I am a junior at Elizabeth City State University majoring in Computer Science.

I first became interested in computers my senior year of high school.  During 

my senior year I took a programming class in BASIC-Beginners All-Purpose 

Symbolic Instrcution Code.  After taking the class I decided that I wanted to 

major in Computer Science.

	My extra-curriculum activities include the Math and Computer Science 

Club and the Track and Field Team.  My academic goal include graduating with 

a Bachelors degree in Computer Science and then pursuing a Masters Degree in 

Computer Science.  When I decided to extend my education to graduate school I

realized that it was important for me to start prparing myself.  In the spring 

of 1999 I was accepted into the Ronald E. McNair Research Program.  The 

programis designed to help prepare undergraduate students for graduate school. 

I was given a mentor, Dr. Linda Hayden.  Dr. Hayden is principle investigator

for the Nurturing ECSU Research Talent Program funded by the Office of Naval 

Research and for the NASA Network Resources and Training Site.  While in the 

program I was a member of the System Administration Team.  Our task was to 

refurbish a Silicon Graphics Workstation by: installing a new hard drive, 

SIMMs, IRIX Operating System, and establishing user accounts.  The Program also

gave me an opportunity to travel to different conferences.  One of the 

conferences that I attended was the National Black Graduate Student Association. 

At the conference I was given an opportunity to present that I had done while in 

the McNair Program.

	During the fall of my junior year I became a member of the Office of 

Naval Research. While in the program I was on the Visualizatio Team.  I was 

given a mentor, Dr. Kossi Edoh.  While in the program I learned how to use 

GOES 8 Satellite and GVAR Software.  With the software we were able to track 

and predict storm movements, customize images, and analyze the weather behind 

a disaster.

	These experiences have helped me to better prepare myself for graduate 

school. I have had the opportunity to work with a mentor on research projects.  

I plan to continue preparing for graduate school by gaining more research 

xperience, improving my GPA, and preparing for the GRE.  When I graduate from 

ECSU I plan to be well equipped for graduate school.