Kim KufahlMallory Jennings, engineering co-op student, received the Cooperative Education and Internship Association's (CEIA) Cooperative Education Student Achievement Award on March 23 in Boston.
"I remember when Kyle Carr (WSU engineering coordinator) called me ... I paced around my room on the phone super excited," said Jennings about getting the news and the next few moments after. "I got on the phone and called my parents and both sets of grandparents!"
The prestigious annual award is given by CEIA to honor and recognize an outstanding co-op student. Students previously selected for the award have come from such reputable universities as Northeastern, University of Cincinnati, Drexel, University of Texas, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and University of Pennsylvania.
Jennings and her parents went to the CEIA Conference in Boston to receive the award and do some sightseeing.
"My favorite part of Boston was two things -- walking around Boston seeing the history, little Italy, the sailors, as well as the conference," said Jennings. "I know now that I am a fan of Boston cream pie."
At the conference Jennings participated in a student panel that explored the challenges and successes of students during their co-op and internship experiences.
"I loved the panel, meeting the other students and giving the conference attendees a different perspective about their jobs (co-op and internship placements)," said Jennings.
During the panel Jennings said that at her second rotation at NASA she found what she truly wanted to do in her career.
At an awards banquet the last night of the conference, Jennings was honored with the Cooperative Education Student Achievement Award. Connie Dietz, director of WSU Cooperative Education and Work-Based Learning, was called on stage to talk about Jennings' accomplishments at WSU and NASA. Dietz then welcomed Jennings to the stage to accept her award.
In her acceptance speech Jennings spoke of the opportunities and support she had been given by Cooperative Education and Work-Based Learning as well as 成人头条 State. "I was very nervous about giving the speech," she said, "but I was able to be myself and speak from my heart."
For five semesters, Jennings worked as a co-op student at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC.) "Co-op has helped me to develop skills both technical and non-technical that I just would not have learned without the real-world work experience I gained," said Jennings.
She also served as one of NASA's educational outreach presenters, helping to organize more than 50 outreach events and speaking to more than 4,500 people about NASA and the work being done at JSC.
When she returned to 成人头条 State, Jennings continued her outreach efforts by organizing 25 presentations at local elementary and middle schools. She spoke about NASA and the importance of studying mathematics and science. She also was active on campus, serving on the Student Activities Council and working at the WSU Foundation.
Jennings will graduate this May with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering; she has already accepted a full-time position at NASA.
"Everyone that I worked with at Johnson Space Center enjoys the work that they do and they truly love going to work." said Jennings. "I am excited to work somewhere where everyone has that same passionate approach to their jobs."