Career Voices

RISING STARS: STUDENTS MAKING A DIFFERENCE AT HBCUs

Despite upheavals in the workforce due to the pandemic and fluctuating economics, some things remain the same. Internships are still a valuable experience for students seeking to get their foot in the door, gain professional experience, and determine if the careers they are pursuing live up to their expectations.

FFor many of the 2022 BEYA student awardees, interning during the summer of 2022 was a top priority to complement their college and university learning.

JARVIS PREWITT

Jarvis Prewitt, 21, is a senior at Alabama A&M University majoring in mechanical engineering with a minor in mathematics. He expects to graduate in May 2023. In summer 2022, he interned at The Boeing Company in Auburn, WA, as a quality engineer intern in Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) Fabrication Quality. “I will inspect and ensure all manufactured parts are up to code and approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Boeing,” said Prewitt prior to beginning the internship. “Our goal is to make sure that we are providing our customers with the best quality of production while being safe.” Prewitt, who was bestowed with a 2022 BEYA Student Academic Award, said he obtained his 2022 internship from the Thurgood Marshall College Fund at the 21st Annual Leadership Institute Conference by completing a “very intensive interview process going against the best students at historically Black college and/or universities.” And this is not his first internship. His first was in the summer of 2021 when he interned at Southern Company where he was assigned to Alabama Power Company. “I worked with Power Distribution Engineers to develop solutions to deliver reliable electricity to Alabama Power Company external customers,” he said. “While interning at different companies, I gained more than just an experience, I left with tangible skills, relationships, and connections for networking [including] conflict resolution, leadership skills, problem solving, management skills, and dependability, which were enhanced. In a blink of an eye, you can be in the presence of any leadership person at any given time, so always be business- and career-ready. Your first impression might be your last impression, so make it count with the necessary resources that you have at your disposal.” Prewitt offers the following advice to students considering interning: “… sometimes you have to be willing to step out of your comfort zone to fulfill

Jarvis Prewitt

the success that awaits you, but most importantly you must be receptive to change and able to adapt. The quality always [exceeds] the quantity, so be the best at all times and make your impact in every room you enter. Your journey starts today and tomorrow awaits your future.” As for what Prewitt sees in his future: “Upon graduation, I look forward to starting my career in engineering and building the foundation for my mentoring program for students in the Magic City of Birmingham,” said Prewitt adding that he also plans to go to graduate school to earn an M.B.A.

KAILYN HAYE

Now a junior at Virginia State University, Kailyn Haye is double majoring in computer engineering and mathematics. She expects to graduate in the spring of 2024, and that following fall she plans to work toward a Master of Business Administration degree as well as a doctorate degree in computer engineering. Interning is familiar territory for Haye. In 2021, she interned at IBM on its X-Force Red Penetration Testing team. “Here I conducted, researched, and practiced several various offensive cyber security attacks and defenses in boot camps. This was done all while shadowing and collaborating with other pentester interns on a cumulative research project that we were able to present to IBM executives and veteran hackers at the end of the summer.” (Pentesters or penetration testers perform simulated cyberattacks on a company’s computer systems and networks to identify security vulnerabilities and weaknesses, she explained.) This past summer, the 20-year-old interned at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, MD. She worked with sensors and imaging systems related to computer vision, GPS denied navigation, and artificial intelligence (AI) in robotics. “I was able to secure this internship through the student-led program NASA H2O at my university,” shared Haye via email. “Several of the scientists work on the NASA Dragonfly mission work at APL and conduct research at the facility. Through the ATLAS (APL Technology Leadership Scholars) Program, recommended by the scientists and engineers, I was able to obtain this internship.” “From interning, I definitely learned what it is that I want to achieve in my career as well as what I don’t want to do,” she explained. “Being an intern at different organizations gives you the chance to find what it is you are passionate about/like doing and allows someone to network for their field in the meantime.”

She added that the only way to grow as a professional and as a person is by stepping outside of one’s comfort zone and challenging oneself to do and be better.

“From interning too, I developed a high value for asking questions and being okay not always having an answer. As I was a freshman last summer, when I was at IBM I was very nervous about asking for help or saying something incorrect in the face of such experienced professionals. But this soon faded as I realized that it’s okay to ask questions, they want you to ask questions, to make sure you understand and are getting something out of the experience as well,” she said. Haye, a 2022 BEYA Student Community Award winner, encourages those who are curious about interning to “definitely do it.” “There are so many avenues that one experience can hold. There are numerous people that you have the potential to meet, and it grants you the opportunity to develop professionally, technically, and personally like never before,” Haye said. “Interning gives you a great idea about what you want to do and don’t want to do as well in your career. If you want a position, I’d recommend doing some work prior to applying to demonstrate your interest in it and the skills acquired (this could be from research, personal projects, or classwork/projects).”

Internships are still a valuable experience for students seeking to

get their foot in the door.

JAMES HALL

James Hall, a 2022 BEYA StudentAthlete Award recipient, is a junior at Alabama A&M University studying mechanical engineering with a concentration in propulsion systems and a minor in computer science. He hopes to graduate in May 2023 but shared that with the added minor it could take “just a tad longer.” The 20-year-old Hall interned at MIMS engineering in Huntsville, AL, during the summer, where he drafted and designed HVAC, plumbing, and sprinkler systems using AutoCAD and Revit software.

“The opportunity with this company was just a true blessing and surprise when I received a call from Mr. Kevin Mims, who is the owner of