Deven Wolff’s love of computer science made the choice to enroll at NC to become a computer engineering technician easy. It also opened him up to areas of the field he found the most interesting.
Like so many others, completing his classes online posed a unique challenge–one that pushed him to master better self-discipline to stay motivated.
We catch up with Wolff to look back on his time at Niagara College and ahead to the future.
Deven Wolff
Hometown: St. Catharines
Age: 25
Academic Achievement: Dean’s Award Winner, School of Technology, Computer Engineering Technician (96.304% average)
How do you feel about receiving the Dean’s Award, achieving the highest GPA in your program?
I feel some pride, and a little bit of surprise. It is quite the accomplishment to receive this award, and though I did put in good effort to achieve this, I don’t think I had any sort of frame of reference for how well my efforts were showing until now.
To what factors do you attribute your academic success?
Partially, I can attribute my success to foundational skills built over the course of my bachelor’s degree–study habits, scheduling, those sorts of things. This baseline of skills was augmented by a passion for the subject material. I’ve always been very interested in computer science, which drove me to succeed to the best of my ability here.
List any other post-secondary credentials (diplomas, degrees) you have achieved:
Bachelor of Science, Mathematical Physics, University of Waterloo, 2020
Why are you passionate about your field of study?
I enjoy both the hardware and software components of computer science. I am an avid computer hobbyist and have built multiple PCs for myself. Many previous work experiences were in computer programming, and I found that I had both a talent and a certain amount of fun working in that environment.
Do you have a specific career goal in mind? Do you feel that completing your program will help you achieve that goal?
I mostly aim to find a position within the IT space that I find fulfilling. I do feel that this program greatly helped in achieving this by giving me the skills to do so and giving me perspective on what parts of the field I would find rewarding.
Did you face any challenges over the course of your study?
COVID-19 and keeping motivated while fully online was a little bit of a challenge. I found that it takes me a large amount of discipline to keep on task and focused when doing schoolwork from home.
What have you been doing since completing your studies? What are your future plans?
I’ve been taking it a little easy, trying to enjoy the summer, but I feel that I should be making progress in my career at my age. My future plans are fairly narrow; I’m taking my career one step at a time at the moment. I’m only looking ahead to simply finding employment. Grander plans only come after I feel I’m at least on a path.
What does graduating mean to you personally?
One of my major goals over the pandemic was self-improvement and becoming more employable. Graduating now feels like a large step towards that goal.
