泰勒·汤普森本周末从威尼斯人娱乐信誉平台分校获得了计算机科学学位. During his academic career, 他获得了本科研究经验，并在必修的顶点课程中担任项目经理.
阿宾顿,爸爸. — Tyler Thompson has come a long way since he started college in 2018. 他说，他很快就发现自己“感觉像一个数字”，并与个人问题作斗争. His grade point average suffered, and he was placed on academic warning, so Thompson moved home to Bucks County, went to work at a local supermarket and enrolled in community college.
Fast forward to spring 2024, and Thompson graduated from Penn State 阿宾顿 this weekend with a degree in computer science. 最近，他坐下来反思了他为获得学位而走过的弯路.
虽然阿宾顿的口碑很好，学费也很划算, it was hard for him to recommit to college full time. But a phone call with Vinayak Elangovan, the program chair for the computer science major, convinced Thompson that he was ready for the challenge.
“Vinayak is the most incredible person, 还有很多其他的教职员工支持我，支持我. 当我保证我的功课不会低于“a”时，他们相信了我,” said Thompson, who enrolled at 阿宾顿 in the fall 2022.
Although he was clearly motivated, he readily accepted support from Chris Walters, senior coordinator for student success.
泰勒成功的关键是带着正确的心态和态度回来. 他充分利用了所有可用的资源，以改善他的经验和成功,” Walters said.
Walters set Thompson up with 丽莎•莫里斯, an assistant teaching professor of criminal justice who volunteered to be his academic success coach. 学业成功教练是教职员工，他们为可能需要额外指导的学生提供支持.
她说:“泰勒想要毕业的雄心壮志，从他积极的‘我能行’态度中就能看出来。. 他在计算机科学专业的迷人领域中发现了自己的激情，并深入研究了他的研究. 我们的例会围绕着课程选择等重要问题展开, 实习, his involvement in the ACURA project and, 当然, his impending graduation. ... 作为泰勒的成功教练是一个非常充实的机会，可以与一个知道校园里有人真诚地为他们加油的学生建立有意义的联系."
Thompson said he is grateful for Morris, 沃尔特斯和一群一路上向他报到的教授和工作人员.
“他们就像我的顾问一样，通知我截止日期之类的事情，这样我就可以专注于取得好成绩,他说. “如果没有这些人的帮助，我不可能做到这一点，他们让我在阿宾顿的旅程变得不可思议. They took me in and supported me. From the bottom of my heart, I appreciate them so much."
汤普森今年夏天将搬到佛罗里达州，并希望在嵌入式系统和机器人领域的软件相关职位上开始他的职业生涯. 他鼓励其他学生与阿宾顿校园社区的人建立关系.
“Don’t go to class just to get a grade. Go out of your way and talk to your professors,他说. “他们有丰富的现实经验，他们可以指导你，改变你的生活. Penn State 阿宾顿 really is a blessing."
New Penn State 阿宾顿 graduate Tyler Thompson, 正确的, 在一个由12名学生组成的计算机科学专业必修顶点课程团队中担任项目经理.
Thompson said he knew he wanted to major in computer science, a field he’s been enamored with since childhood, 在阿宾顿的两次经历拓宽和加深了他的专业知识.
He connected with Robert Avanzato, an associate professor of computer science and 工程, 他们合作了一个项目，结果在一个工程实验室做了一份带薪的暑期工作，并参与了 undergraduate research program, known as ACURA.
该项目包括使用声纳扫描仪，并尝试使用人工智能和神经网络来寻找水下物体. 我们在巴克斯县的诺卡米克森湖和和平谷公园进行了试验. 这很有趣，感觉一点也不像工作。”汤普森说.
这个项目, which he presented at the annual undergraduate research fair, combined hardware and software, which Thompson said is unusual.
“Generally, computer science students don’t get to do both. You usually only work with software, 这是阿宾顿和鲍勃·阿万扎托之所以伟大的原因之一，因为他们把它混合在一起,他说.
汤普森说的第二个对他的职业生涯很有帮助的经历是计算机科学专业必修的顶点课程. 在最后一个学期，他担任一个由十几名学生组成的团队的项目经理，该团队开发了一个安全的传感器驱动的智能房屋.
“当我发现自己将成为项目经理时，我吓得要死. But then I realized I was going to work on something I enjoy and love. Sometimes, you have to take chances and do new things. 一开始可能会很尴尬，但它会改变你的生活，就像这个角色对我的影响一样。.
汤普森敦促学生们考虑像“顶点”这样的本科研究和项目，因为它们可以让你在求职时从其他候选人中脱颖而出.
“把这些项目写进简历是有益的，因为公司喜欢你，你多走了一步, and you went above and beyond. Bob Avanzato让我对自己的能力充满信心，现在我确信我可以做任何事情,他说. “阿宾顿大学的教授们为你在现实世界的工作做了很好的准备, and they give you such good advice. They really gave me everything that I needed to succeed."
About Penn State 阿宾顿
Penn State 阿宾顿 provides an affordable, 无障碍和高影响力的教育导致多元化学生群体的成功. 它致力于通过创新的方法在世界一流的研究型大学内实现21世纪公立高等教育的学生成功. With more than 3,100 students, 威尼斯人娱乐信誉平台分校是一所住宿校园，提供25个专业的学士学位, accelerated master's degrees, undergraduate research, the Schreyer Honors College, NCAA Division III athletics and more.
