When Sean Patterson was looking at four-year colleges, he wasn鈥檛 sure where his interests would take him. He was a die-hard music fan and a drummer, and he was deeply curious about the sonic components involved in recording bands.
Patterson heard about UMass Lowell鈥檚 celebrated sound recording technology (SRT) program and was intrigued. Although subjects like calculus and physics were outside his comfort zone, he applied, was accepted and enrolled.
鈥淚 was naive going into it. It was a big wake-up call, taking courses like calculus. It was pretty hard for me, but I learned so much. I loved the recording side of the program enough to keep me going through the math and physics,鈥� says Patterson, who earned an associate鈥檚 degree in liberal arts from Cape Cod Community College before transferring to UMass Lowell.聽聽
鈥淢y experience in the SRT program taught me how to get better and 鈥� importantly 鈥� how to ask for help,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 definitely learned to learn.鈥�
Patterson, who earned both a 产补肠丑别濒辞谤鈥檚 and master鈥檚 from the SRT program, also had a pipeline to sought-after internships. During the summer of 2017, he worked a paid summer internship with Sony PlayStation in San Diego (鈥淧aradise,鈥� he says), where he was involved with the production side of recording. The two previous summers, he interned at the Bay State-based Bose Corporation, work that he also loved.
鈥淲hat I brought into the real world was that professors don鈥檛 hold your hand and show you their way of doing things, because then you鈥檇 just copy them,鈥� Patterson says. 鈥淭hey teach you the skills to be self-sufficient and understand how the gear works. Then they let you figure out how to master it.鈥澛�
His professional experience ultimately led to a full-time job offer from Bose as an acoustic engineer with the company鈥檚 headphones division, starting in September 2017.聽聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 a dream job, because they create products for music lovers and musicians. And it鈥檚 also part of my goal to work in 3-D audio and virtual reality product design,鈥� Patterson says. Bose offers 鈥渁 lot of opportunity, and they offer a lot of classes to keep you learning and advancing.鈥澛�
Patterson credits the SRT program for helping launch his career. He loved the program鈥檚 鈥渇amily feeling.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 relatively small, and you end up relying on your classmates, and they on you. And that also helped me learn to network with people. We were all in this together.鈥�
He has high praise for the 鈥渞eally active鈥� SRT alumni association: 鈥淭hey reach out to you at the end of your undergrad, and it is often a huge assist to people. These are the people with real experience.鈥�
Now, he鈥檚 one of them.