Editor's Note: This is the fourth in a series of profiles of winter 2023 graduates.
Jamel Shorts wasted no time in completing his college education.
At 21 years old, he will walk in the December graduation after earning a bachelor's degree in cybersecurity. While he is the youngest of three siblings, he is the first in his generation, including cousins, to finish college.
He said he was able to move ahead quickly by participating in the Prince George’s County 3D Scholars (PG3D) Program that allows qualified students to complete college level courses while in high school toward an associate degree from Prince George’s Community College and then having all of the credit automatically and seamlessly transferred to University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) to complete a bachelor’s degree in the student’s field of choice.
All of this allowed him to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree and launch into the workforce without any college debt.
And, Shorts finished while working full time at a government agency he declined to identify for more than a year and a half with a top-secret security clearance, using what he had been learning while earning his degree.
Now that Shorts has finished his degree, he said his work with the government shifts from being a student intern to a full employee.
While other young boys may have had dreams of professional sports careers, Shorts told his parents at an early age he was fascinated by penetration testing, finding and exploiting vulnerabilities in computer systems.
“My parents asked me what do you want to be when you grow up,” he said. “And I always told them I want to be a penetration tester, either for a private company or the government. This has always been a thing for me for so long.”
For high school, Shorts began at Chesapeake Math and IT Academy South in Upper Marlboro, Md., a charter school that has high expectations for its students. As early as the 9th grade he searched the internet to find the best program to allow him to complete college and found the PG3D Scholars.
“I saw that this will get me all the way to a bachelor's, and it's still going to be paying for me,” he said. “I had to write a long essay about why I think I would fit for the program. Before I knew it, I was accepted as a PG3D scholar for the next school year at Flowers.”
Charles H. Flowers High School is a comprehensive science and technology magnet school in Springdale. By the time Shorts finished there, he had 48 credits toward an associate degree, which he finished at PGCC in two semesters before beginning at UMGC.
He said his mother, who graduated from UMGC with a degree in criminal justice while holding a job and raising a family, was a role model for him in time management.
“She was able to manage her time effectively, and I kind of just mimicked that,” he said. “It was a skill I had to adapt to in order to make things a lot easier for myself.”
And, the PG3D Scholars Program “drilled it into your head how important it was to manage your time,” he said.” If they see you are slipping, you can always reach out to your counselor, and they’re quick to respond to help you build a plan.”
He said he had to fight procrastination.
“Sometimes I do fall victim to procrastination,” he said. “It’s one of my biggest challenges. If you don’t manage your time effectively, it’s easy to feel like you are getting swamped with work. But I never had a moment where I have ever had to tell myself I couldn’t do it. I just told myself, ‘I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna do it.’”
As he started each class, he would break down the assignments to know when each had to be done. Sometimes, he would be working a couple of weeks in advance to keep ahead.
He said if he ever felt overwhelmed, he could turn to a UMGC success coach, who is trained to help students stay on track and intervene when they see trouble developing. Rachel Payne was assigned to Shorts and did a lot for him, he said.
“I could always reach out to her at any time to get any sort of help with any sort of issue,” he said. “She would say, ‘reach out to me at any time.’”
His advice to prospective PG3D Scholar students is not to be afraid to apply.
“I thought this was going to be difficult to get in,” he said. “I was afraid it would be so rigorous that I wouldn’t have time to play games with my friends because I would be so focused on my work. But then I got into the program. Got that little step in the door that eased me into the deep end of the pool. I was okay. This isn’t so bad. It’s just more on me to get the work done. If I was confused, I could always ask the professor.
“Prioritizing your time is a critical skill to master, too,” Shorts added. “You may need to give more time to the college-level courses, so you have to manage that carefully.”
Looking back, Shorts also was grateful for Tumisha Alao, the PG3D scholars program coordinator at Prince George’s County Public Schools, who guided him throughout his journey. “I was always able to reach out and talk to her even after leaving high school and PGCC,” Shorts said. “She assisted me with any issues I encountered, and I was able to transition smoothly from degree to degree.”
Shorts also said that his fellow scholars often took the same classes and leaned on each other to get through some of the tougher courses. “You never felt like you were alone,” Shorts said. In fact, “in the process, we have all become good friends to this day.”
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