Matthew Aherns, NYC College of Technology

I am a Sophomore at NYC College of Technology majoring in Computer Information Systems (Bachelor program). I hope to get a job as a programmer. I decided to pursue this field because when I was 10 years old, I stumbled upon the coding in a game where I messed around with different values and saw how the game reacted and changed. I have been running into issues with my financial aid. My TAP award does not cover my full tuition and if I don’t pay by a certain date, I get a hold put on my account which holds me back from registering for classes. The TAP verification process takes too long, at two to three weeks. Finding academic advisement to decide which classes to take has also been a struggle as it has been very complex and not easy to navigate. In addition, I don’t really spend much time on campus because some of the rooms don’t have working heat.