Alex Koontz, Class of 2022
Web Developer at GbBIS
"Penn State York is the greatest collection of helpful, skilled, and passionate people I have ever experienced."
Deciding on a college can be stressful, but for Alex Koontz, Penn State York was an easy choice.
"Penn State has a reputation for quality education and a great sense of community,” Koontz said. “I wanted to experience that first-hand.”
Koontz graduated in the spring of 2022 with a bachelor of science degree in Information Science and Technology (IST)*. During his time as a student, he worked as a web intern for Penn State York for three years, where he helped the University transition to new campus websites. He recalls that his experience at Penn State York was challenging in the best ways.
“My experience at Penn State York has set me up perfectly for my career,” Koontz said. “I face many challenges in my current position, but Penn State has allowed me to develop a confidence that I can achieve great things if I set my mind to it.”
Not only was the IST program at Penn State York personally beneficial for Koontz due to its local convenience, but it also prepared him for his career after college.
“As an IST student, I worked on many group projects that involved students dividing up computer programming work for a singular piece of software,” Koontz explained. “This required constant communication during the development of the software. In my career, this continues to be the path to success, and this continues to be the path to success. More than half of my job is communicating what I am doing.”
Koontz now lives in Washington State with his fiancé Ann while working remotely for a Pennsylvania company as a web application developer.
“Graduating from Penn State York is bittersweet,” Koontz said. “I was challenged to be my best, and I learned to keep calm and trust my ability to get things done.”
* The bachelor of science degree in IST is now titled Information Technology (IT) as of fall 2022, and reflects a few changes in the program.