Christopher Okorie

During my senior year of high school, I had a difficult time deciding which college I wanted to attend and what I wanted to study. There were so many great options that I found myself very overwhelmed. To aid in my search for career paths and schools, I joined the Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success (ACES) program — a pathway partnership between Montgomery County Public Schools, Montgomery College and USG — which provided me with the information and tools that would help me make a more informed decision and support me along the way. I am forever grateful for joining the ACES program because my coaches guided me throughout my entire college career and are still helping me as I work to earn my bachelor’s degree. With ACES, I was able to transition from high school to Montgomery College (MC) where I earned  my associates degree in engineering. 

After graduating from MC, I knew I wanted to deepen my knowledge in the field of engineering but I could not decide which school would be best for me to attend. After one visit to the USG campus, I could easily see myself there, so I decided to apply to the new Cyber-Physical Systems Engineering (CPSE) major, formerly Embedded Systems and Internet of Things, offered by the University of Maryland, College Park’s prestigious Clark School of Engineering — but offered exclusively at USG. I was excited when I was admitted and am now part of a major that is playing such a big role in society today and has so much potential to shape the future. I knew that this focus would directly translate to things I would see in real life and would provide the experiences I would need when I start working professionally. 

I am very open-minded in my career path. My goal is to be able to apply what I am learning to create products or services that can better the lives of people in my community.