Computer Science

Stay focused. Don’t procrastinate. Never give up.

 

This advice for attaining top grades was shared by three of Tennessee Tech’s newest computer science alumni, Evyn Price, Preston Nicholson and Asa Rentschler. And they would know – all three graduated with a perfect 4.0 GPA and received the W.A. Howard Award, an honor bestowed upon Tech graduates who earn all A’s throughout their college career.

“It felt very relieving to walk across the stage,” Price said, thinking back to fall commencement on Dec. 8, when he and fellow graduates within the College of Engineering donned their purple regalia and gold tassels to celebrate the completion of their university studies. “I worked hard during my time at Tennessee Tech, and it was exciting to see that effort come to fruition.”

Price, Nicholson and Rentschler wore medals denoting their achievement and heard the satisfying words “4.0” and “W.A. Howard Award” as their names were called during graduation at Tech’s Hooper Eblen Center.

“It felt pretty good,” Nicholson said of the moment he crossed the stage. “It was good to know my hard work paid off.”

For Rentschler, keeping a 4.0 had been a goal even before he came to Tech since two of his older brothers had already accomplished the same feat, one in electrical engineering and the other in chemical engineering.

“Achieving it was nice, but I think for me graduating and moving into the workforce was a bigger deal,” he said.

Rentschler is set to begin his career as a high-performance computing engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where he previously served as an intern. He looks forward to increasing his computer knowledge and skills.

“Learning never stops, and it goes way beyond college, but I think a foundational level of instruction is needed as a springboard to propel you into learning in other environments,” he said. “That is what I was given at Tech.”

What does it take to earn a 4.0?

Nicholson, now a software developer at CGI, said, “Part of my strategy was not letting work pile up and overwhelm me. I always finished assignments as soon as they were assigned to keep me from procrastinating.”

Price, who began his career as a real-time operations systems administrator at Tennessee Valley Authority, said it took support from peers when he felt overwhelmed and “a tremendous amount of dedication” to maintain his GPA.

“I’m a firm believer in setting goals for myself with actionable steps along the way,” he said. “I tried to schedule my time wisely with tools such as my Outlook calendar and usually dedicated at least three to five hours per day for assignments, studying and reviewing with classmates. Forming study groups in my classes was a great way to connect with others in the program and keep each other accountable to review the material. Burnout is very real, so I would avoid doing homework on the weekends as much as possible to give myself a break.”

Rentschler emphasized the importance of staying focused and never giving up.

“Every time I turned in an assignment, I would double check to make sure what I turned in met all the requirements,” he said. “I think that attention to detail and the resolve to not give up until I figured out how to complete a task were the main components of my success.”

All three had a passion for technology before beginning their studies at Tech.

“I’ve always been interested in computers, specifically in how the software within computers works,” said Nicholson, a 2020 graduate of Sycamore High School in Pleasant View. “I had always heard great things about Tech, so when I visited the campus, it was a no-brainer.”

Nicholson’s favorite courses were object-oriented programming and design, web programing and discrete mathematics. Other college highlights included building new relationships at Tech and meeting employers from the computer science field.

“The career fair was one of the best things Tech did for me,” he said. “It helped me connect with the people at CGI.” 

Price, a Chattanooga native, had been fascinated with servers and infrastructure. In middle school, he ran Minecraft servers for his friends, and, by the time he graduated from Collegiate High at Chattanooga State Community College in 2021, he had earned an associate degree and accumulated 78 college credit hours, which allowed him to graduate with his bachelor’s degree a year and a half early. He was interested in Tech because of the resources offered by the Cybersecurity Education, Research and Outreach Center. Plus, his father was a Tech alumnus, having graduated in 1998 with a degree in electrical engineering.

“It felt like the perfect school for me to learn and grow,” he said.

Some of his best memories at Tech include participating in cybersecurity competitions as a member of the CyberEagles Club and Defense Cyber Interest Group. In November, his team placed second out of 95 teams in the Department of Energy CyberForce Competition.

Price, like many of his computer science classmates, also appreciated the opportunity to attend career fairs at Tech. That’s how he learned about TVA, where he gained experience as an intern for more than two years before starting his career there.

“I work on an amazing team that maintains the compute infrastructure that our transmission operators rely on to keep the power grid safe, reliable and secure,” he said.

His education at Tech prepared him for the job.

“The classes I took in the computer science program taught me how to think critically and solve unique problems, which were top skills that my employer was looking for,” he said.

Rentschler graduated from high school in Hohenwald as a homeschooler in 2021. He decided to pursue computer science after being inspired by his oldest brother’s work.

“He was in electrical engineering but programmed assembly line robots,” he said. “That got me interested in what computers could do. There always seemed to be so many problems to solve and questions to be answered in the field that I increasingly became attracted to it.”

His favorite computer science class at Tech was operating systems, and he was happy to explain object-oriented programming concepts to fellow students.

“I have always enjoyed sharing what I know about computers with others and helping them to have the same interest in computers that I do,” he said.

When it comes to achieving excellence, Rentschler recommends aiming beyond expectations.

“Never be satisfied with what you learn in the classroom,” he said. “School is a good starting point and was very helpful to me, but if you want to stand out from the crowd, you have to learn more about computers on your own time. Find a programming project or start a home lab. Whatever you do, the experience you gain will be invaluable down the road.”

Computer science is Tennessee Tech University’s number one undergraduate degree program by enrollment and the largest of eight academic departments within the College of Engineering. Concentrations include data science and artificial intelligence; information assurance and cybersecurity; and high-performance computing. For more information, visit tntech.edu/engineering/csc.