Parker Lyons '97 Chose a Career Based on Interest
by Gary James '10
At a critical juncture in his life, Parker Lyons ’97 made an important career decision. He would do what he loved, not what he went to graduate school for or what would secure him the biggest salary. He has no regrets. After graduating from Wabash, Lyons decided to go Indiana University for graduate work in journalism and public relations. Others in the field suggested learning web design would be complementary for his professional development. He enrolled into some web page design classes and found that he liked it more than journalism.  Since the time frame coincided with the dot com boom, Lyons decided to continue learning independently about computer development.
"I had to start from scratch," said Lyons, an English major and theater minor. He bought books and went to work learning different computer languages and applications. He started with the standard HTML codes. He gradually worked his way up to Java, one of the more complex applications. "It’s very analytical," he said. "It’s like problem solving. You have to write in a code that is translated through the computer. Solving problems is appealing to me and it’s very laid back. I can listen to music as I work, and I don’t have to wear suits everyday." His hard work paid off, and he received a job offer as a web developer from Nexigent, a subsidiary of Covance Laboratory, in 2000. Having just completed his graduate work in journalism and public relations, he had also received another job offer with the Dallas Mavericks. It was at this point in his life, Lyons decided he would make a living doing something he loved. When the dot com bubble burst, however, Nexigent folded, and its parent company decided only to hire a limited number of employees. Thanks to his experience outside of the computer realm, Lyons was hired by Covance. "They kept me on even though I didn’t have as much experience as the others because I had a strong background in communications and English," said Lyons. "They wanted someone who could function as more than a problem solver. They wanted someone who could cover a lot of different areas." Lyons credits Wabash in large part for his discipline to develop a skill he did not have and for saving his job after the tech boom ended. The academic program at Wabash forces people who want to do well to discipline themselves in order to succeed, he said. "You don’t really have the chance to cut corners to get good grades because of the intense writing standards. Putting time aside to study and know the material before the test is necessary or else you won’t know what you’re writing about and you won’t get a good grade. I loved the professors and their encouragement to go the extra mile to learn things on your own." Lyons, a President’s Scholar and Phi Kappa Psi who graduated Cum Laude, channeled that encouragement by taking it upon himself to attend classes at IUPUI and learn things on his own while at Wabash and after graduation. "Being well versed in different things sets you apart from your coworkers, and it saved my job." Lyons is currently the Senior Applications Developer at Covance and lives in Westfield, Indiana with his wife Michele and eight-week-old son Owen.
Printer-Friendly version
| Email this profile
| 
