Jaden Price was hoping to get a head start in life when he chose to attend Lorain County Community College after graduating from North Ridgeville High School in 2022. Beyond being an affordable choice, Price knew the college could provide early employer connections within his field of study.  

Sure enough, Price has been working at University Hospital St. John Medical Center as an information technology intern for more than six months. And he’s hopeful about staying on as a full-time employee once he graduates.

Price, 21, is earning his Associate of Applied Business in Computer Information Systems - Network Communication Technology. It’s a career choice that just made sense.   

“Information technology has always sounded like a perfect job to me,” Price said. “I never had a lot of hobbies or things I was particularly interested in, but computers and helping people always was something I strived to be good with.”

Helping people is exactly what he does in his role at University Hospitals. Every day Price is tasked with walking each floor and moving throughout every department to identify technology issues that might be happening. He gathers information to help resolve those issues as soon as possible. Price also helps to set up doctors’ offices with new computer equipment, attends meetings and forums about upcoming changes and patterns the IT team has noticed, and troubleshoots problems over the phone for remote workers.  

“I find working in IT to be a completely rewarding experience,” Price said. “Knowing you’re helping others just by doing the thing you love and have sunk so much time into leaning.” 

During his time at LCCC, Price has been on the receiving side of help, too. He accessed the LCCC tutoring center regularly, especially when it came to programming. 

“Programming was a huge barrier for me considering how many different terms, rules, and definitions are required to grasp it,” Price said. “Sometimes it would overwhelm me, but I was able to get the help I needed through LCCC tutoring.” 

Price also found it helpful when his instructors pulled from their own experiences to share stories and tips. LCCC assistant professor Nathanial Neeland did so often.  

“He would use these real-life stories to help teach us about problems or solutions he’s found along the way,” Price said. 

When Price was able to step away from the fast-food industry and accept the internship at University Hospitals, he knew he was getting the head start he had come to LCCC for.  

“This opportunity was right in front of my face for an internship, so I jumped on it,” Price said. “After working in it for over six months I love it, and I think it might just be my dream job. After I graduate, I’ll have a full-time job doing two of my favorite things in the whole world, which is helping others and computer work.”