Nyaa Ferary | Features Editor
There are a number of seniors that have solidified their next step upon graduating in May, even one who finished early and was able to jumpstart his career. Whether it is graduate school, law school or a job position these four seniors are ready to take on the real world. Janee Huff-Truesdale is a senior elementary education major from Philadelphia. She will be a teacher in the Philadelphia school district as well as a law student at Temple University.
Courtney Hayslett is a computer information system major from Upper Marlboro, Maryland. She will begin her graduate studies in information assurance as a full ride CyberCorps Scholar at Hampton University this fall. Another graduating senior is Kadidja Dosso, a business administration major from Philadelphia. Upon graduating, Kadidja will be starting as a full-time management consultant analyst in New York City at Accenture.
Lastly, Kagame Li-A-Ping, a December finance graduate from Brooklyn, N.Y., is currently working at Morgan Stanley as an operations analyst.
Q: How did you start your job/ grad search process?
Janee: I actually didn’t start it came to me. Mrs. Peebles in the Department of Education sends out emails about different teaching jobs across America. One day the subject line said “The School District of Philadelphia” I thought let me check that out since I plan on going back home for grad school. I read the email, contacted the recruiter and he was so happy to hear from students from an HBCU he sent me the application and we went from there. I am currently waiting for my placement on which school I will be at in Philadelphia, the only information that was given to me was that I would probably be in a title one institution. Attending Temple for Grad school was always in my plan especially because it was back at home.
Kadidja: I began my job search by first compiling a list of companies that I would be interested in and organizing them based upon the specific industry that they fall in. Next, I looked up the available opening positions that those companies had along with their starting salary, relocation compensation, healthcare benefits, and signing bonuses on glassdoor.com as well as a few other resources.
Kagame: I would constantly visit the career center and look at the positions I saw posted on Pirate Link and I literally applied to everything. I also applied to 5 different Morgan Stanley positions before finally accepting an offer at their Baltimore location. I recently started my graduate school search process by looking at different part time opportunities around Baltimore and I hope to start grad school this fall.
Q: What do you wish someone told you about applying?
Janee: I wish that someone told me about more internships, I feel like my resume was a little weak when I was applying and that may have been a set back for why I wasn’t placed yet. I wish I would’ve know how important internships were my freshman year because I would’ve started on them sooner. Courtney: To take the GRE in the fall in order to get it out of the way.
Kadidja: I wish someone had told me to expect denials from various companies but to never accept the denials from the companies that I strive to work with the most.
Kagame: Just how early I’m supposed to apply. Sometimes I missed great opportunities because I was too late, when I simply thought that I was early. I wish I were told the importance of tailoring your resume for different positions; I thought I could just use the same one and apply to anything.
Q: Are you ready to move on to this next step?
Janee: Yes I am anticipating on the move, I am extremely ready to decorate my classroom and meeting new people and to give my students the extra love and quality education. As far as law school, I am extremely excited for a new institutional environment, no more Hampton runarounds and I get to experience a little bit of diversity by not attending another HBCU. So going to a PWI is a big step for me because my whole education career was taught in black institutions.
Kadidja: I’m most definitely ready to move on! My time at Hampton has run its course and it is time for me to learn more about the world that we live in not just our Home by the Sea. I’m ready to step into the real world and be a sponge so that I can give back to those that will come after me and provide as much wisdom, love and support that I can.
Kagame: It was a bit tough leaving campus so soon, but I’m ready to get my life going and start reaching the many goals I still have.
Q: What are you most excited about? Janee: I am most excited about my first year of teaching and giving my students a quality education, and connecting with them. I am also excited for law school. I don’t really see too many black Muslim lawyers so I’m ready to add to the diversity.
Courtney: I am very ready to move on to the next level of academia, I am most excited about exploring my passion of cyber security and learning hands on applications in this cutting edge field.
Kadidja: I’m excited about being able to travel often with my job! I love to travel and see different parts of the country and learn more about the history of places.
Kagame: Being able to now have more financial freedom to do what it is that I want and to provide for my family while also living up to the great legacy that my last name holds. And, the ability to get together with my fellow onyx 10 grads in the future and build with them as well.
Q: What’s your favorite memory from your time at Hampton?
Courtney: I had many great memories starting with my pre-college days, to my summer internship opportunities where I connected with Hampton alumni; and especially becoming a member of the Gamma Theta Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.
Kadidja: My favorite memory from my time at Hampton would have to be meeting my three best friends freshman year. My roommate Laura and I were walking to the cafe and we saw two girls that were walking from Twitchell that were lost so we told them that they could walk with us because we were headed there as well. We invited them to sit with us and we all had a wonderful conversation and decided to exchange numbers. From that point on and even until this day we are still cafe buddies and built a bond so strong that we’ve all had the same roommates for all four years. On that day, we may not have realized it but we established a bond that could never be broken.
Kagame: The first Caribbean Holland I was able to throw. A lot of people thought it was never going to happen, and when it did, it was huge. I was filled with so much gratitude and so appreciative of everyone’s continued support. We have since had it 3 times. I could never forget BOTS too; they will be my family forever.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Janee: In five years I see myself still being a teacher, as well as finished with school and working on my master’s degree in education. I also plan on attending cosmetology school and getting my license to have a practice on the side.
Courtney: I see myself as an upper management position working in the intelligence community.
Kadidja: A manager at Accenture in New York in addition to setting the foundation for my organic beauty empire. Also, I will be preparing my younger sister to become a Hamptonian.
Kagame: Both of my private organizations will have since been kicked off and generating a year over year return while positively impacting thousands of lives in the process. By that time I would have learned what I needed to from corporate America and will use that knowledge to help my personal companies thrive.
The Hampton Script 