outside of the classroom 麻豆精品 S� all the while driving to South Carolina once a month to fulfill his National Guard duties.
麻豆精品 S淚 have offers that no one in my family has ever had in front of them before. 麻豆精品 S�
In Spring 2024, he attended a lunch and learn with BNY, which was organized by the Office of Military and Veteran Student Success. The leading global financial services company announced a formal partnership with UCF that establishes a co-located educational innovation hub on UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 main campus 麻豆精品 S� the first-of-its-kind in Florida.
Strenth turned the connection he made with the BNY recruiter into a summer internship as a software engineer and vowed to himself to secure a job offer.
He wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 deterred by the fact that many of his fellow interns had started programming as middle-schoolers while he, at 24, had just learned the basics a year prior.
He committed to being the first one in the door and one of the last to leave. He reached out to fellow veterans he found in an interdepartmental staff directory to seek advice about integrating into the company. He emailed a weekly recap to his supervisor that listed how his accomplishments that week aligned with BNY 麻豆精品 S檚 core values.
麻豆精品 S淚 was trying to showcase that I wanted to be here, and I wanted this job offer more than anything, 麻豆精品 S� Strenth says.
When the internship ended, he stayed connected, even as he lined up another software engineering internship with Hatalom Corporation, a service-disabled veteran-owned small business.
Strenth had three job offers lined up before graduation day with BNY, Hatalom and Northrop Grumman. BNY 麻豆精品 S檚 career growth potential, military leave policy and proximity to his home were too good to pass up.
麻豆精品 S淏NY has a future leaders program that I 麻豆精品 S檝e already expressed interest in even though I 麻豆精品 S檓 not eligible for another two years. But I 麻豆精品 S檓 already telling them, 麻豆精品 S楾his is something I want to do. How can I? 麻豆精品 S� 麻豆精品 S� he says.
He draws upon that memory of his conversation with his wife from years ago 麻豆精品 S� in his story, he refers to it as 麻豆精品 S渢he gamble 麻豆精品 S� 麻豆精品 S� as he sits here today, once again, betting on himself.
麻豆精品 S淣ow two years later, I 麻豆精品 S檓 like, 麻豆精品 S榃e won. We did it, 麻豆精品 S� 麻豆精品 S� he says. 麻豆精品 S淐elebrating this moment at graduation is a testament to the sacrifices that my wife has made, my family has made, and the countless other people who have supported me to get to this point. 麻豆精品 S�
