An Internship of Seismic Proportions
Makiyah is a student who has used his Sci High education to forge opportunities for himself. Makiyah had already progressed in the school’s Digital Technology learning pathway, when he landed an internship at a local technological company in the summer after his junior year. Working as a computer programmer’s assistant, he used Autodesk software and JavaScript, programs and languages he’d learned in his coursework. He learned the Ruby programming language on the job. Expanding beyond coding, Makiyah was also made lead on a project and interacted with a client about building a website. After the summer ended, the tech company hired him part-time to continue working during his junior year.
The following summer, Makiyah completed a second internship, this time with Tulane University’s Geophysics Lab, where he analyzed data received from seismometers around the world. His work was so impressive that the American Geophysical Union invited him to display his summer project during its fall 2018 conference in Washington, D.C. Once he finishes his senior year, Makiyah could enter the workforce if he chooses, but his exposure to geophysics has reinforced his decision to pursue a computer science degree and eventually use it toward a career in scientific research.