Jeffrey Hardwick
Hometown: Euless, Texas
DeVry campus: Dallas
Degree program: BS in Network and Communications Management
Expected graduation: 2008
Why DeVry?
DeVry was one of the colleges my high school promoted, and we frequently took field trips to check out the campus. I liked the school. The classroom settings were small. I’ve always had a fear that when I went to college, I would be stuck in a large auditorium with 200 other students, but at DeVry, the most you’ll probably ever see in a class is 24 students. In core classes for your major it is less. Plus you’ll have a degree in half the time. I only applied to one other college, and that was for back-up in case I didn’t get into DeVry.
Now I have completed my first year, and DeVry has lived up to my expectations so far. My classes are great and the hours are flexible. All my classes are mid-day, which is great. For more flexibility, I could take classes online. I plan to try at least one before my second year is complete.
The help I need to finance my education.
I have loans and a scholarship to help finance my education, and I’m surviving pretty well. DeVry helped me apply for financial aid. It just took 20 or 30 minutes at the computer with a financial aid advisor to get funded. I also work in DeVry’s IT department as a help desk technician, which directly prepares me for my career—and it’s the best-paying job I’ve ever had.
Valuable interaction with people I can learn from.
The interaction with faculty is the most satisfying part of my DeVry experience. As a help desk technician, I work with faculty 80% of the time. Usually they call with a problem that they need our help on, and sometimes they come in to discuss a larger project. DeVry uses information systems extensively both in the classroom and in running the college. I get a lot of my information on networking technology directly from the head of IT who helped plan the school network.
Finding the right path for me.
This job has confirmed for me that I made the right choice for my major and my career. Originally I signed up for a BSBA in business, but I switched to Network and Communications Management because it focuses more on the computer side of network security, which is what I’m interested in. Ever since I started high school, I have had an interest in stopping hackers and securing computers.
One-on-one attention.
I also get personalized attention from my teachers in the classroom. My psychology teacher was especially good... when a student had a question, all her attention was on that student. She gave all possible help. The teachers really know their stuff; I haven’t found one I could stump yet, and I’ve tried. The professor who teaches the network security and the Linux classes is writing a book on the Linux operating system.
Getting connected to people just like me.
DeVry is on a trimester schedule, and I go to school year-round so I will finish in two more years. I live at home and on weekends I work in a family business. Outside of class and work, I play video games and hang out with my friends. I’ve got about 50 people here hooked on one game—didn’t mean for that to happen but it did. The gaming culture here is very good; there’s an entire gamers’ club.
Aiming high—with a degree from DeVry.
My career objective is to become the IT director for a major corporation, fixing every computer problem they have. I’ll probably be able to get an internship somewhere before graduation. DeVry is giving me the actual hands-on experience I would need to qualify. In your core classes for your degree program at DeVry, about 90% of the work is hands-on. Either in a simulation or in a controlled environment, you learn by doing.
The best part: Getting a superior education in half the time!
DeVry is the perfect place for anyone who is going into business, technology, or the biomedical or healthcare management field. I definitely recommend it for those people, especially since you can get a degree in half the time with the same or better quality as anywhere else. A lot of the teachers at DeVry have done what they are teaching, which is not that common in other colleges.
