This article is part of a series focusing on fall grads of the Dalhousie Class of 2024. Visit the Convocation website for more information and to access live webcasts of the ceremonies.
One single percentage point changed Dave Chuck’s future.
The recent Bachelor of Computer Science grad had his eyes on a program at another Canadian university, but when he missed the entrance requirement by one percentage point, his conditional offer of acceptance was rescinded. He had to pivot.
Thankfully, his other top choice, Dalhousie, offered a similarly compelling program with the bonus of guaranteed work experience. The option of combining classroom learning with industry training through the Faculty of Computer Science’s co-op program was a big part of why he ultimately ended up in Halifax.
Choosing Dal
Originally from Jamaica, Chuck wanted to attend university close to the ocean. Dal’s location in Canada’s “ocean playground” helped seal the deal.
Chuck made his decision in the summer of 2019: he would be coming to Dal that fall. But factors surrounding his move to Canada led him to take a gap year instead. Another pivot.
“My parents had a bit of hesitation, but I think the gap year really benefited me,” Chuck says. “I took classes and that helped my cognitive function and maturity.”
Come spring 2020, Chuck was ready to make his move.
And then, as we all know, the world shut down.
Dal 101: Introduction to university life
That meant Chuck’s first semester at Dal was online.
“I just stayed in Jamaica that winter, relaxing in the heat,” Chuck remembers. “Being online versus in person honestly didn't make much of a difference. I still learned. I was the one that always turned my camera on, was always talking.”
Having completed his first year, Chuck knew he was on the right path and decided to finally come to Halifax. It was fall of 2021, and the city was slowly reopening. Like a spring that’s been coiled for two years, waiting, anticipating, he was finally able to fully launch into his studies.
Work-integrated learning
Chuck quickly established himself as a tenacious and consistent student. He showed up at every office hour he could. He asked questions. He observed. He learned.
“I was always asking, ‘Can you show me the path?’” Chuck says. “I never wanted just answers. I wanted to see how I could get there on my own.” Sometimes, Chuck says he would not be thinking outside the box enough and would ask for guidance, not solutions.
He says his instructors taught him how to take multiple factors into consideration, a lesson he has taken with him to multiple co-ops at Bell Canada (BCE).
“When I joined last summer as a co-op student, it was my first big-company job,” he says. “I put it frankly to my manager and I just said, ‘Look, I'm a go-getter.’ Some people on my team would never talk to the directors, but I would just message them.”
Indeed, Chuck reached out directly to his local executives to ask how they got to where they are. “I just have a vision of what I want to do, and I ask around to not be stuck in the gray area,” he explains.
Chuck says most of them were surprised and impressed with his gumption. It clearly paid off for Chuck, who accepted a full-time new grad offer as a software developer ... before he had even received his final co-op offer, let alone graduated.
Dal all along
Chuck says he’s sure he wouldn’t have ended up with such a good job directly out of school had he not completed his BCS at Dal.
Even though Chuck knew from a young age that he wanted to work with computers, he didn’t know exactly what his path to that work would look like. And it’s a good thing because maybe if he had known it would be this twisty, he wouldn’t have ended up in Halifax, walking across the Dal stage to finally receive his hard-won Bachelor of Computer Science, poised to spring forward into the exact career he always wanted.