Academy of Information Technology interns gathered at the Louisiana
Immersive Technologies Enterprise center Tuesday for a luncheon to
celebrate the completion of the 2007 Career Academy Summer Internship
Program that put 26 students who will be seniors in the fall in work
places across Acadiana.Preparing
tomorrow's workforce with programs like the summer internship program
is "the pipeline to the future," according to AOIT director Kit Becnel,
who said the experience will prove invaluable to the students and the
community.
Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce Director Rob Guidry, who attended
the luncheon, said he has been convinced for quite some time that the
next Bill Gates is in Lafayette, and anything that helps that person
flourish is a good thing for Lafayette and the chamber.
"The most profound thing was how much talent they have at such a
young age," LITE director of business development and marketing Laurie
Dineen said.AOIT students said the experience was an invaluable one
that exposed them to programs and workplaces they would have never seen
otherwise.
"It was a great look into the corporate, executive world," AOIT intern Ian Collins said.
Collins
was an IT support specialist team member for the Schumacher Group. Matt
Johnson, who also was an IT support specialist, worked at C&C
Technologies.
"It was an amazing opportunity," he said.
Johnson
said were it not for the internship, he would have spent the summer
sleeping. Gretchen Stutes, the mother of Lauren Stutes, who interned at
LITE, said the opportunity is likely to open doors.
"It gives her
the chance to decide what she wants to do in life because she's exposed
to different programs she wouldn't normally get at a high school," she
said.
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