HBCU interns grow with USACE in Europe

WIESBADEN, Germany -- For college students, a summer abroad could involve sightseeing and adventure. For four students from America's Historically Black Colleges and Universities, their summer abroad also included the opportunity to learn from professionals in the engineering field.

This summer, four HBCU students and recent graduates from Morgan State University and Tennessee State University were selected as the Advancing Minorities' Interest in Engineering interns for the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Europe District.

AMIE is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to encourage diversity within the engineering field by supporting underrepresented engineering students with opportunities to expand upon their education and further their careers.

Hana Desta, a Morgan State university graduate studying systems engineering as masters student at the University of Maryland; Joshua Monmouth, a civil engineering junior at Morgan State University; Beyah Baylor, a civil engineering senior Morgan State and Kimberly Laporte, a civil engineering senior at Tennessee State University spent their summer in Wiesbaden, Germany, at the Europe District headquarters learning about USACE and the different careers and discipline within the organization.

While venturing to Europe alone was a big step for these interns, they knew they had the guidance of former AMIE intern and current Europe District AMIE program manager and civil engineer Karon Carter to ensure their success.

Carter said his own experience as an AMIE intern showed him how the program can change one's life.

"I've seen the way that taking this opportunity has shaped my future, and I think it has been singlehandedly one of the best decisions I've made in my life because it exposed me not only to what I can do but, what there is to do in general," he said. "I don't feel limited and coming from my background, this was a very big step in a progressive future for me."

Carter has been there for them since the beginning, having been the one who first informed them about the internship. The group felt supported throughout the entire process.

"He went through the same experience we did," Desta said. "We didn't know what to expect. We didn't speak the language or the culture, and having Karon to guide us made the experience much better."

Over the course of the summer, the interns spent time in various sections ranging from construction to design to scheduling to program management and more to get the full picture of project delivery in USACE. With guidance from Carter and the rest of the USACE staff who led each section, the interns are walking away with many new skills and lessons learned.

Monmouth's biggest takeaway was improving his knowledge of USACE and developing new skills.

"I got to see how everything I've learned in college is important to the things we've been doing here. I was able to learn how to work on my own, with a team, and for the government," Monmouth said. "In the future once I graduate, I want to get a job with USACE."

Whether through the experiences or new doors opening for them, the internship had an impact on all of the interns, Laporte said.

"I know people say this is a life changing experience or opportunity, and it actually is because it opened my mind to a whole other perspective of the possibilities that are available for me," Laporte said.

They all look forward to telling others about this program and Monmouth had some advice for those who might be interested.

"Come with an open mind," Monmouth said. "You might want to do one thing and find out you're great in other areas as well." Monmouth noted that over the course of the summer he found himself drawn more to the construction and on-site side of project delivery rather than the engineering and design side.

After sending the interns back to America to find their way in the world, Carter hopes they make the most out of every opportunity they receive.

"I would like them to be inspired to carry the torch and continue to promote diversity in the workplace," Carter remarked. "They represented their universities and communities by showing up each day in a professional manner, ready to learn, and proved that there are students from HBCU's that are capable of rising up to our organization's challenges."

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