By: Shelby Hobbs Thursday, December 17, 2015

Student Ambassador Jacob McDougal is the type of guy that will go out of his way to help others. He is patient, kind, and has a strong work ethic. The Florida IT Career Alliance team has been delighted to call him one of our own for the past semester. Jacob graduated recently from Florida State University with a degree in Information Technology. Outside of the classroom, Jacob has been involved in student organizations including the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) and Community Outreach Group (COG). With COG, Jacob found a love for teaching younger students about technology. In the fall of 2015, he joined FITC as a Student Ambassador because as he described “it was very fun and fulfilling to teach young children about different kinds of technology.”

With FITC, Jacob has been involved in numerous events filling different roles. “Anything that I can help with, I’m there,” he explained. Jacob is known amongst the Student Ambassadors for conducting a spectacular lesson on hardware. Many different outreach groups have called him in to teach students about hardware. In this lesson, Jacob takes apart a desktop computer while explaining to the students what the different parts are and how they help a computer function properly. The students are fascinated to see the interworking of a machine they before believed to simply be magical. Jacob is a knowledgeable and patient teacher. He explained how being a Student Ambassador has helped him learn a great deal “from simply having fun teaching kids about computers all the way to learning how to manage my time better.”

Jacob has also been involved in helping with the Google CS First programs at Cobb and Nims middle schools in Tallahassee. For Jacob, it was an even more rewarding experience because he is from Tallahassee and previously attended Cobb Middle School. “The school brought back a lot of old memories,” Jacob explained, “it felt really cool teaching students in the same classrooms I used to be a student in.” At Cobb Middle School, the students were taught basic coding and given role models by having Ambassadors help throughout the program. By the end of the event, hands shot up when students were asked if they were interested in studying technology related degrees after high school.

With a degree from FSU, Jacob is ready to take on any challenges ahead. He plans to go into the United States Navy as an Officer and further his education in technology. Any organization would be lucky to have a hard worker like Jacob on their team.

To learn more about Jacob, connect with him 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.