HU Students Intern at the Pentagon

HU Students Intern at the Pentagon

Dominique Waters, Raymond Nimox, and Summer Clark outside of the Pentagon.

Four Hampton University students were chosen to intern with the Department of Defense and receive hands on experience at the Pentagon this summer.  Whether it was through HU Career Center, a professor, or a flyer on the wall in their department this opportunity was presented to Summer Clark, Willie Crank Jr., Raymond Nimox, and Dominique Waters in different ways.

The students were a part of the Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (SMART) Scholars Program and the Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars.

“In the first few weeks of my internship, I felt I had arrived in the world of professionalism,” Waters, an applied mathematics graduate student stated. “I was not treated like an intern but rather a valued employee.”

The students took on challenging roles at the pentagon. Summer Clark served as a program analyst intern with the Building Operations Command Center of the Pentagon Building Management; Willie Crank Jr., an analyst intern; Raymond Nimox, an electrical engineer intern; and Dominique Waters, a statistical analysis intern with the Environmental Services Department of the Pentagon Building Management.

For ten weeks during the summer, these students spent 36-40 hours a week working to support building operations and configuration management staff through tasks such as; revising and reformatting operations manuals to create spreadsheets to organize data and performing statistical analysis of agency data to reveal program accomplishments, trends and activities.

“The internship gave me the opportunity to network with individuals in really high positions and helped me to expand my thinking in regards to the methods used to attain my goals,” Clark, a senior business management major attributed.

The Washington Center Program provides an integrated academic and work experience to prepare college students for lives of achievement and civic engagement and the SMART program was designed to increase the number of civilian analysts, scientists and engineers working within the Department of Defense. Student stipends ranged from $5000 to $8300.

“My advice to incoming students is to be flexible and resourceful. Don’t be afraid to ask questions,” Crank, a senior mathematics major said. “Hampton prepared me well for the professional world.”

All four students have made plans to further their education with hopes of working for the government in the near future. Nimox, a senior electrical engineering major, looks forward to working directly with the pentagon after graduation.

-Breana Hubbard '12