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Building Automation student Stephanie Brown opened her e-mail earlier this month to find a message from The Home Depot. That message informed her she was one of 600 students nationwide to receive The Home Depot Trade Scholarship. The newly established scholarship by the Atlanta-based home improvement store hopes to foster the next generation of professional contractors and tradespeople. In a statement outlining the program, The Home Depot says, “We know that there are thousands of students at colleges, universities and vocational/technical schools across the country who are preparing themselves for a career in this field. We recognize the hard work that it takes to complete this education, and we want to provide scholarship assistance to defray some of the costs.” The scholarship is worth $500.00.
Brown enrolled in DeKalb Technical College’s Building Automation Program in the 2009 spring quarter. The Stone Mountain resident plans to graduate in the spring of 2010. “I would like to use this as an entrepreneurial venture, possibly doing contracting or something like that,” says Brown. While her current career goal is to work in the building automation industry, her educational journey started off on a different path. Brown says, “My background is in mainly health care and bio tech. I have a bachelor’s degree in biology and I also have an MBA.” She is now one of 600 recipients nation wide of The Home Depot Scholarship program. Bill Fink, a DeKalb Tech HVAC and Welding Instructor has taught Brown in two classes since she enrolled a few months ago. He says she is an exceptional student, and adds, “She’s not so much a student, but almost an intellectual equal. She’s very smart.” His characterization is echoed by her grades. Brown has a 4.0 GPA so far at DeKalb Tech. Administrators in the department say it is quite unusual to find an African American female pursuing such a career in industrial trade.
Prior to enrolling in DeKalb Tech’s Building Automation System curriculum, Brown had no experience in this industry. What she did have was a desire and a passion to learn about how a building works, much like she learned how the human body works as she studied for her degree in biology. “I’m just interested in learning that technology and the whole industry,” says Brown. Her instructor, Bill Fink, passed out the scholarship application in class a few weeks ago. The application required those applying to write two essays about how they perceive the future of the industry. With one eye on the future, and the other on her current studies, Brown says, “I wrote about the whole green movement and building efficiency. I thought that buildings would be more efficient based on new technologies,” That was enough to win her the $500.00 scholarship. Brown will also enroll in DeKalb Tech’s soon-to-be launched Green Technologies Academy (GTA).
DeKalb Technical College, a unit of the Technical College System of Georgia, promotes a student-centered environment for lifelong learning and development, encompassing academic and technical education for employment in a global community. The college has 8 centers of learning in DeKalb, Newton, Rockdale, and Morgan counties. Established in 1961, DeKalb Technical College currently has more than 4,000 students enrolled in diploma or degree programs and more than 9,000 in adult education classes. Academic and Technical programs at DeKalb Tech cover more than 100 different occupations. For more information visit our website at www.dekalbtech.edu.
