Transforming Lives Award WCC Students
2020 ACT Transforming Lives Award Nominee
Nicholas Williams Graduated Spring 2020 with an Associate in Applied Science Transfer - Cybersecurity degree with honors, and Fall 2022 with a Bachelor of Applied Science, IT Networking - Cybersecurity degree cum laude
Years ago, Nicholas Williams was homeless and living in a tent at one of the local beaches in his hometown in Santa Cruz, California. He dealt with the deaths of several close friends which had sent him into a spiral of depression and self-destructive behaviors during his teenage years. He had dropped out of high school, and getting an education was the last thing on his mind at the time. He developed a drug addiction that started in his late teens and followed him into his mid 20’s.
Everything changed when he landed a part-time job at a local computer recycling center and quickly found himself spending most of his days there. One of the guys he was working with invited him over to his house after work one day to help him with a project. When he got to his house, the first thing he noticed was that he had computer parts strewn out all over his carpet. They spent the afternoon putting together what would come to be the first computer he’d ever build. He eventually decided to go back to school and enrolled in some general education classes at his local community college. When he first started back out on his educational journey, he had what felt like a mountain of unknown challenges ahead of him. He said the best decision he made was to move to Washington state. By the time he was enrolled at Whatcom Community College, he had a decent understanding of what it would take to succeed as a student and had proven to himself that he was capable and willing to achieve his educational goals. Since then, he received his WCC associate degree with honors in cybersecurity and his applied bachelors degree cum laude, served as an original member of the Pod Leader student mentor program on campus, became a member of the Phi Theta Kappa honor society, and made tons of new friends. Educational accomplishments aside, he said that Whatcom Community College helped form him into the person that he never thought he could be. He remains forever grateful to the WCC campus community and to all those who helped him along his journey.
16 | Whatcom Community College
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