While most nine-year-olds were playing sports and reading comic books, Justin Stewart was taking apart his family’s computer.
“My love for computers really came from my brothers playing Xbox, and I wanted to play with them,” he says.
The now 25-year-old data scientist recalls fond memories of playing Counter Strike and World of Warcraft with his two older brothers on a desktop Mac that he fixed up himself with spare parts. This hands-on experience at a young age sparked a lifelong interest in computer sciences and its associated fields, particularly in data.
Learning Through Loss, Gaining Through Love
While pursuing his education, Justin’s parents both suffered from severe health ailments. In high school, his father spent a year in an intensive care unit battling a rare, serious disease. While he eventually recovered, Justin switched to homeschooling during that time, a decision that set the stage for his future learning settings.
“I pretty much stayed in distance learning for the rest of my life,” he says. “I went back to high school my first semester of my junior year and it was just a terrible experience.”
While navigating his secondary education, Justin’s mother sadly passed away. Devastated, he fell behind in the middle of earning the first of two associate degrees from another institution, eventually resorting to cutting corners to handle his workload.
However, his professors at the time were sympathetic. Instead of disciplinary action, they gave him a chance to reestablish and redeem himself. One of his professors took extra time to ensure that Justin found success in his classes. He was able to catch up, then thrive, in the basic coursework he missed the first time around.
“I just ended up living in his office hours every single day during all of his office hours,” he says, “and we restarted math fundamentals from the ground up.”
Regaining this momentum did more than raise Justin’s grades. It served as a catalyst for restoring his confidence in his abilities during times of struggle, giving him the confidence he needed to ultimately pursue his Bachelor of Science in Computer Software Technology at the University of Arizona Global Campus (UAGC), which he completed in 2023.
“This was the single defining moment that taught me that I could do anything I wanted to do. I learned that I could rise to the occasion even when I was at ground zero,” he says.
Through it all, he credits his inspiration to push further in his education to his similarly driven father. Even in his late forties, Justin’s father went back to school for his master’s degree, after running a successful business and finishing a bachelor’s degree. He claims that his father chose education as a means to achieve a “permanent solution” to the family’s monetary status, but pride now holds center court.
“My father keeps me going and is a big support unit for me as I go through my master's degree, because he understands, but he's proud,” Justin says.
Discovering His Calling
After earning his bachelor’s degree, a period of trial and error followed Justin’s professional life. He jumped into an internship developing for a gaming engine creating educational games. Despite a positive working environment, he quickly realized that working with multiple programming languages wasn’t his passion.
He started looking into other jobs amidst a “huge existential crisis,” as he called it. His friends were supportive but told him not to overthink things — a piece of advice Justin took in the opposite direction.
“For a long time, I thought that was a bad trait about myself,” he says, “and then I was like, ‘actually, why is that a bad thing? Why do I make that a bad thing? How can I maybe use this to my advantage?’”
Justin started looking into data analysis roles, an occupation that immediately clicked for him. He was able to apply his math knowledge to data science, as well as the classes that coincided with his UAGC bachelor’s degree.
While moving through that period of discovery, Justin found a mentor and friend in Dr. Karen Lynne-Daniels Ivy, Assistant Dean of Technology Studies for Forbes School of Business and Technology® at the University of Arizona Global Campus. She proved to be an instrumental resource for Justin in forming relationships and pushing through some of the uncertainties of degree navigation. Even his current role as a data scientist for a government corporation was aided in part by the connectivity of another UAGC instructor, Michael Hayden.
Justin is currently completing a master’s degree in computational data analytics at another university, a program that his UAGC community inspired him to pursue. Dr. Ivy also encourages Justin to stay involved in the University and its many alumni programs. He tutors current students and gives occasional university talks as a means of paying it forward.
Limitless Hobbies Realized
Equipped with his newfound confidence, Justin’s scope of hobbies has expanded to include more than just video games. He comes from a musical family, with a brother that plays guitar and father that attended college on a music scholarship. He recently started taking an interest in drums.
“I've always felt very connected to music,” he says, “I’ve always been an active listener for things like time signatures and the little nuances that are going on in songs. I have always just enjoyed listening to it for that, and music challenges me.”
Beyond the familial ties, Justin explains that his interest in music coincides into its progression with AI and sees a correlation to the software programs he’s exposed to through his courses and occupation. He dabbles in various programs to explore their capabilities and scaffold his own projects.
“For me, it's been probably the most empowering tool I've ever come across,” he says.
Overall, he credits this openness to exploring new interests to UAGC and its supportive infrastructure.
“That was a lot of what UAGC gave me,” he says. “Beyond that, ever since, I haven't been afraid to try new things all the time.”
A Future Full Of Opportunities
At the end of the day, video games will always be Justin’s passion. He eventually plans to reenter the world of game development, either to work directly on game engines or create useful tools to benefit serious gamers.
In a digital world, he also understands the importance of forming bonds that extend beyond the classroom for career growth and personal endeavors.
“Use the resources available to you while you’re at UAGC,” he advises. “It’s easy to isolate in remote learning environments, but if you just reach out and read your emails and check things, your whole life could change.”
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Certain degree programs may not be available in all states.
Student success stories should not be interpreted as a promise or guarantee of career advancement or future earnings. The stories shared here represent the outcomes of individual students for illustrative purposes only.