NEWS

Students in Louisiana Tech University’s CyberCorps^®: Scholarship for Service (SFS) program added another valuable experience to their resumes early this year, as 16 students traveled to National Harbor, Maryland, for the 2023 Scholarship for Service Job Fair.

At the job fair, the students, who were accompanied on the trip by advisor and College of Engineering and Science Dean Dr. Hisham Hegab and Cyber Engineering Chair Dr. Miguel Gates, had the opportunity to network and exchange ideas with more than 700 other students and meet with cybersecurity professionals from federal agencies, national laboratories, and institutions.

Computer Science senior and Metairie native Brianna Stewart said SFS-funded opportunities like attending the job fair have helped her make friends and network with other professionals, while the scholarship has helped her focus on her studies and hands-on research.

“The SFS scholarship relieved the financial stress of juggling work with studies, extracurriculars, and research, and allowed me to focus on being a student at Tech,” Stewart said. “I also love the community service aspect of this program, and the satisfaction from helping others goes hand in hand with working for the government in the cybersecurity field.

“The SFS job fair provided a huge opportunity for me to network with other SFS students, professors from their universities, and agency representatives. I prepared for the conference by adjusting my resume for the agencies at the conference and practicing my elevator pitch. Through networking with agency representatives, I received job interviews that will give me more decisions about where I want to work this summer.”

Computer Science senior and Keithville native Mary Nations adds that while the job fair gave her the opportunity to learn about new opportunities, the knowledge shared within the Louisiana Tech program helped her land a job in cybersecurity before she even attended the fair.

“Being a part of CyberCorps^®: SFS has allowed me to receive invaluable information from older SFS members who have already been where I am trying to be,” Nations said. “This includes what certifications to get, what the most valuable classes are to take, what to put on my resume, how to prepare for an interview, and so much more. Being able to learn from someone who was in your shoes just one year ago is not only incredibly helpful, but it is also inspiring to see how much progress I can potentially make in such a short period of time.

“I applied for the scholarship to focus more on my studies. I was working while going to school before receiving the scholarship, and having the scholarship allowed me to instead use my spare time to perform research and work on projects with the Air Force and Navy, which have definitely jump-started my career.”

Other SFS students who traveled to the event were Joseph Brown of Covington; Karina Chang of Corpus Christi, Texas; Jonah Fitzgerald of Ruston; Travis Knippers of DeRidder; Solomon Loche III of League City, Texas; Nikolas Morgan of Sherwood, Arkansas; Timothy Oliver of Shreveport; Blake Perrin of Lacombe; Alexander Petty of New Orleans; Carter Ray of Magnolia, Arkansas; Cameron Thomas of Bossier City; Andrew Turner of Thibodaux; Seth Warren of Houston, Texas; and Nicholas Winkelmann of Port Aransas, Texas.

Students enrolled in Louisiana Tech’s CyberCorps^®: Scholarship for Service program earn a scholarship, complete at least one internship in cybersecurity and network with leaders in the field.

Louisiana Tech is one of only 103 institutions with a CyberCorps^®: Scholarship for Service program. Scholarships are available for Cyber Engineering and select Computer Science juniors, seniors, and graduate students. Students will be able to begin the application process for the 2023-24 year in March.