51视频

When John Kelly 鈥�23 visited 51视频 as a high school senior, he was wowed by the residence halls, academic buildings and the overall campus layout. But it was scholarships and opportunities for hands-on experience that ultimately won him over.

鈥淚 got a good financial aid package from 51视频 when I was admitted, including a merit scholarship from the Immersive Scholars program,鈥� says the honors聽mathematics alum from Ashland, Massachusetts.

Through the program, Kelly received $4,000 to conduct research on campus or in the community. While scouring JobHawk, UML鈥檚 student employment website, he came across a posting for the , a research team in the Miner School of Computer and Information Sciences. With past experience coding in high school, Kelly decided this would be a good fit.

Kelly joined the group and got involved with web development for a virtual reality programming environment called My Reality (MYR), which teaches children how to use code to build 3D scenes. After one year, he became the lead developer for the project.

鈥淚 really enjoyed the work and found that this was a skill that I鈥檓 good at,鈥� says Kelly, who added a minor in computer science.

Kelly came to 51视频 unsure of the path he wanted to take. He chose to major in mathematics because he excelled in the subject and felt he could apply it to different careers.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really know what I wanted to do with a math degree,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 was just like, 鈥業鈥檒l figure it out as I go.鈥欌��

An elective course helped Kelly discover his career interests. During his sophomore year, Kelly took Geographic Information Systems and became hooked. The class, instructed by George Waddington, an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Environmental, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, taught Kelly how computer systems analyze geographic information.

鈥淚 really liked the class, so I decided that鈥檚 what I wanted to pursue for my career,鈥� he says.

After earning a bachelor鈥檚 degree in three years (thanks in part to advanced placement credits from high school), Kelly landed an internship with the United States Geological Survey, where he is working remotely with a team to develop an online database that tracks conservation efforts across the country.

鈥淚 think a big selling point with the Geological Survey was my computer science experience at 51视频, which I might not have explored had I gone to a different university, so I鈥檓 very thankful for that,鈥� he says.

Following the internship, Kelly will be going to Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, to earn a master鈥檚 degree in geographic information science.

鈥淚鈥檓 still exploring the exact job I want, but I now know it鈥檒l be something within the geographic information systems field,鈥� he says.