Before he started classes at Bay College, Thomas Tissue was a student at Centreville Junior and Senior High School in Centreville, MI. There, he participated in that school’s early/middle college program and took classes at Glen Oaks Community College.
In 2023, Thomas graduated from Centreville Junior and Senior High School. However, this was not his initial plan; instead, he had hoped to complete the early/middle college program and graduate a year later.
“Circumstances led me to move up here before finishing my thirteenth year,” he said.
After graduating, he resumed his college education at Bay during the Fall 2023 semester.
According to Thomas, this change of plans caused his full-time college education to get off to a “fairly chaotic” start. However, he has been able to transfer his college credits and get things mostly under control since then with the help of people at Bay.
“I’m working with the TRIO advisor and my transfer advisor. Both of them have been very helpful,” he said.
Additionally, he has appreciated the support of Bay’s teachers.
“They’re all really personal, which makes it nice,” Thomas said.
Outside of his classes, Thomas has become a member of Gaming Galaxy and the Dungeons and Dragons Club.
“They’re just looking to have a good time, which is nice,” he said of Bay’s clubs.
At Bay College, Thomas is majoring in liberal arts. Eventually, he hopes to transfer to Michigan Technological University and switch his major to game development and design.
According to Thomas, his interest in designing video games began with the programming courses his previous college offered.
“That sparked a fascination with the computer/programming world and the joy of game design,” he said.
Many of Thomas’ programming and computer science credits will transfer to Michigan Tech. Meanwhile, Bay’s certificates should help him with subjects the school does not offer “traditional” classes on.
Thomas aims to transfer to Michigan Tech at the end of the winter 2025 semester. From there, he plans to explore that college’s internship opportunities with Google.
“A lot of the internships they offer there transfer very nicely to other areas,” he said, adding that he could potentially use an internship at Google to connect with leading video game companies like Nintendo, Sega, Microsoft, and Blizzard.