Student Spotlight: Shelly Henling– Computer Engineering

Back when I was a senior in high school and was applying for different colleges, it came time for me to choose a major I was going to study for the next couple years. Many different options crossed my mind. My high school math classes had always been my favorite, and it was my dad who suggested I try computer en- gineering. Being an engineer himself, he might have been slightly biased, but we have always been very similar and therefore I trusted his judgement. I had never taken any computer science or engineering clas- ses before and was nervous I would get to school and absolutely hate it.

As soon as I started my engineering career at Villanova I started to realize that this was what I was meant

to be studying. I adjusted to my classes soon found that I had made the right decision because I couldn’t en- vision myself studying anything else. I not only loved my teachers, the atmosphere in all of my classes, but I absolutely loved what I was learning. I especially enjoyed my software engineering and computer science classes and therefore decided to minor in computer science as well.

That is not to say that there were no difficult or challenging times, or points when I wondered if the studying

or hours in the engineering building were really worth it, but I had found a place at Villanova that I loved and that pushed me to be a better student. As sophomore year came to a close, it was time for me to start look- ing for summer internships. Up until this point, I had been a nanny for the same family during the summers. The kids were getting older by this time and no longer needed a full time nanny, so I felt it was time to start my career.

I applied to many different computer science jobs in the Seattle area where I am originally from. I inter- viewed with a couple places, but unfortunately found that most companies were looking for interns that had finished at least their junior year of college. I remember the day I had an interview at AT&T. At this point I was a little disappointed and was resigned to the fact that I might have to wait until completing one more year of college before getting an internship. Sure enough, after the technical portion the interviewer and I were talking about school and they were slightly surprised I was a sophomore and told me the internship was mainly for junior students. Other than that, I felt the interview went really well, but was still slightly surprised when I was offered a second interview. A week later I received an offer to be a software development intern at AT&T’s summer internship program. At the end of last summer’s internship, I was offered a returning offer and have been interning there this summer as well.

I have loved both of my internships working at AT&T. I have received mentoring from skilled technical ex- perts and expanded my own practical knowledge of computer science. The program is designed to give in- terns experience in the industry by having them work on real projects that make an impact to the company. I am thrilled to have received an offer to return full time next year, after I graduate in 2019