Macon State College MVPs is a web feature that profiles notable students, alumni, faculty and staff.
Michael Clough's Macon State IT degree led to a great career at Middle Georgia Technical College.
Full Name: Michael Clough.
Age: 27.
Hometown: Macon.
Residence: Gordon.
High School: Westside High School.
Family: Wife, Danielle Clough.
Degree Earned: Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, Class of 2007.
Current Employment: Middle Georgia Technical College.
Career: “I am the Information System Administrator and I primarily work on the network, phones, and websites, but I also help with desktop maintenance and audio/visual equipment. I am also a part-time adjunct instructor in the Computer Information System department.”
He chose Macon State College because … “It was close to home. Macon State offered numerous online classes and night classes that made it easy to work while going to school. I had also always heard that Macon State challenges students and that once you graduated employers would know that you had gained the proper skills for the job.”
The one thing that surprised him about Macon State was … “I went to another school before Macon State and the professors there were always kind of standoffish and did not seem to take an interest in the students. The professors at Macon State were always willing to answer questions and provide help to any problems that you had. They provided whatever assistance they could to help the students and make sure they graduated.”
His favorite professor was … “I had two professors that were my favorites. One was IT professor James Leonard and the other was English professor Mary Carney. James Leonard was the instructor for most of my upper-level programming classes, and his assignments made me think outside the box. I had done programming before so I thought the classes would be easy, but his projectors and tests required me to think critically and take different steps to solve problems. Mary Carney also made me think, and she was very helpful when explaining what I had done wrong and what I needed to work harder at. She helped me develop an ability to think critically about all sorts of problems that help me out even today in my current career.”
One thing people don’t know about him is … “I originally thought I was going to be a mechanical engineer, but changed my mind. I also like to collect anything Ford Mustang- related. And, I am the first person in my family to have graduated with a bachelor’s and then a master’s degree.”
The one person he’d most like to meet is … “The tech person in me would like to meet someone like Bill Gates. I would like to find out how he turned some of his ideas into the company that he built. I would also like to know how he is able to handle the ups and downs that come with business and what strategy he chooses to deal with the issues that arise on a daily basis.”
Five years from now he sees himself … “I see myself still enjoying working for Middle Georgia Technical College. Since I deal with technology it is difficult to say what I will be doing in five years since things in my industry change so quickly. I look forward to the challenges of this career because it does change so much and I will always keep learning.”