Graduate Spotlight: Saxton Van Dalsen

After attending one year of college near his hometown of Monticello, Illinois, Saxton Van Dalsen looked for a new path.

“I didn’t enjoy my experience at that college. I was trying to transfer, but I also spoke to all the military branches,” Van Dalsen says. “When I spoke to the Coast Guard, I loved their mission to serve the country and provide life-saving services.”

Ultimately, this led Van Dalsen to sign on to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard, first stationed in Florida. He decided to pursue training to work in IT, inspired by a childhood playing video games and an interest in the tech world. Seven months of training later, Van Dalsen was stationed in Memphis, Tennessee, supporting the transport of goods along the Mississippi River.

“Going into IT was one of the best decisions I’ve made, other than joining the Coast Guard,” Van Dalsen says.

Although Van Dalsen’s contract with the Coast Guard ended in 2022, he continued following his passion for technology. With funding from the GI Bill, Van Dalsen applied for colleges with computer science programs across the West Coast and landed at Seattle University.

“The SU transfer process was so welcoming and they got the most number of credits applied out of all the colleges I applied to,” Van Dalsen says. “The tech hub in Seattle was another big reason. I was super excited when I got the email notice I had been accepted. I withdrew from the other colleges and was like, ‘I’m going to Seattle.’”

Once at SU, Van Dalsen enjoyed the smaller classes in computer science that allowed him to ask questions and engage with his professors. His academic advisor and professor of computer science, Adair Dingle, PhD, provided guidance for his academic path that was integral for Van Dalsen to secure a summer internship as a software development engineer at Amazon.

“The interview process was difficult—they really test you. Professor Dingle had laid out my classes in a way that the questions in the interview were correlated with a class that was really fresh in my mind,” Van Dalsen says. “She supported me and was a mentor who really took me under her wing.”

Van Dalsen continued his work for Amazon this academic year as his senior capstone through the Project Center, part of a team on a project sponsored by the company. The team was tasked with creating an AI workflow to improve the efficiency of on-call engineers under Amazon Game Studio.

“It’s been a great experience,” Van Dalsen says.

On campus, Van Dalsen has been active, serving as a Community Ambassador for The MOSAIC Center and a Veteran Ambassador for the Veteran and Military Student Center. For the latter he organized events for veterans and adult-learners to connect across majors and disciplines.

“It’s community building to meet other veterans I wouldn’t have met in my classes. I’d host a space for people to come work on homework or fun events like movie or karaoke nights,” Van Dalsen says.

After graduating, Van Dalsen will begin full-time work at Amazon as a software development engineer. He plans to stay in the Capitol Hill area and hopes to remain involved with SU as an alum.

“Eventually I’d love to lead one of the Amazon senior capstone projects or come to a career fair,” Van Dalsen says. “I never thought I’d be living in Seattle, but I love it here. Getting my bachelor’s degree at SU was another one of the best decisions of my life.”

Some of Saxton’s Favorites...

Favorite spot on campus: The Quad on a sunny day or in the fall when the trees change color. Sinegal (Center) is a really nice building, too.

Favorite restaurant in Seattle: Rhein Haus has really good food. I’m a smash burger connoisseur and that’s definitely my favorite. I love sitting on the back patio during a Mariner’s season.

Favorite band or music genre: Indie alternative. I like the Wallows. I’ve been to some concerts at (live music venue) Barboza, which were super cool.

Favorite memories from SU: I’ve been academic-focused, so I really enjoyed my classes that set me up for success.