By: Shelby Hobbs
Thursday April 28, 2016

FAMU IT student Bria BouieBouie has been a Student Ambassador since last September. Since then, she has participated in STEM Day, presented at the National Urban League Conference, taught C++ programming at James S. Rickards High School and participated in the Pensacola Press Conference.

The most rewarding experience for Bouie was presenting at the National Urban League Conference.

She shares, “I was happy to see how interested they were in what I was teaching them. I even had one student come up to me and say, ‘You made me interested in having a career in IT.’ Those are the things that make me happy – showing students that STEM majors are fun and it’s really not as difficult as people think it is.”

Bouie feels strongly about technology education because she worries that kids are moving away from STEM fields thinking it’s too difficult or boring. She wants to help recruit more students into majors related to technology. That’s why she decided to become a Student Ambassador.
She explains, “I wanted to really get my fellow peers excited about being in the [IT] department and encourage them to network with one another. I also wanted to get the younger generation excited about technology and recruit them into the department. The greater our department becomes, the more students will want to come to Florida A&M University and major in our field.”

Aside from being a Student Ambassador, Bouie is also a member of the Beta Alpha Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Her ultimate career goal is to own a consulting firm, and after graduation she will be moving to Kansas City, KS to work at Cerner Corporation. She wants people to know that you’re only a failure when you stop trying, so you should never give up. To learn more about Bouie, connect with her on LinkedIn.

FITC Student Ambassadors make up a team of dedicated and knowledgeable students both at FSU and FAMU. These students travel across the Florida Panhandle to promote information technology, computer science, and computer engineering to high schools. Ambassadors are responsible for activities such as running coding camps, assisting in technology clubs, or hosting college tours. For more information on FITC Ambassadors, visit the Ambassador page.

The Florida IT Career Alliance is an initiative funded by the Florida Board of Governors which aims to recruit, retain, and employ Florida's next generation technology workforce. FITC promotes information technology, computer science, and computer engineering to local high schools and college students across Florida. Connect with FITC on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.