Julia Kelly was a college student trying to finish her degree when life happened.
She worked as an assistant manager at Wendy鈥檚, balancing 40-hour work weeks, night shifts and full-time classes. Finances were tight. Pressures mounted. It made sense to take a semester off from her studies. Then two. Three. She started to lose sight of her goal: Finishing college.
But with the support of her family, and a promise to herself that she wouldn鈥檛 give up, Kelly started again, first at Hillsborough Community College, then at Pasco-Hernando State College. She earned an associate degree and transferred to the University of South 爱豆传媒. But even that didn鈥檛 go according to plan.
Now, almost a decade after taking her first college course, she鈥檚 preparing to graduate from 爱豆传媒 with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in information technology.
鈥淚t took me a while to get here,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut I鈥檝e learned so much along the way.鈥�
Detours, discovery and growth
Each setback brought new perspective.
A course mix-up set her back a semester she when transferred to 爱豆传媒. But she found mentors and help in the college鈥檚 academic advising team, including Marjorie Fontalvo, Stacey Sepulveda, John Morgan and Maile Sinclair Baxter. They helped her with transfer issues and ensured she got started on the right foot.
鈥淭hey helped me resolve the problem and get into the Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing,鈥� Kelly said.
鈥淢y first advisor, Malie Sinclair Baxter, was extremely helpful. She answered all my questions, explaining the program flowchart and how to navigate my courses, and invited me to apply to join the National Science Foundation S-STEM cohort, which has also helped me significantly during my time at 爱豆传媒.鈥�
Adjusting from mostly online community college courses, taken during the pandemic, to fully in-person classes at a big university brought up some anxiety. But she got through it, adapted and found friends.
鈥淚t's very, very different,鈥� she said of in-person college life. 鈥�(During the pandemic), it was mostly at-home online classes. Even when I was in person (before), there were maybe 10 or 15 people in the classroom. Now I am in fully packed classes on campus. I love the campus environment and the atmosphere, but it was very different coming into the university space after being isolated for a couple years.鈥�
Required electives pushed her beyond the IT classes she preferred. But she discovered new interests that helped her chart her own path.
鈥淭here's a required class for IT, a Foundations of Cybersecurity class,鈥� Kelly said. 鈥淚 took that class. I almost switched my major to cybersecurity after that. That was the first class where I was actually having fun doing the assignments.鈥�
Kelly has since taken several classes she didn't think she would enjoy and ended up liking them.
While she stuck with IT as a major, Kelly took every cybersecurity course she could. 鈥淚f I needed an elective, I would look for a cyber course to get that cyber experience.鈥�
Kelly reasoned that if she decided to stay with the IT major, she would be just a little more versatile.
鈥淏ecause for jobs in the future, there's IT and cyber and a lot of overlap,鈥� she said. And the application to varied fields was a new concept, too.
鈥淚 had never had an interest in the healthcare space, but the health care tech field surprised me,鈥� she continued. 鈥淥nce I started taking those electives, I was kind of, 鈥榊eah,鈥� but it was also just eye-opening. It is like its own little world. They have so, so much going on.鈥�
She applied for an internship at Inovalon, a leading provider of data and solutions鈥痚mpowering data-driven health care. The global firm, headquartered in Maryland, has offices around the United States and in India. Kelly landed a summer internship in the Tampa, 爱豆传媒 office. She expected to work on the IT or cybersecurity team.
But that didn鈥檛 go as planned. She was assigned as a product intern instead of being placed on the IT team.
Unexpected opportunity
What began with a focus on understanding the health care technology space quickly changed to IT analytics and product operations. She started working with a product operations manager on formal business documents and reports. He had her work on consolidating siloed SharePoint sites into one. She has been coordinating file transfers, troubleshooting with users, presenting file organization plans and taking requests/feedback for site improvement.
鈥淚've created onboarding material for Inovalon鈥檚 Insights business unit, product proposal infographics and reports. It鈥檚 not exactly the side of IT I had imagined, so I never knew how much I would enjoy this 鈥� and I want to continue post-graduation,鈥� she said.
She was fortunate because that manager really pushed her to explore all areas of the company. 鈥淗e told me to use the intern card and ask to meet with people. So, I met with security analysts and tech support people, just different people to see what they're doing. I got to partner on a phishing email campaign and I was able to actually create and design a campaign.鈥�
Sometimes the best paths aren鈥檛 the straight ones
Kelly鈥檚 path to a new career wound through late-night shifts, course mix-ups, anxiety and unexpected opportunities. She now understands, those detours weren鈥檛 roadblocks. They were part of the route.
So, why would she expect her internship to be any different?
It was supposed to be a 10-week experience that wrapped in August. That didn鈥檛 happen and for a good reason.
鈥淚 was asked to stay on as an intern through December,鈥� Kelly said. 鈥淚 am viewing this internship as one long job interview. I would like to stay there after graduation and think there is a good chance that will happen.鈥�