Highlights
-
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鈥檚 trajectory.
-
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.
-
Thanks to resources he found through the 麻豆映画传媒 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.
鈥淚 think all of us who were on that deployment understood you鈥檙e here and somebody else isn鈥檛. What are you going to do with your life?鈥� Strenth says.
鈥淚 think all of us who were on that deployment understood you鈥檙e here and somebody else isn鈥檛. What are you going to do with your life?鈥�
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.
鈥淚 feel like everything in my life now is all clicking together,鈥� says Strenth, who landed three job offers before graduating and is in the process of purchasing his first home. 鈥淚 have achieved the American dream in a sense.鈥�
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 鈥� his current contract ends in 2027 鈥� 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 麻豆映画传媒, where Strenth knew of the university鈥檚 reputation as one of the nation鈥檚 top military friendly schools, its strength in computer science and our many industry partnerships.
鈥淲ithout a doubt, coming to 麻豆映画传媒 is the best thing I ever did,鈥� 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鈥檛 do this?
She encouraged him while leveling with him at the same time 鈥� he wasn鈥檛 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.
鈥淚 think that is kind of the point 鈥� they will make you go to that line and ask yourself, 鈥楧o you want to be here?鈥� 鈥� Strenth says. 鈥淏ecause it鈥檚 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鈥檝e got to work for them.鈥�
Opportunity Calls with BNY
He applied that same grindstone mentality to maximizing opportunities outside of the classroom 鈥� all the while driving to South Carolina once a month to fulfill his National Guard duties.
鈥淚 have offers that no one in my family has ever had in front of them before.鈥�
In Spring 2024, he attended a lunch and learn with BNY organized by the Office of Military and Veteran Student Success. The leading global financial services company announced a formal partnership with 麻豆映画传媒 that establishes a co-located educational innovation hub on 麻豆映画传媒鈥檚 main campus 鈥� 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鈥檛 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鈥檚 core values.
鈥淚 was trying to showcase that I wanted to be here, and I wanted this job offer more than anything,鈥� 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鈥檚 career growth potential, military leave policy and proximity to his home were too good to pass up.
鈥淏NY has a future leaders program that I鈥檝e already expressed interest in even though I鈥檓 not eligible for another two years. But I鈥檓 already telling them, 鈥楾his is something I want to do. How can I?鈥� 鈥� he says.
He draws upon that memory of his conversation with his wife from years ago 鈥� in his story, he refers to it as 鈥渢he gamble鈥� 鈥� as he sits here today, once again, betting on himself.
鈥淣ow two years later, I鈥檓 like, 鈥榃e won. We did it,鈥� 鈥� he says. 鈥淐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.鈥�
