When John Gerschoffer graduated from Edwardsburg High School in 1994, he signed up for programming classes at Southwestern Michigan College. “Programming didn't sit well with me, so I ended up stopping,” he said.

Gerschoffer's back on campus now, having received an SMC advanced technology scholarship, and is studying robotics. In fact, he's in his final semester.

Returning to class after 10 years away was a bit of a shock to Gerschoffer. “School today is completely different from when I started,” he said. “But at my age, I was really able to focus on what I wanted, and SMC has amazing robotics teachers.”

“A lot of different opportunities have been presented to me as an SMC student,” Gerschoffer. “Right now, I'm interning at Lippert in Goshen, where I had already been working for a year. Hopefully, with my new degree, I can move into one of the software areas in
the company.”

His advice to anyone in a situation similar to his is, “Go for it! It's not going to hurt you. It will only enhance your abilities. It was not an easy decision, but I had two options—either keep doing what I was doing and accept my fate, or try to change it. Even if I failed, at least I can say I tried.