FORREST CORBETT Levi Lewis
What do you do for a living? “I work as an Software Developer in an R&D department for a tech company. I am part of a team responsible for looking for new technologies that we can use in our products and developing prototypes with those technologies. Currently I'm responsible for developing mobile applications add-ons for our existing software.”
How did the degree you earned at Mercer help you attain your current position? “I think my degree from Mercer helped me get my current job for a lot of little reasons that will be hard to explain in full. Yes, it taught me the basic programming tools I would use, but it went farther than that. Things like the all nighters in the 24 hour lab, programming team competitions, and GDG meetings all slowly somehow made me into a competent programmer so that when I started going to job interviews, I had all the skills I needed to make it in the real world.”
What is the most valuable thing you gained from the education you received from Mercer? “Besides, well, learning how to program, I would say public speaking. I was given many opportunities to explain the software I was working on (Friday Colloquiums, GDG meetings, etc.). Being able to explain the software I'm working on to both technical and non-technical people is a useful tool I use frequently at my job.”
Who was your favorite/most impactful Professor? Why? “Haha, this is kind of like asking which parent is your favorite; somebody is going to get their feelings hurt. I'll go with Dr. Allen as my favorite and Dr. Digh as the most impactful. Dr. Allen's classes were always entertaining and never felt like he was just talking the information at you. Dr. Digh was the best advisor anyone could hope for. He always made sure I stayed on track so I could graduate on time and was always available to talk whenever I needed help with something.”
What is your favorite memory from your time at Mercer? “My favorite memory at Mercer was when we went to Epcot during a Programming Team Competition in Orlando. Dr. Digh showed us all of the hidden Mickey symbols around the park as well as designed an order to go on all the rides without waiting that even Dijkstra would have been proud of.”
What was your favorite class? “My favorite class at Mercer was Software Engineering. We were tasked with creating a Virtual Tour of the Mercer campus for the Admissions Office. This was my first experience creating a product from the ground up and the product really felt like it was ours.”
What was the most useful class you took? “The most useful class I took a Mercer was probably the Special Topics class I took senior year. We were asked to make a new version of the CS website. This course gave me my first experience with real-world development concepts such as version control and Agile development, which I use at my current job daily.”
QUESTIONS? Thank You