John Ostrom

Student

“SMC was a second chance. It’s helped me make an all new record for myself.”

John Ostrom never thought much about the sciences and math while in high school. He was a talented artist and was winning awards. “But I really wasn’t happy being that one-dimensional in my studies,” he says. “So SMC has opened all the doors for me to Math and Science.” It was tough. “I had to go into it ‘cold turkey,’” he recalls with a chuckle. “But now I’ve progressed all the way to linear algebra, and I’m liking it.”

John says that his new areas of study are just another approach to the kind of discipline he’s always found in his art. “And I’m planning now on going into computer science or engineering,” he says. “I’d like to get into computer graphics or computer-aided design,” he continues. And John, who has studied music with Lida Beasley, has progressed to the point where he runs a synthesizer keyboard through his computer. He then adds various “paintbox” programs to produce effects that combine math, music and art—all in one high-tech package.

John is currently studying German to be able to speak with the locals when he visits a brother in Europe. He’s making full use of his SMC opportunity. “It’s such a great deal here in terms of price. But beyond that, you’re in a class with, maybe, 30 other students. And it’s a professor—not an assistant—that you’re learning from.” John also finds the quality of speakers at the school inspiring. “It’s just amazing to find world-class people like astrophysicist Stephen Hawking on our campus,” he says.

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