During his childhood, Michael would dismantle his parents’ desktop monitor to figure out its inner workings. Fortunately, his neighbour, who owned a computer shop, was on hand to help repair it when Michael could not piece it back together and would later offer him his first role in the industry when he was just 15 years old.

After building experience, Michael started a university course in his home country of Italy in 2012 hoping to get the qualifications that would allow him to progress in the field. Unfortunately, he had to pause this due to his family’s financial circumstances. To support both his parents and his career goals, Michael soon started work at a software company where he began developing key practical skills such as dealing with customers, meeting deadlines and maintaining high standards.

Michael was determined to complete his degree and, as a deeply religious individual, turned to his faith for guidance on where he should study. The answer led him to England and in turn to Leeds Trinity University, where he started in September 2021.

“I prayed, and God said I should go to Leeds,” Michael said. “Luckily enough, my dad’s friend is a pastor in a church here, and he took me in. I selected Leeds Trinity as my first option and prayed that I’d get in, and I did.”

Adversity in his first year due to the language barrier, pandemic-enforced restrictions and family issues threatened to bring an early end to his second attempt at university. However, Michael decided to make his struggles worthwhile and worked even harder to make the most of the opportunity.

His resilience and determination have paid off as Michael, now 32, has achieved a first-class degree and secured a permanent job as a Software and Application Developer at Inhealthcare, a remote patient monitoring service based in Harrogate.

Michael said: “I always knew I would return to university to complete my dream. I think I have been blessed because I have always found the right opportunity at the right time, and Leeds Trinity University was certainly right for me. As well as what I have been taught, the people have been fantastic. My peers and professors have been so understanding of my situation, so the best part for me was having them around. Their support contributed a lot to my experience and helped make my success possible.

“Since completing my studies, I have been working full-time and my plan now is to build more experience. I love academia, so my journey in education will definitely continue and I’ll most likely be back at Leeds Trinity to study for a Masters soon enough.”

Jim Diockou, Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at Leeds Trinity University, said: “Michael embodies resilience, hard work, self-motivation, self-awareness, discipline and problem-solving intelligence as a computer science student. It has been fantastic to see his progression both academically and as an individual, and I am so pleased that he has achieved the outcome he hoped for after all his impressive efforts.”

Michael graduates as the University prepares to open its new Leeds City Campus at 1 Trevelyan Square in the heart of Leeds in the 2024/25 academic year. The School of Computer Science will deliver programmes at the City Campus – alongside Business, Construction and the Built Environment (CBE), Criminology, Investigation and Policing (CIP) and Law – providing new opportunities for students from the UK and internationally to achieve their ambitions.

For more information on the Computer Science degree at Leeds Trinity, and other courses available in Clearing, visit the University website.