2 Graduating Student-Veterans Share Their Courage to Begin Again

Highlights

• U.S. Army veterans Alexandria Marcellus and Mason Miles successfully transitioned from military service to college, leveraging UCF's veteran support and experiential learning opportunities to launch careers before graduation.

• Hands-on industry experiences, including Lockheed Martin's College Work Experience Program, connected classroom learning with real-world skills that prepared both students for professional success.

• Both veterans leave UCF with bachelor's degrees they once never imagined earning, supportive communities and careers already underway.

• Marcellus, an , will begin working for CHA Consulting, a local engineering consulting firm, this fall. Miles, a computer engineering major, has already accepted a cyber software engineer role with Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando.

For a combined 13 years, Alexandria Marcellus and Mason Miles lived lives defined by missions, military orders and serving something greater than themselves.

Then came a challenge unlike any either had faced before: college.

Stepping onto UCF's campus meant trading uniforms for backpacks, military precision for unstructured schedules and familiar routines for classrooms filled with students years younger than themselves. After years of knowing exactly where they needed to be and when, they suddenly had to chart their own course.

That uncertainty became the beginning of an entirely new mission.

This summer, the two U.S. Army veterans - both first-generation college students - will cross the stage during UCF's Summer 2026 Commencement with bachelor's degrees and full-time jobs already secured. Their journeys represent far more than earning a degree. They show how resilience, adaptability and a willingness to embrace the unknown can transform possibility into opportunity.

(Photo by Antoine Hart)

Alexandria Marcellus: Finding Stability - and a Calling to Serve

Marcellus has spent much of her life opening doors no one in her family had opened before.

At 17, she became the first person in her family to enlist in the Army. While stationed in Germany, she earned an associate degree in business administration and began to see college as a realistic option for the first time.

"The military was an escape," Marcellus says. "If I wanted a different life from the one I'd seen, this was the way."

"Serving my soldiers put me in a position to always be in service of others because of the difference that I can make." -Alexandria Marcellus

During seven years of military service, she quickly rose into a noncommissioned officer leadership role, discovering that her greatest fulfillment came from helping others succeed.

"Serving my soldiers put me in a position to always be in service of others because of the difference that I can make. That's what stuck with me the most," Marcellus says.

That mindset followed her to UCF.

Leaving the military and becoming a full-time student just two months later proved more difficult than she expected.

The campus felt enormous. The freedom she had long desired suddenly became intimidating. Unsure where she fit, she walked into UCF's Office of Military and Veteran Student Success (MVSS), where a veteran peer success coach assured her she wasn't alone.

"That's when, for the first time since I left the military, I felt like somebody understood me," Marcellus says.

What began as a place to ask questions quickly became what she describes as her "duty station on campus."

Inspired by the support she received, Marcellus returned as a peer success coach, helping veterans and students on academic probation regain confidence, navigate challenges and create plans for success. Often, she found that what students needed most was someone willing to listen.

She recalls several students telling her, "No one has ever asked me what's going on in my life that's affecting my grades."

Marcellus became that person.

Wanting women veterans to experience the same sense of belonging she found in the military, Marcellus established the Women Veterans Association at UCF, creating a community where women veterans could build lifelong friendships and support one another throughout college.

"If I could create a space where women could come together and find someone who was going to be pivotal to them succeeding along their journey," Marcellus says, "then I wanted to do it."

Her own journey wasn't without setbacks. After realizing the management major wasn't the right academic fit, she discovered UCF's integrated business program, where collaborative projects and interdisciplinary coursework aligned perfectly with her strengths.

"I want my future children, my nieces and nephews, my godchildren and anyone close to me to see what's possible because when you watch someone you know accomplish something, it suddenly feels like something you can accomplish, too." -Alexandria Marcellus

As graduation approached, she looked beyond the classroom for industry experience. After six unanswered applications to Lockheed Martin, persistence paid off when she landed a year-long position through the Lockheed Martin College Work Experience Program (CWEP), which provides undergraduate and graduate students with real-world work skills relevant to their academic and career goals. As an integrated program planner, she balanced full-time coursework while coordinating schedules, improving processes and building industry-ready skills.

The experience helped prepare her for her current position as an administrative assistant at CHA Consulting, a local engineering consulting firm, where she supports engineering teams across Central Florida.

Graduation isn't the finish line. She plans to earn her project management professional certification before pursuing graduate studies focused on business psychology and organizational leadership.

For Marcellus, every achievement represents another opportunity for someone else.

"Every single challenge or opportunity in life is like a door," she says. "When I can open one, it doesn't just change my life. It creates a path for people coming after me. I want my future children, my nieces and nephews, my godchildren and anyone close to me to see what's possible, because when you watch someone you know accomplish something, it suddenly feels like something you can accomplish, too."

(Photo by Antoine Hart)

Mason Miles: Turning Curiosity into a Career

For many teenagers, an 18th birthday comes with cake and car keys. For Miles, it came with a decision to enlist in the Army.

College wasn't financially realistic after high school, but military service offered opportunity, purpose and a way forward.

The son of a construction worker who had long been fascinated by engineering and aviation, Miles participated in JROTC throughout high school before spending six years in the Army, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

He began as an unmanned aircraft operator before advancing to aircraft commander, instructor and noncommissioned officer, eventually helping develop battlefield training doctrine alongside senior military leaders - responsibilities few people in their early twenties ever experience.

Yet during deployment, another passion quietly emerged.

"I saw that it was direct industry-relevant experience that was veteran-preferred. So I thought, 'Why not try my hand at it?' I ended up in a field that has a ton to do with my exact interest." - Mason Miles

Between missions, he taught himself Python programming, built Arduino robotics kits and enrolled in online college courses.

"I knew engineering was something I was interested in," Miles says. "I never thought I would do it. Once I got back from deployment, I saw I had plateaued [in my career]. My natural next step was in engineering."

Returning to his hometown of Orlando, he enrolled at UCF to study computer engineering.

Determined to gain industry experience as early as possible, he applied to Lockheed Martin's CWEP program during his first year as a Knight.

Having previously worked with Lockheed Martin while serving in the military, he recognized the program as an opportunity to combine classroom learning with real-world experience.

"I saw that it was direct industry-relevant experience that was veteran-preferred," he says. "So I thought, 'Why not try my hand at it?' I ended up in a field that has a ton to do with my exact interest."

Over the past three years, Miles has worked as a software engineer focused on cybersecurity for embedded systems, strengthening his knowledge of software and hardware development.

"Every class I took throughout my computer engineering degree either has a direct piece of software or skill or toolbox that I need for my job." - Mason Miles

Classroom learning and professional experience quickly became inseparable.

"Every class I took throughout my computer engineering degree either has a direct piece of software or skill or toolbox that I need for my job," Miles says.

His proudest accomplishment came during Senior Design, a capstone course for engineering and computer science disciplines at UCF. He helped create a biometric sleep-tracking device that mimics a bedside lamp - an invention he hopes to patent while continuing his accelerated bachelor's-to-master's degree in computer engineering.

Miles has already accepted a full-time position as a cyber software engineer with Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control in Orlando.

Where Their Stories Go From Here

For Marcellus, graduation represents another door opened for her and for the generations of family members and fellow veterans who'll follow.

For Miles, it marks the moment when years of military service give way to a career solving tomorrow's greatest engineering problems.

As they graduate with careers already underway, they embody what military service has always been about: using your skills to make a difference wherever you're called next.

More Topics

College of Engineering and Computer Science Commencement Office of Military and Veteran Student Success Lockheed Martin College Work Experience Program Barry S. Miller College of Business