Patrick Todd, a business major who’s concentrating on IT management, has worked at IPaT as a student assistant for five years. He helps with tasks like sorting mail, running errands, greeting visitors, and event prep.

One aspect of his work that he likes the most is observing IPaT’s interdisciplinary research initiatives and how “different types of research all mesh together to make a ton of different things happen.” Each person at IPaT plays a role – whether big or small – in making it happen, he said.

The bi-annual Convergence Innovation Competition is another favorite. It’s an opportunity to see innovative ideas from other Georgia Tech students. “The ideation, creation, and design thinking are refreshing. I can tell that [CIC participants] really like what they’re doing and are there for more than just a grade.”

Outside of school and work, Todd enjoys music (previously playing in a band), video games, and is a lifelong bowler. He’s a member of the Tech Rec Bowling League, playing against dorm and fraternity leagues and sharing his bowling skills with other students.

Coupled with hobbies and a full course load, Todd says working at IPaT for his entire college career has “embedded a drive, a passion to keep my head down and keep going.”

It hasn’t been easy. When the Savannah native moved to Atlanta in 2015, he only knew one person in his new city. At just 18 years old, he had to get used to being on his own – physically, socially, and financially. He calls the experience character-building and added, “It’s made me a strong person, very self-sufficient.”

Todd graduates in the spring. After a break over the summer, he’ll stay in the Atlanta area to work at Deloitte as a cyber risk consultant, his top choice out of the dozens of jobs for which he applied. He calls getting the job offer, “almost Disney-esque, how it happened.”

In his new role, Todd will analyze clients’ IT structures and practices, let them know where they’re vulnerable for a cyber-attack, and help to implement solutions. “A lot of businesses nowadays are crucially dependent on IT. A cyber-attack would cripple a good number of them.”

He wasn’t sure where his path would lead after graduation and had anxiety about it, but his network of family, friends, and colleagues inspired him to keep going.

“Now that I’m at the end of it, I’m glad I never stopped. It was worth it for sure.”