The Next Mission

Cayce Byrd

B.S. IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

For 14 Years, Cayce Byrd served in the U.S. Coast Guard, earning EMT and pharmacy technician certifications while supporting service members’ medical readiness. She retired in 2022 as an E-5, stepping into an entirely different kind of challenge.

“I was in a pretty bad mental state,” she says. “My world was spiraling. I had a choice: Keep going down that road or make a change.” She chose sobriety, quit smoking and focused on caring for her family. Two years later, she set her sights on the future, enrolling at South in spring 2024. She’s now a junior majoring in computer science. She hopes to work in consulting after graduation. Her military mindset remains a guiding influence.

“If all you have is 80%, try to give 85,” she says. “Do what you can, take care of yourself, and finish the job in front of you.” She wants other veterans to feel that sense of progress, too.

“I literally went from desperation to determination,” Byrd says. “I’m happy to help in any way I can.”

Quiton Hurry

B.S. IN SPORT MANAGEMENT

Army Veteran Quiton Hurry grew up in Monroe County, Alabama, where football shaped his life long before he enlisted in the military. As a cavalry scout stationed with the 2nd Battalion, 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii, he learned what it meant to push through pain for the people beside him. “My battle buddy was falling behind, and I twisted my knee helping him,” he says. “We still had three miles to go. You find a way to finish the mission.”

A second knee surgery led to his medical discharge in 2014, but he never stepped away from the sport he loves. He coached high school football for years before moving to Mobile and pursuing a degree at South. “I always felt like South had so much potential,” Hurry says. “I wanted to be a part of helping build something great here.”

Now a sport management major and volunteer with Jaguar football’s recruiting and scouting staff, he hopes to keep climbing in the world of college athletics.

“You’re going to mess up,” he says. “How you get back up says who you are.”

Denny Nguyen

B.S. IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

As a Black Hawk helicopter mechanic and crew member with the Alabama National Guard, Denny Nguyen learned how to stay steady under pressure. “I really enjoyed fixing helicopters,”he says. “That got my gears  turning.” But after years of turning wrenches, he wanted to take his skills further.

Originally from Greenville, Alabama, Nguyen has family roots in Mobile. His parents came to the city from Vietnam during the war, and his father once ran a seafood business here. When Nguyen decided to study electrical engineering, his father offered him the family’s house in Mobile while he attended South.

Before the fall semester began, Nguyen enrolled in South’s Summer Start program, earning seven credit hours while getting to know professors and classmates.

“It gave me a head start that made a huge difference,” he says.

“It helped me adjust to college life after the military.”

That transition wasn’t easy, but the discipline he learned in service guided him. “In the military, goals are set for you,” he says.

“Now, we have to set our own and keep moving forward.”