Before Marc Moore enrolled as a student at Mississippi State, he already was entrenched in the Bulldog community.

Although Moore was born and raised in San Diego, California, he considers Starkville his hometown and the city that “raised” him. At 18, he left California and followed his parents to Mississippi. A year later, he found his way to Starkville, but without a high school degree or a plan for what to do next. He started working at Papa John’s and although he didn’t have a formal connection with the university, he started to make ties with MSU students.

“I was hanging out with a bunch of college kids and trying to avoid talking much about myself,” he said. “All these kids were taking finals and organic chemistry, and I essentially didn’t go to school past the eighth grade. It was kind of humiliating in a way, but I felt like I socially fit in so well with these kids who should have been my peers, but really weren’t.”

While at Papa John’s, he spent significant time building relationships with university staff, faculty and students. He surrounded himself with accepting and kind MSU students who encouraged him to take his General Education Development test and enroll in classes at East Mississippi Community College. So at 20, he did.

“I wanted to be one of them, that ‘functionally on track’ person,” he said. “But I was so far off the track and so far off the rails.”

After two years with EMCC, he enrolled at MSU and became the very sort of scholar that had inspired him to pursue higher education. Moore graduated with his bachelor’s degree in computer science in 2019. Now at 29, he’s on track to defend his dissertation in October and complete his Ph.D. in computer science this December.

“I didn’t even apply anywhere else, and it was for a couple reasons,” he said. “Mainly, it was the students. I liked everybody I met. Everyone I met was wonderful. I never met a single student I didn’t like.” 

For Moore, MSU unlocked his potential and gave him the needed support, from the staff and faculty to the classmates and other peers he encountered. After he completes his Ph.D., Moore wants to continue the research he started with the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems, studying and unlocking the potential of autonomous off-road vehicle capabilities for military use.

Even though he will likely leave Starkville next year, he’s not excited about leaving behind the network he’s built. No matter where he ends up next, MSU will always be there.

“I’ve never been tired of being in Starkville or at Mississippi State,” he said. “I spent my entire adult life and my most formative years on campus, even when I wasn’t a student. …Leaving State, it’s going to be weird.”