World Class Education

2021 Grads from All Over Converge on Regis’ Northwest Denver Campus

The paths that brought Pavan Kaur and Anton Iliev to the Regis lawn May 1 to pick up their computer science diplomas were winding, sometimes bumpy, and started worlds apart.

For Iliev, the road to Regis began in Bulgaria, included a stint in that country’s military, led him to his wife, and, eventually, to Colorado Springs. He taught himself to repair personal computers – after first building his own – and split his time between his repair business and being a stay-at-home dad to his little girl.

He had long wanted a degree to complement his natural skills, but, he said, “I always found an excuse,” not to enroll in college. Eventually, he told himself to “pull on big boy pants,” and get that diploma.

Kaur, who grew up in Los Angeles after her family moved from Singapore when she was two, headed off to college after graduating from high school. When her father died suddenly, she returned home to grieve and care for her mother and younger sister. “I had to re-examine my career goals then,” she said. That meant scrapping her biology major in favor of computer science classes at a local community college. There she became an advocate for women pursuing careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), she said.

Iliev and Kaur each found their way to Regis, or rather to online learning at Regis. Until the sunny Saturday they put on cap and gown, walked across the stage and officially became college graduates, neither had met any of their classmates or instructors. Or set foot on the campus of the University that gave them a chance, finally, to earn a degree.

When the pomp and circumstance ended, Iliev and Kaur, like many of their online classmates, once again took off in different directions. He wants to be an Android developer. She’s considering earning her master’s degree.

Both agree their Regis experience was worth waiting for.