At the latest FOSSI Fundamentals of Success (FoS) session, the “scholar spotlight” was on FOSSI scholar James Howell, from Louisville, Kentucky, who is a sophomore at Tennessee State University majoring in mechanical engineering. At the start of the session, Adrienne Blanks, FoS program manager, asked James to share some thoughts on attending an HBCU and the FOSSI program.
Why did you decide to attend an HBCU?
For starters, I grew up with family members who attended HBCUs, including my sister and aunt, who both attended Norfolk State. I am also one of a set of triplets and we wanted to stay together, so that influenced my choice. My brother, Walter, and sister are also FOSSI scholars and we all decided to attend Tennessee State University.
How is your sophomore year going, any highlights?
It’s going good so far. The difficulty has definitely increased from the first year. My highlights include advancing into my curriculum, getting my pre-recs out of the way, and starting engineering courses.
How has the FOSSI program benefited you in your college experience?
I’ll keep this short and simple. Since you need to have a certain GPA to keep the scholarship, it motivates me to do well in the classroom, keep my head on straight, and get good grades so I don’t slip up and lose my scholarship.
How are you benefitting by being matched with a FOSSI corporate partner?
Being paired with Chemours has definitely added to my experience. For one, I got paired with the best mentor in the world, Mrs. Corum. When we have our meetings, we have great conversations and she gives the best advice. I get to talk with her about a lot of things. Last year, I asked her for internship information and she helped set that up. I got the interview and completed my first internship last summer, right after my freshman year.
What advice would you give to younger scholars?
I would say stay motivated. The majority of you all are doing pre-recs now. Don’t get too comfortable and stay focused. It definitely gets harder in the second year because I’m going through that now.
On a more personal note: If you don’t have any work experience, talk to your mentor. I did not have prior work experience, but I still applied for internships. Even though I didn’t get the first one at Chemours’ Louisville plant back home, My mentor connected me to a different opportunity, which was at the Chemours plant in New Jersey. I applied for that one, had a great interview and landed the internship. During the internship, I actually had the chance to experience two states since I worked in New Jersey and lived in Delaware. I also got to meet and connect with my mentor, Mrs. Corum, in person, which was a great.
I would tell younger scholars to keep motivated, keep working hard, build relationships with your mentors, and have fun. Don’t let school beat you down, and keep a smile on your face.
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