It’s been a busy year for Mesa Community College graduate Nathan Pan. First, his team took top honors at the 2015 Avnet Tech Games Onsite Competition. Next, Pan was selected from hundreds of student across the country to be part of the Cisco Live Dream Team in San Diego this summer.

Pan graduates from MCC this May with an AAS in Networking System Administration, an AGEC-A, Certificates of Completion and several industry certifications including CCNA, A+ and Net+.

Pan said MCC is where his interest in the IT industry blossomed.

“MCC has given me the opportunity to discover a career field that I am curious and passionate about, as well as given me the necessary technical and non-technical skills that I will need to have to be successful in an ever-changing IT industry,” Pan said.

The Avnet competition tested Pan’s technical skills and abilities to work in a team environment. MCC professor Bob Samson said Pan is a great asset to team collaborations.

“Nathan is a very dedicated and self-motivated student who is pursuing his passion for computer networking,” said MCC Networking faculty member Bob Samson. “He constantly challenges himself (and consequently his instructors) to better himself and his classmates.”

Pan said he values the opportunity to apply what he learned in his classes to real-life situations, while meeting some of the best engineers in the industry. He received a $1,000 scholarship and a remote-controlled drone quadcopter for his participation in the Avent Tech Games.

“This experience allowed me to understand the skills that are needed in the IT industry,” Pan said. “Furthermore, this experience has given me a great opportunity to understand what future day-to-day tasks I might have as a system administrator or network engineer.”

A Chandler resident, Pan is transferring to Northern Arizona University to finish his bachelor’s degree in Information Technology Management. He plans to complete more IT industry certifications in the future. Pan also hopes to continue to make a difference in his current position as an intern at Banner Health.

This summer, he is looking forward to participating in the Cisco Live! event.

“I am very honored to have been chosen to be part of the Cisco Live! 2015 Dream Team, and would like to thank my family, professors and friends for their continued support and encouragement,” Pan said.

More information on the Networking & Security Program at MCC.