The College of Applied Science and Technology (CAST) at Illinois State University is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year! This series, CAST 50×50, is designed to highlight 50 faculty, staff, students, alumni, and organizations within CAST that make the college special. These notable people will tell you that every day in CAST is a great day to be a Redbird!
Today #CAST50 visits with Brett Fogle ’11, an alumnus from the Department of Technology.
What was your major and when did you graduate from Illinois State University?
My major was computer systems technology, and I graduated in May 2011.
Tell us about your career and how you got to where you are today.
I’m currently an ITS project manager (PM) for COUNTRY Financial, which means I’m responsible for leading and delivering assigned ITS projects from inception through execution while managing the agreed upon resources, scope and budget accordingly. I spend a lot of time working directly with our technical teams as well as our business partners to help bridge communication gaps and provide executive level reporting to our sponsors.
I’ve always had an interest in leadership and management primarily because I love working with and supporting others. In college I realized I became passionate about project management because of the early leadership opportunities it could provide. Although I studied computer systems technology in college, I worked with my professors to find any available resources on project management methodologies and utilized this information to help receive an internship with an IT project management office during my senior year. I was initially hired on at COUNTRY as an ITS business analyst and eventually morphed into the project management role once I gained experience and a true PM position opened up.
What is something you miss the most about ISU?
This is a tough one. I guess one thing I really miss about ISU was the overall experience within the College of Applied Science and Technology. CAST had great professors, such a diverse student body, and many opportunities to focus on and follow your passions. The professors were willing to work with their students to mix in their interests while staying the course with the curriculum. They also seemed to keep the students’ best interests in mind and “mix things up” to try and keep us engaged. I miss all of that, as well as $3 burger baskets in between class at Brewe-Ha’s!
You are visiting one destination in the world. Where are you going?
Definitely the United Kingdom! Also, I would like to travel through as much of Europe as I can from there! I love the history, architecture, and cuisine throughout Europe and can’t wait to get back!
Advice for current students?
Be fully engaged in everything you do. College is one of those experiences, at least for me, that I couldn’t fully appreciate until it was finished and I had moved onto my career. There are so many resources available to students at ISU to help you get the most out of your time there and most are absolutely free (if you don’t count the cost of tuition) with a little willingness to go above and beyond and participate outside of class. A phrase that always resonates with me is “anything worth doing is worth doing right.” I think this is especially true for college. Most people don’t experience college more than once, so make the absolute most of the time that you have there. Your accomplishments in college should be something you can look back on and take pride in knowing that they provided benefit to your future.
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