Hundreds Introduced to Careers
Hillcrest High School student Julia Moya enjoys staying busy. It’s a good thing, too, because her summer vacation has been jammed packed.
Besides working 20-hours a week at Chick-Fil-A and taking dual-credit college courses online, Moya also secured an internship with Oncor and was recently asked to speak at Dallas Mayor Mike Rawling’s Intern Fellows Luncheon at Reunion Tower.
(PICTURED ABOVE: Mayor Mike Rawlings honors students in his Intern’s Fellow’s program, including Hillcrest High student Julia Moya (top left) Photo: James Edward)
The luncheon marked the end of the 11th Intern Fellows Program in Dallas.
Three-hundred and eighty-four students from Dallas and Richardson ISD spent their summer working internships under the mayor’s umbrella program. Since the program’s inception in 2008, more than 2,500 students have participated.
Moya knew she wanted to do an internship this summer, and was quickly offered one with Oncor after she visited a job fair.
“My meeting with Oncor went fantastic, and it was such a great experience this summer,” Moya, a senior who wants to study law at New York University, said following the mayor’s luncheon. “I wasn’t really expecting to work with a company that dealt with energy, but it turned out to be the best thing for me.”
Moya has made it a point to participate in as many different activities, clubs, and jobs as possible since transferring to Hillcrest for her junior and senior years following 11 years at a charter school.
“Hillcrest is so diverse, and there’s so many amazing people there that it really helped me see what life and school is like outside of the private school setting,” she said. “I think that can only help me if I want to become a lawyer.”
For Rawlings, interns like Moya confirm the importance of the fellows program.
Through the program, students are connected with jobs in the fields of technology, healthcare, law, accounting, business, education, the nonprofit sector, marketing, engineering, banking, manufacturing, and hospitality. It’s a great – and important, Rawlings stressed—- way for these students to get exposure they otherwise may not have the resources to acquire.
“One of the biggest issues we have in this city is the gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots,’ and that gap is getting bigger throughout the country,” Rawlings said. “That’s not going to continue in Dallas, and education is the key. This program changes lives.”
Rawlings said all of the interns displayed three key qualities: They were kind, they chose to do the right thing, and they “worked harder than everyone else.”
“If you possess those three immeasurables, the careers are out there waiting for you,” he said. “Fundamentally, it all comes down to the individual, and it’s important that all students continue to grow in their education.”
