Durham Tech students awarded Women of Color STEM grant

Associate in Engineering students Jeanette Jarvis and Rosa Perez have received the Women of Color Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) grant award from North Carolina State University. 

The grant is supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“It is an opportunity for our women of color to participate in activities at NC State, where they will receive not only the mentoring and guidance needed to become a competitive applicant for admission to the university but also exposure to careers they may not have known existed,” said Muffy Vestal, Engineering Coordinator and Instructor.

The two students said they applied back in the fall and didn’t think much more of it until Vestal told them the good news a couple of weeks ago.

“I didn’t really think I would actually get it,” Perez said. “It was definitely a surprise.”

The students will begin the program this spring. They will start by meeting weekly with a NC State student for a two-hour tutoring session while also receiving academic mentoring. Throughout the program, the two will also engage in experiential learning opportunities and community research projects and will receive professional development and university scholarship/admission guidance.

Perez said she first learned about the program during an NC State visit to Durham Tech. At the time, Perez said her ambition about entering the engineering field as a woman of color had begun to waver.

“I had dreams of doing something in this field, but I had kind of lost that motivation during high school just because you didn’t really see women of color in engineering,” she said. “They completely just inspired me all over again to really hit harder and try to get in.”

The NC state program will focus on sustainable materials science and engineering, according to the students’ notification letter.

Jarvis, a Caribbean native, expressed her passion for environmental engineering on her application. Growing up, her island was constantly hit by category five hurricanes, which pulled the island’s residents into a cycle of destruction and reconstruction.

Jarvis said she wants to help find a way to build steadier homes that can better withstand hurricanes’ wrath.

“By having things destroyed, you have to waste more resources to put them back just for them to be broken down again in another year or so,” she said. “I’m really passionate about helping prevent that in the future or maybe making it a little bit easier or better for when people get their lives back.”

Perez would like to study either mechanical or aerospace engineering, while Jarvis wants to focus on construction engineering.

For more information on the Women of Color STEM grant, email sustainablescienceusda@ncsu.edu. 

For more on Durham Tech’s Associate in Engineering program, visit durhamtech.edu/academic-programs/associate-engineering.