Over the summer, 2021 FOSSI scholar Brandis Nathan, a senior at Prairie View A&M University, participated in a six-week Summer Exploration Internship at CF Industries, a new FOSSI sponsor. During orientation week at CF Industries headquarters in Chicago, he shared his thoughts on why he chose STEM, the impact of the FOSSI scholarship, his excitement about the internship ahead, and more! Read more and watch the full video below.
What inspired you to pursue a STEM degree?
When I was younger, I was always good at math. In the fifth grade, I got 100% on my math star, and in eigth grade, I got 100% on my Algebra I ELC. But of course, the math now is way harder than it was back then. I wanted to pick something that was challenging, made me think, and something I could use to provide for my family.
How has FOSSI impacted your educational journey?
The FOSSI scholarship has been instrumental in my educational journey because, in addition to the scholarhsip money, I'm able to form connections with people like my mentor, and the people that sponsor me. I'm very responsive with them, so I get a lot of feedback and they tell me a lot of things that I can use in my future career. Now FOSSI has allowed me to get this internship here with CF Industries that I'm very happy about and it gives me even more exposure to the industry.
What kind of impact do you hope to make in the STEM field?
Honestly growing up, I didn't really see too many minorities being in the engineering field versus others. I just wanted to show people like me that if they want to be an engineer, they could do that. I want to see how far I can go with it, and show other people like me how far they can go with it as well so they don't limit themselves to just something simple. College is a route they could go, engineering is a route they could go, and the more I achieve, the more I can show people like me what's possible.
Watch the full interview below!
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