Each year, Jason Fullman travels from his home in California to Frankfort for Kentucky State University’s homecoming celebration.
But something was missing: Fullman wasn’t a true KSU alumnus.
Although he attended the university for three years, he transferred to North Carolina A&T State University in 1997 where he earned his electrical engineering degree.
Now he’s an engineer for Mercedes-Benz USA. And he’s going back to school.
Fullman, 33, plans to finish the last 18 hours of his bachelor’s in applied mathematics, mostly through online courses and KSU’s Project Graduate program for adult learners.
“I want to inspire other adults, and I have a passion for this school that has done so much for me,” he said.
“I want to go back and give them the thanks they deserve.”
A native of Chicago’s south side, Fullman originally was accepted at KSU under the appeals process. His test scores and GPA weren’t high enough for entry, but recommendations from teachers and community members got him in.
His high school guidance counselor told him his math scores weren’t good enough to become an engineer, but that just pushed him to work harder. He started in remedial math, but advanced to calculus and physics.
“Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do anything,” he said.
“I really want to reach out to those students and give them that motivation to keep going.”
Fullman attended KSU from 1994-1997 on a baseball scholarship, and turned his life around. He earned a 4.0 GPA his sophomore year, and stayed on the dean’s list for several semesters.
“The environment enabled me to succeed because it was more intimate,” he said. “And really, just seeing individuals who were like-minded, positive and doing good things, it just inspired me.”
He also used tutoring and career counseling resources on campus, he said, which allowed him to land an internship – and later a job – with General Motors.
“A lot of students don’t tap into that, but I did, and it proved to be very successful,” he said.
At the age of 23, he went to work for Mercedes. He says he was the first African American to work in the company’s engineering services department.
Mercedes-Benz employs more than 40,000 in Germany, but only 1,500 work in the U.S. Fullman likes the tight-knit community there – it reminds him of KSU, he says.
After earning a master’s in business administration and several promotions, he became responsible for retail training and performance learning for vehicles in the western U.S.
“When I speak to students, I give the credit to North Carolina A&T because that’s where I earned my degree, but that isn’t where I learned to be a true professional,” he said.
“I want to officially receive my degree from KSU and be a true alumni.”
He’s traveled to Spain, Morocco, Africa and Germany for work, and now he’ll get to see those places in textbooks. His says his life experiences will give his classes greater significance than when he was 18.
“I love the concept of continuous learning. You always have to be in a position of constant learning.’”
“It’s fun to go back and learn and discuss things in a classroom setting, and when you’re more mature, you respect it more and you’re more engaged.”