Jordan Perrucci finished his college career as a high-performing student whose laser focus on his future led to a job waiting for him upon graduation. But it wasn’t always that way for the Brashear High School graduate.

Jordan hit a rough patch for a couple semesters in his classes as a cyber forensics and information security major. “I was kind of like a C average, didn’t really do much extra, did papers the night before,” he says. At one point he was so overwhelmed by a couple of classes that he stopped going altogether. His GPA plummeted, and there was no guarantee he’d be allowed to enroll for another semester. Then he got a phone call – a wake-up call, actually – from his academic counselor.

“He really convinced me that this program is something I started and should really finish, because there are a lot of opportunities,” says Jordan. “Something clicked.”

Jordan’s counselor encouraged him to bring his homework to the university’s Center for Student Success, which provides academic support and one-on-one tutoring and guidance. “I went there every day and ended up almost getting straight A’s, which really got the ball rolling. The next semester I was disciplined enough to get the work done,” he says.

Jordan ultimately conquered the two classes that almost derailed his academic career, earning A’s in both. At a career fair in the spring of his final semester, he made a strong impression with Corazon, a Pittsburgh-area healthcare company where he now works as an information systems analyst. “My job is basically troubleshooting, so it’s something different every day,” he says. “Anytime I get a chance to learn something new, it makes me feel good.”