Jackie Barlow III, Class of 2017
United States Army MLRS Crewmember
“Although Penn State York isn’t as big as the University Park campus, I still got the same quality education; I built meaningful friendships with my peers and the professors were always ready to help me further develop my learning experiences.”
Jackie Barlow III began his journey at Penn State York, but his life took a different direction after graduation.
“I decided to join the military the summer before my senior year of college,” he said. “I had wanted to join since high school, but I was given the opportunity to play collegiate baseball and I simply couldn’t pass it up.”
Barlow is glad, however, to have gone to Penn State York first.
“Penn State York provided me with several opportunities that are hard to come by,” he said. “I played baseball for all four years, which was a big deal for me. Along with this, the corporate communications program helped me get a feel for the real world outside of school and understand what my degree can do for me in the future.”
One of these opportunities was an internship in his senior year as a business administrator at Paradigm Software LLC in Maryland.
“Penn State York helped me land that internship and I am forever grateful for that,” Barlow said. “Throughout the internship, I learned about how a business runs and offers its products to their customers. I kept track of contact with current customers and possible future customers by sending emails or making phone calls, which helped me understand how business conversations are conducted and helped develop my skills in professional communication.”
Despite the corporate communications program being fairly new during his time at Penn State York, Barlow acknowledges his education as thorough and insightful.
“Throughout the program, I learned a variety of crucial skills that are great for real-world situations,” he said. “We studied companies and their approaches to communicating with the public, as well as analyzed what companies could do differently to improve their appearance to the outside world. We also developed skills in effective communication for and with companies, which helped me to understand what approach needs to be taken in different kinds of situations. There was also a big emphasis on being able to speak a second language in the communications profession, and the Spanish classes I took at Penn State York helped develop that capability for me.”
Barlow graduated in the spring of 2017 with a bachelor of arts in Corporate Communications, and is now serving as a Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS) Crewmember in the United States Army.
Being a member of the Army isn’t completely related to my degree in corporate communications, but my education comes in handy more often than I anticipated,” he said. “I am able to communicate efficiently when carrying out tasks, which is critical when operating military-grade equipment.”
Barlow is grateful to have gotten the chance to attend Penn State York before enlisting in the United States Armed Forces.
“Penn State York is a great campus to either start your college career or stay for all four years like I did,” he said. “It’s a small campus, so finding your classes and getting more individualized help from the professors is easy. The faculty were always ready to help me, and the friendships I built with my peers still stay with me to this day!”