南方毕业生在联邦调查局找到了她梦寐以求的工作

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2023年8月18日发布

托马斯Becnel

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#MyFirstJob is a series focused on recent graduates of the 十大彩票网投平台.

Shelby Caldwell was always shy, growing up in Oxford, 阿拉巴马州, which helped lead her 投身科学事业.

“我很内向，”她说. “我想我对科技感兴趣是因为 我没必要说那么多.”

At Oxford High School, Caldwell played softball, became a cheerleader and continued 使用电脑工作. 她并不那么害羞. 在政府日那天，她做了一份报告 技术主管.

“I wanted a job that challenges you and also makes a difference,” she said. “我以为 刑事司法领域的任何事都会这么做.”

Personal interest and popular culture gave her a more specific goal.

“我知道我想为联邦调查局工作，”她说. “我对刑事司法很感兴趣 and there was a TV show, “Criminal Minds,” about the FBI, and there was a character, I think her name was Penelope, who was the technical person, and I was like, ‘OK, 也许我可以这么做. I could work for the government and help them solve their problems.’”

Caldwell enrolled at 南 and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 计算机与信息科学. 她活跃于捷豹科技女性. 她加入了国家协会 黑色的工程师.

她变得更外向了，在 服务奖学金 program, and did a summer internship at the FBI office in Huntsville, 阿拉巴马州.

After graduation, along with training and orientation in Washington, D.C.匡提科， 弗吉尼亚，她回到了联邦调查局的全职工作. 开始一份事业可能是一个 daunting, even though she’s working in the same office where she did her internship, 但她的梦想已经变成了现实.

“我感到很有动力，”她说. “我觉得我有工作要做，我被选中了 做这件事是有原因的. “这给了我很大的信心.”

Angela Clark, program coordinator of 服务奖学金 at 南, said Caldwell was well-suited for a program that offers tuition and stipends in return for working 毕业后从事政府网络安全工作.

“Not only do students have to be strong in technical coursework, they also have to 要全面发展，愿意做额外的事情，”她说. “他们必须有 软技能.”

Clark watched Caldwell grow and mature as an undergraduate and graduate student in 计算机科学.

“One of the great things about the SFS program is that it helps students become more 外向，”她说. “Shelby got a lot of experience presenting her research and doing 《十大彩票平台官网》之类的. 她一直是个好学生. 她注重细节， which is important in our field, and willingness to learn, which is definitely something 我们寻找.”

在SCIF工作

Caldwell works in a SCIF – a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility – within 联邦调查局办公室. She and her colleagues have computers, but they are not allowed to 自带通讯设备. 没有手机. 没有手表. 没有平板电脑.

“There’s a little deck outside,” she said, “where you can go to make phone calls or 无论.”

Caldwell works for a team that monitors and protects agency networks and systems. She hasn’t decorated her cubicle yet, but she does display the FBI challenge coins 是她在华盛顿训练时学到的. 她有四五个硬币. 年长的同事 在她的办公室里有几十个.

Her office building is located in the Redstone Arsenal, a huge Army complex adjacent 到亨茨维尔. Working there are more than 30,000 federal employees and contractors.

“这就像在城中之城，”她说. “你有一种被保护的感觉 你在那里.”

Caldwell knew what she was getting into when she signed up for 服务奖学金. 她觉得自己做了笔好买卖. 她的要求是在政府机构工作 两年半以来.

“It’s a big commitment,” she said, “and I talked with my parents about it. 我没有 do it my first go around, but I did get my senior year and graduate school paid for 在程序中.”

The young woman working for the FBI in Huntsville has come a long way from the shy 在牛津长大的女孩. 她在团队中工作很自在. 她想要被倾听.

她说:“我肯定已经走出了自己的壳。. “我已经学会了如何说出来 如何领导小组项目. 我的朋友和我开玩笑说，你看到的性格 IT and 计算机科学, we’re completely the opposite of that.”

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