Student Spotlight: Manu Shergill

Manu Shergill saw the pandemic as his opportunity to better himself. That's why the 35-year-old native of Queens decided the spring 2021 semester was the perfect time to begin his college education. "I thought I could take some classes online and ease into college. And work was slowing down so I had more time available for classes."

Shergill had worked a variety of jobs centered around technology including tech support and free lance web development. He enjoyed it but realized he needed higher education to support his professional development. "It got to the point where if I wanted to move further, I needed a degree. And the best place to do that was OCC."

During his first couple of weeks on campus he adjusted to being back in a classroom for the first time since high school. He quickly found The Learning Center was one of his go-to places on campus. He receives tutoring assistance there at least three times a week in calculus and physics.

Another place he visited frequently was the home of the Collegiate Science and Technology Program which is commonly referred to as C-STEP. The office was a valuable resource for him, connecting him with a summer internship at Syracuse University where he helped build a sensor system that could track how bodies of water expanded or contracted in drought or flood conditions. The internship went so well he was hired to keep working there part-time. "It’s a great experience and I'm learning a lot. I get to work with graduate students and a post doc researcher while I’m doing work on a sensor project that ties together a lot of things I have an interest in. I get to learn how to connect all of these different components together; the data analysis part, the programming part. It all just comes together."

Last month Shergill was recognized for his outstanding coursework when he was inducted into the College's chapter of international honor society Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), capping off an outstanding 2021. "If you would have told me at the start of my first semester I'd be doing well in my classes, have an internship turn into a part-time job, and get into PTK, I wouldn't have believed it."

His list of accomplishments also includes the creation of a Cybersecurity Club on campus. Members meet every other Tuesday at 3:30pm in the Otis Suite which is located in the SRC Arena.

Shergill will complete his degree in December 2022. He plans to pursue technical development positions in areas such as systems programming, data analysis, or data science. As he continues to prove it's never too late to do what you want to do, he hopes fellow "older" students will also bet on themselves. "Give it a shot. Don’t feel too weird coming on to campus and being surrounded by younger students. I did it and you can do it too."