Newsroom

Building Success Through Empowerment

September 27, 2019

When My Nguyen was deciding where to study computer engineering, the University of South Florida (USF) College of Engineering was an easy choice for her to make after graduating from high school in nearby New Port Richey. Among her priorities was attending a school where she could make a difference.

“I knew that I wanted to be at USF because I wanted to help create a wave when I attended college and I knew USF was going in the right direction.”

One way that Nguyen accomplished just that was by working with Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) instructor Jing Wang to revitalize the local Women in Computer Science and Engineering (WICSE) chapter, increasing membership from 70 to over 200 students.

Nguyen, who graduated in December of 2018 with a Bachelor of Science double major in Computer Engineering and Computer Science, was also active with USF Foundation’s Women in Leadership and Philanthropy (WLP) program and was awarded a WLP Endowed Scholarship throughout her journey at USF. The benefits of her involvement with WICSE and WLP were helpful in many ways.

“I was empowered by meeting successful women throughout the spectrum. By attending different banquets, conferences, and symposiums held and led by women; it has helped me tremendously in my pursuits as a scholar and a person.”

Now a software engineer at Citi, Nguyen says an early interest in math and science and participation in after-school STEM activities are the foundation for her career choices, and that USF provided opportunities to build upon it with practical experience as well as instruction.

“The college and department encourage us to obtain summer internships to gain industry experience. Thus, over the three-and-a-half years at USF, I was able to do two different summer internships, one at Jabil and the other at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.” Nguyen was also a webmaster for the CSE department where she maintained the departmental website.  

As she goes forward with her career, Nguyen says she enjoy continual education in technology to improve her skill sets and is mindful of how she has achieved success so far.

“As a first-generation, first woman, Asian and minority engineer in my family, I am very blessed and proud to say that ’I made it!’” I cannot thank Allah, my parents, and friends enough for helping, supporting, and encouraging me along the way.”