Kimber Jennings poses in front of Google
Photo courtesy of Xayla Wilson
Everyone struggles with the challenges of adjusting to college life; it’s a transition period between adolescence and adulthood.
Kimber Jennings, a graduating SBI major, took those trials and tribulations and turned them into victories.
Jennings experienced culture shock when she first set foot on FAMU’s campus. The New Jersey native describes her experience of moving to Florida: “It’s a completely different place from the North. Saying good morning and holding the door open was a huge culture shock for me or even the culture of the campus, running up to someone and giving them a hug or speaking to someone you don’t know, it’s all very strange to me coming from the north where people just talk to who they know, if you make eye contact you either know them or it’s a problem.”
The cultural difference proved to be a positive reinforcement for Jennings. Alexandra Hollins, another graduating senior in SBI, has been a witness to Jennings’ evolution.
“Kimber has transformed from someone who does what is required to someone that goes above and beyond to achieve. She has also become more vocal with her opinions in hopes to influence change in others,” she said.
Moving forward with her college education, Jennings sought more opportunities and advancement in her career. She said she knew she would major in business but didn’t know specifically which program best suited her until she joined a student-run company in SBI, “I joined the company, became vice president of the company and it piqued my interest and helped me narrow down what I want to do, which led to my first internship with an IT company called California Edison in Los Angeles.
“When I first got to college I said I was not doing IT or coding any of that but when the opportunity came knocking I thought this might actually be useful, at the company I learned about Excel, working in a team, reporting to managers, things that are easy to translate when you’re in the class but when you’re in that situation it’s something that you need to know, it was a great experience,” Jennings added.
That was just the starting point as Jennings became an intern working as a program manager for Google Assistant, which correlates with machine learning and automation in the business world competing with other products such as Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft Office’s Cortana.
Brittani Palmer, a senior business administration major, said Jennings’ dedication is incomparable. “Kimber’s work ethic really shows her true personality always putting her best foot forward. Very steadfast, determined and always there to help a friend in need. Her work ethic is unmatchable.”
Jennings said: “I hit the ground running working on different projects and programs, it was a tough summer between balancing the internship and taking classes online but I feel like I learned valuable skills and multitasking, being able to disseminate between short-term deadlines and long-term deadlines.”
With multiple job offers and graduation approaching, this is just the start for Jennings.