Carson Patterson, VC student
Victoria native Carson Patterson went from having his head in the clouds to paving the way for a career in the cloud.
“I dropped out of high school in the eleventh grade in 2017,” he said. “I felt like I had wasted a lot of time. I was heavy into alcohol and partying with friends.
“I wasn’t going anywhere with my life, and I needed to start going in the right direction. I quit drinking and hanging around the party people. Ever since then, my life has been going on a good path.”
After earning his GED, Patterson enrolled at Victoria College. He is on track to complete the Personal Computer & Local Area Network Technician Certificate in May 2023 with a 3.85 GPA.
“I started off taking a couple of classes,” he said. “I didn’t want to go right into four classes at a time, so I took the Student Success Course: Learning Frameworks.
“The instructor, Sherre Clegg, taught a lot of great study strategies that I am still using today. The things I learned in that course gave me the confidence to become a full-time student.”
Clegg saw that Patterson was serious about learning and becoming the best student that he could be. His stellar grades landed him an invitation to join the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society.
“He quickly picked up on concepts and spoke up in class as well as asked questions to improve his work,” she said. “Then, I noticed that his writing was excellent. I meet individually with each student throughout the term, so I got to know him better and started encouraging him to think about pursuing a bachelor’s degree in the future.
“He is a great example to other students of what they can achieve if you make good choices, put forth effort and work hard.”
Patterson, who is also gaining experience and marketable skills as a student worker for VC’s Emerging Technology Complex, remains focused on maintaining the high bar he set for himself as a college student.
He plans to continue on to complete the Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in network engineering technology and cloud concepts in 2023-24, and then move on to a bachelor’s degree program.
“I like to have one-on-one appointments with my instructors where I can say, ‘Hey, what do I need to do to be successful in this course?’” he said. “One of them, Jeremy Gould, was in the same classroom that I’m in now many years ago, so I asked him what he did to succeed. I try to replicate what he did with my actions.”
Gould is also impressed with the eagerness and tenacity that Patterson shows for learning. He has had him as a student in six courses.
“Carson is always one of the top-performing students,” Gould said. “He is always willing to speak up in class – asking questions, answering questions and attending extracurricular study group times.”
Patterson, who built his own computer when he was 15 years old, looks forward to learning more about his future career field.
“The good thing about this program is it has a little bit of everything in the information technology world,” he said. “You can get your feet wet in several different areas. Once you get that degree, you can pick something that you really like. You can go in depth about a certain IT topic, like security or hardware.
“I want to go for an entry-level job like help desk technician so I can gain some experience to put on my resume. After that, I can work my way up to more advanced positions and earn additional certifications.”
For more information on VC’s Computer Information Systems-Networking Program, visit VictoriaCollege.edu/BusinessTechnology or call (361) 573-3291.