KRISTEN: My name is Kristen Edwards.
I do a lot of programming and networking.
I am really interested in high performance
computing, and technology, and things like that.
Growing up my mother expected the best out of all of us,
at the age of 17 my mother had my brother.
My mother had me and she had my sister Angel.
My mother raised her brother and also her sister.
My mother got married, so now I have a stepbrother
and they adopted my stepfather's nephew.
And that's all my siblings.
I loved growing up in Springfield, Ohio.
I love being around my family.
It's a small town, some kids fall into the wrong path
because there's not much to do in Springfield.
When I was a kid, I really wasn't
interested in computers and technology and things
of that nature.
KRISTEN'S COLLEAGUE: These actually boot in Droid
and also Windows 7.
KRISTEN: I went to Clark State Community College,
I was going to be a math education major,
but I had to take a computer science class.
I caught on quick and understood better
than the students who were going into the program,
I was more interested in computer science
then math education.
I decided that I wanted to get in the Clark State Community
College networking program.
I did an internship last year at Avetec.
PROGRAM DIRECTOR 1: Avetec is a corporate organization
and Clark State Community College
is an academic institution.
We've actually in essence, formed a partnership
and submitted for an ATE grant.
That was actually the funding from the National Science Foundation.
Especially within the ATE area, that's
really out of the ordinary for a corporate partner
and an academic institution together
to go after and ATE grant.
SERVER: Sir, would you like Anything?
KRISTEN'S GRANDFATHER: Peach.
SERVER: Peach?
I'm all out of peach.
MALE SPEAKER #3: That's the only reason he came today.
KRISTEN: I feel like my family
and this program are helping me for the future.
Doing the internship at Avetec in a company environment
is preparing me for the real world.
We took different technologies and put them all on one LAN
and had each LAN talking to through the network.
It was fun.
PROGRAM DIRECTOR 2: What's in it for Avetec is the opportunity
to contribute to the community and hopefully
grow technology companies throughout the community.
KRISTEN'S GRANDFATHER: And this is what
I like about things at Avetec and the community colleges
doing together because now they're
bringing that knowledge back to the city of Springfield,
where we'll have that opportunity again.
PROGRAM DIRECTOR 2: Our company also needs work.
For example, we're able to hire you.
By helping create this program, we're
giving Springfield an opportunity to rebound and keep
talented people like you.
KRISTEN: Through the program
I have learned if I put my mind to it, I can do anything.
I feel very lucky to have found the program,
if I didn't, I wouldn't know what I
would want to do in the future.
MR. EDWARDS: I'm just proud that she has surrounded herself
with people that's going to make her successful.
KRISTEN: I know I want to work
with different technologies or high performance computing.
KRISTEN'S GRANDFATHER: You're talking about proud.
Oh sure I'm proud of Kristen every day!
KRISTEN: I plan to work hard to do my best to keep
rising to the top.
I was the kid that wanted to do right by my mother
and make sure everything that I did,
that she wouldn't be disappointed in me.
I've got to go back to school
MRS. EDWARDS: Be careful
KRISTEN: OK.
I believe I lived up to it.