麻豆短视频传媒 valedictorian Cory May鈥檚 curiosity and passion have led the Mt. Eden computer science major down a wide and varying path.
He earned an associate degree at the age of 18 in professional studio recording and came back to finish his bachelor鈥檚 at Kentucky State at age 25. In the time between, he toured with Murphy鈥檚 Echo, the family band (comprised of his mother, Tina May, and brothers) and other musicians and spent time in Minnesota and Frankfort as a barista.
Thanks to his wife, Christina May, a Kentucky State alumna and artist, he decided to continue his education as a Thorobred.
She told him about a transfer student scholarship and the rest is history.
鈥淥riginally I was going to do journalism. Then I went to English,鈥� May said. 鈥淭hen I took one of Dr. Hannemann鈥檚 programming classes and I just fell in love with it.鈥�
鈥淐ory is one of the best students I鈥檝e ever had,鈥� Hannemann said. 鈥淗e is exceptionally broad-minded and has a well-rounded skill set, which is why he was such a good fit for Kentucky State and which is why he thrived here.鈥�
鈥淚 think at heart I鈥檓 an engineer and I ended up working with computers,鈥� May said. 鈥淚 like how computer science just solves basically most problems we鈥檙e facing in modern life. It鈥檚 dealing with health. It鈥檚 dealing with the environment. It鈥檚 dealing with politics. It鈥檚 all a web that fits together.鈥�
Thanks to his success and the success of his classmates at a hackathon for HBCUs in Atlanta, May was offered a full-time job with IBM in North Carolina. He鈥檚 accepted the position.
鈥淒uring this competition, Cory was able to utilize his knowledge of marketing to identify the profit areas that could be generated by a product,鈥� Dr. Chi Shen, professor and chair of the division of computer science, said.
May said the hackathon was an intense competition that involved building a computer application in 24 hours and then pitching it to IBM executives.
May said the curriculum at Kentucky State prepared the team in a different way than their competitors.
鈥淵ou take art classes and English classes and creative thinking classes, which really just teach you how to think out of the box and think on your feet,鈥� May said.
While his short-term future includes working at IBM, May said his long-term goals include having his own start-up or writing his own computer software. He said he and his wife have also discussed several ideas for collaborating to create video games that deal with social issues. He鈥檇 be in charge of the technical aspect and she would provide the visuals.
鈥淗e is a geek in the best sense of the word 鈥� he is passionate about what he does and loves and is able to share his passions with anybody willing to listen,鈥� Hannemann said. 鈥淗is honors are well-deserved.鈥�
May said finishing as valedictorian was his goal from the beginning. After all, his mother was the valedictorian when she completed her degree.
鈥淚t feels great,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited about it.鈥�
May will join more than 100 of his classmates Saturday, Dec. 16 during fall commencement at 麻豆短视频传媒.