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The opportunity to have some real-world experience has helped me to gain a lot of perspective on what we have been learning.

Q: Where is your hometown?
A: I grew up in a town called Bearsden which is a suburb of Glasgow, Scotland.
 
Q: Why did you decide to move to Canada?
A: I had just graduated from my university program and decided to spend a year in Canada travelling and working before finding a permanent job. However, I ended up starting a family and moving here permanently.
 
Q: What brought you to °ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¿ª½±½á¹û²éѯ College? Why did you come study here of all places?
A: Once my son was old enough to begin elementary school, I wanted to focus on my own career again and decided that the CIS Diploma program would be a good option to help me find a job in the technology sector.

Q: Did you bring any other post-secondary education/training with you when you came into your current program?
A: I had already got a bachelor's degree from Edinburgh University in Scotland before I moved to Canada. This made the two-year diploma perfect for me in terms of making a change in direction for my career without having to start over with a whole new degree.

Q: How has your experience been so far at OC?
A: I have enjoyed the experience for the most part and got what I was looking for out of the program. I like that there are small class sizes and I have found that most of the instructors are accessible, friendly and happy to help outside of class hours.
 
Q: What do you like the most about the Kelowna campus?
A: The location is very convenient, walking distance for many students and easily accessible by bus.
 
Q: What do you like the most about your program/area of study?
A: I have really enjoyed learning computer programming and have found it a great way to build on the skills I already learned in my Math and Physics degree. Coding skills are so valuable in so many jobs at the moment and I’m so happy that I now get to do something for work that I have so much fun doing.  

Q: What has one of your favourite moments or achievements been so far in your program?
A: I have really enjoyed the opportunity to compete for the college in both the IEEExtreme Programming contest, which was a 24-hour online contest, and the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest, which we travelled to Vancouver to compete in against mostly universities from Canada and the U.S.
 
Q: In your program, have you had the chance to apply your learning from OC?
A: During my second year at the college, I have been working part-time at a local software company. This does not qualify under the co-op program, but I have found that the opportunity to have some real-world experience has helped me to gain a lot of perspective on what we have been learning as well as putting me in a great position for finding a full-time position after graduation.

Q: What do you have planned for your future academic or career goals?
A: I am planning to begin a full-time position as a software developer for a local company after graduation. I have been working there part-time already and really like the company and the work that I do there.