Graduation cap with a designed, scannable QR code and Congratulatory Recognition frame
It’s been 5 long years since I attended college and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology. During my time in college, I worked hard to balance my academic life with my YouTube “career.” It was a constant struggle to find the right balance and to stay on top of my studies while also creating content for my channel. There were times when I had to take small breaks in between uploading videos and working on important assignments, projects, and exams. Without this level of balance, I would let my academic progress go down the drain, or let my channel become irrelevant with a lack of posting anything. Especially in this content creator environment where taking long breaks will put you down in terms of the YouTube algorithm and your channel’s viewership. Despite the challenges, I managed to succeed in both areas without sacrificing either my degree or channel. Today, I’m proud to have a degree in IT from the University of Toledo and a YouTube channel that’s thriving to this day!
Back in 2018, I first applied to the University of Toledo after graduating from high school. I had other thoughts about applying to different universities in the area, such as The Ohio State University, Bowling Green State University, Davenport University, and Indiana Tech. At first, I wanted to apply for a Computer Science degree, which didn’t work out for me due to my low ACT and SAT scores. I managed to get a 20 on my ACT and a 1000 on my SAT. These scores are pretty much right at the 50th percentile for either of these two standardized tests. While they’re not at Ivy League levels, it shows that I’m competent at doing something at a higher education level. After going through orientation and getting my first college schedule, the university put me in an Exploratory Studies degree program because I didn’t meet the requirements for enrolling in the Computer Science program. This caused some headaches during my freshman year when I took some courses relating to my intended major and other random courses I had to take to fulfill the degree’s requirements.
By the time I switched from Exploratory Studies to Information Technology, things were starting to go my way. I was able to take classes that were directly related to my degree, such as Python and JavaScript programming, networking, cybersecurity, computer system management, and a handful of business courses. These courses not only taught me the technical skills needed for a career in IT but also gave me a solid foundation in business principles. These business and engineering courses were required for my degree because it’s a split between knowing how both disciplines work. Especially when you graduate and work, you’ll need to have a well-rounded understanding of both areas to be successful. No matter if you’re going to be the typical IT guy or businessman.
After going through the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, I managed to adapt and overcome the academic hell of learning remotely. Especially for some classes where it’s best to learn in person, which wasn’t possible due to the outbreak. This went on for roughly a year due to the severity of COVID and how the university wanted everyone to be safe. Whether it’s in the classroom or at home. Despite this, I managed to get the Dean’s List award (by achieving a GPA of over 3.5) for the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters because all of those classes were done online. The only two good things about taking courses online are that exams are open-book and they’re flexible. This is why I managed to get a 3.63 and 3.8 GPA for those two semesters. Also, this was my best academic year ever, as I averaged a 2.7–3.1 GPA for each semester.
For my final two years, the COVID policies were lifted. Meaning that the university wasn’t enforcing remote learning, encouraging COVID tests, and mask mandates. However, there were many classes I had to take that were offered either in person or online. I chose some classes to be taken in person since I’m a hands-on learner, and a few classes were done remotely. This helped ease some academic stress and allowed me to manage my YouTube channel more than ever before. However, this wasn’t the case for the Fall 2021 semester. I managed to clock in 19 credit hours, which is 1 credit hour away from being “academically overloaded.” If a student were to apply for more than 20 credit hours, they would have to contact their respective academic advisor to be approved for an academic overload. That semester was the most stressful due to taking six different courses throughout the fall. I took those many courses because I was starting to fall behind in my graduation timeline and was going to graduate much later than usual. At least I managed to pull through that semester and carry on for my final year. By the time I graduated, I had a cumulative 3.025 GPA, which is equivalent to a B-.
So, I got my IT degree, where am I going to go from here? It’s a question that’s been on my mind since graduation. For now, I plan on taking a small break before I start applying for any jobs. I’m considering going into the general IT field to get some experience working with computer systems in a real-world environment. I expect to start working within the next one to two months. So I have some time to clear out my thoughts after achieving this major milestone in my life, along with making up some lost time managing my YouTube channel. Overall, I’m happy that I finally had the opportunity to get my hands on a college degree after countless years of studying and doing the assignments necessary to graduate.
TRIZE 