February is Career and Technical Education (CTE) Month! CTE Month celebrates the value of workforce education programs and how they change lives, fill much-needed jobs and boost our local economy. At St. Petersburg College, we are proud of our programs and our graduates, and in celebration, we’d like to share some of their stories with you.

See how these two grads are living their dreams with technology degrees from SPC.

Terry Ellison – Computer Programming and Analysis

When Terry Ellison, 25, was five years old, he played Super Mario Brothers for the first time. His young mind was blown, and the trajectory of his life altered.

“I became passionate about gaming,” Ellison said. “And sometime around middle school, I realized that I could actually make a career out of video gaming and create something that would bring to others the same joy it brought to me.”

When he started taking classes at St. Petersburg College in 2016, it was in an introductory Python class taught by professor Adrian Tillman that Ellison realized that dream could be a reality for him.

“Playing games as a kid, it seemed like such a mystery, how to make a computer game do all those things,” he said. “Professor Tillman showed me it just wasn’t a complicated as it seems, and I found that I was just kind of a natural at programming.”

Ellison earned his Associate in Science Degree from St. Petersburg College in Computer Programming and Analysis in December of 2018. With the degree he earned at SPC, he recently landed a dream job.

“I had been working in the industry since I graduated, but Professor Tillman connected me with this opportunity to work for Microsoft.”

Working on Microsoft’s X-Box Game Development team, Ellison tests new games, both by writing programs that play it, and sometimes manually playing the game himself. So, he literally gets to play video games for a living. He gives credit not only to his own hard work, but also to the college, his professors and his fellow students for helping him achieve his dream.

“The tutors and Learning Resource Center were always there for me whenever I had an assignment I couldn’t figure out,” he said. “The faculty felt like family to me, and they really encouraged their students to work together and meet up outside of class to get to know each other. That helped us create a network in the industry.”

Ellison is currently studying for his bachelor’s degree in Game Development at Full Sail University.

Evan Huff – Cybersecurity

Evan Huff started taking classes at St. Petersburg College as a Dual Enrollment student at the young age of 14. Now 18, he has an Associate in Arts degree in his pocket, along with some industry certifications and a clear vision for his career future.

Along with his degree, Huff took two cybersecurity courses, which prepared him to take the exam for the CompTIA Security+ certification.

“SPC’s classes gave me the knowledge, but they also taught me how the test works so that I knew what to expect going in,” Huff said. “And it didn’t cost me anything – everyone who successfully completes the coursework gets a voucher that pays for the exam.”

Huff is proud to have earned that certification at such a young age.

“To be certified at 18 is great because there are people earning that certification who have been working in the field for years with more experience than I have, but I could still pass.”

Huff said the experience at SPC that made the biggest impression was the opportunity to take part in the National Cyber League (NCL), a performance-based, learning-centered collegiate cybersecurity competition.

“I heard about it at SPC and thought it sounded cool,” Huff said. “That experience ignited my passion for cybersecurity – I have never been more inspired by anything. It exposed me to how beautiful that world is. I enjoy problem solving and finding solutions, and you can apply these skills to everything you do – not just cybersecurity.”

Last Fall, Huff began work on a bachelor’s degree in Community Engaged Cybersecurity at the University of South Florida, where he entered as a junior. He ultimately hopes to land a job with the Department of Defense.