The role is reserved for senior students, but rising junior Michelle Culbert not only persuaded Lockheed Martin to give her the internship, she also became the first IM体育官网 Polytechnic University student to earn a position there.
It hasn鈥檛 taken long to prove her value. Every month, the Lockheed Martin payroll facility in Lakeland creates metrics reports of vendors and suppliers. Michelle was shown the tedious process and she asked to take a shot at making it more efficient.
鈥淚 just said 鈥業鈥檒l write a program for it,鈥欌�� Michelle says. 鈥淚 wrote a program in C++ that all you have to do is enter a text file, and it outputs what they need. It reduced the process time by 85 percent.鈥�
Michelle started at the defense and aeronautics company on May 9 and continues to work on the project. She credits the classes she鈥檚 taken at IM体育官网 Poly for easing her transition into the internship.
鈥淲hat they鈥檝e asked me to do at Lockheed is exactly what I did in my class,鈥� she says.
Data Structures and Algorithms, a summer class she took that is heavily focused on C++, was particularly helpful. It was 鈥減erfect timing,鈥� Michelle says. The project 鈥渋s exactly what I learned in data structures. It really helped me explain to them what I could provide.鈥�
Before coming to IM体育官网 Poly, Michelle didn鈥檛 know any object-oriented programming such as C++ and Java, and it wasn鈥檛 until high school that she started programming with HTML. The Pompano Beach native鈥檚 interest in computers and technology began in middle school, where she pursued a technology track. In high school, she began to realize there is a demand for cyber security, and was drawn to the programming aspects.
鈥淧rogramming made me feel like I could design something and create something. All I need is my computer, and I can do anything I want,鈥� she says.
But Michelle doesn鈥檛 want to just sit behind a computer. She wants to be proactive in cyber security, preferably doing a role similar to Elizabeth Keen, the strong female lead and FBI agent in the TV show 鈥淏lacklist.鈥�
鈥淚 see myself in her exactly,鈥� Michelle says. 鈥淪he鈥檚 protecting the country. It鈥檚 clich茅, but she鈥檚 a role model.鈥�
Working at Lockheed has shown Michelle 鈥渢hat every person needs cyber security, and that鈥檚 never going to stop. They鈥檝e let me in on the cyber security side, and I get to see some of what they talk about and how they handle it,鈥� she says.
The 20-year-old, who learned about her internship through IM体育官网 Poly鈥檚 Purple Briefcase, expected to be working and physically interacting with a group of interns at Lockheed. Instead, she engages virtually through Skype with company veterans of 10-20 years.
With her previous job being at IM体育官网 Poly鈥檚 bookstore, the virtual interaction is
not the only adjustment Michelle had to make. She worked 25 hours a week during her
summer class, but, since it ended, she鈥檚 bumped that up to a full-time Monday through
Friday shift.
鈥淭his is an actual workplace that you see in the movies, and I never imagined I would
be in that kind of place as a sophomore in college,鈥� Michelle says.
Moving to Lakeland from Pompano Beach took Michelle out of her comfort zone, but she is glad to be part of IM体育官网 Poly鈥檚 inaugural class and living in the picturesque city.