1. Home
  2. Departments
  3. Office of Marketing and Communications
  4. USA News
  5. #MyFirstJob

Back to News

#MyFirstJob

MyFirstJob News Archive

  • Mollie Wade, outside Children's of Alabama where she got a job as a nurse, is starting her career on the night shift. “I think I’ve always been a night owl,” she says. “It’s kind of my place.”

    Hitting the Ground Running - Mollie Wade
    August 19, 2021

    Mollie Wade, a graduate of South's Honors College, is bringing her education and a new set of sneakers to her nursing job at Children's of Alabama. #MyFirstJob ...
  • DeVonte’ Dixon, a South meteorology graduate, took at job at Fox 55 News in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and will be an on-air weekend meteorologist.

    Meteorologist Follows Forecast to Fort Wayne
    August 9, 2021

    DeVonte' Dixon, influenced by the deadly tornado outbreak of April 2011, heads north for broadcasting job at Fox 55 News in Indiana. #MyFirstJob ...
  • Darcey D’Amato recently took a job as a systems engineer in the aerospace division at Boeing. Her advice to students preparing for a job search: “I tell everybody: Go to conferences. Go to career fairs. Talk to recruiters.”

    Career Launch
    July 22, 2021

    Satellite projects at South helped an engineering graduate land an internship with the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab and a position with Boeing in Seattle. #MyFirstJob ...
  • Kyle Samuel gained a great deal of sports broadcasting experience, working on Jag TV and ESPN+ productions, while a student at the University of South Alabama.

    Racing Start
    July 13, 2021

    A South graduate uses his college broadcasting experience to land a job doing graphics and editing for NASCAR coverage at Fox Sports 1. #MyFirstJob ...
  • Merritt McCall's duties with the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources include building, seeding and monitoring oyster beds in state waters. she recently earned her master's degree in marine science from the University of South Alabama.

    The World Is Her Oyster
    July 1, 2021

    Marine scientist Merritt McCall turns her experience at South and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab into a fisheries job with the state of Mississippi. #MyFirstJob ...
  • Katelyn Cowie said an entry level accounting course, along with an internship at Horton, Lee, Burnett, Peacock, Cleveland and Grainger, helped launch the course of her professional career.

    Return on Investment
    June 7, 2021

    After four years at South, where she ran cross country, worked as a tutor and ambitiously pursued what became an eventful internship, Katelyn Cowie begins a career in accounting. #MyFirstJob ...
  • William DeMouy called the principal at Grand Bay Middle School the day he saw the job opening for a teacher. He interviewed the next morning. “I was thrilled. I was like, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s go for it.’”

    A Second Bachelor's, A Second Start
    August 4, 2020

    #MyFirstJob: William DeMouy finds his place in the classroom as the geography and civics teacher embarks on a new career. ...
  • Serena Thidasongsavanh works as a nurse in the emergency department at USA Health University Hospital. Compared with other academic medical centers in the United States, the University Hospital emergency department handles some of the most complex and challenging cases requiring the highest level of care.

    Hitting the Ground Running - Serena Thidasongsavanh
    July 28, 2020

    #MyFirstJob: Comfortable shoes and a fast pace keep Serena Thidasongsavanh on her toes as a hospital emergency room nurse. ...
  • Gaelyn Angus-Barker, who graduated from the University of South Alabama with a degree in mechanical engineering, is in a two-year program at General Motors that includes four six-month rotations in different positions.

    Engineer Rolls to General Motors
    July 21, 2020

    #MyFirstJob: After graduating in May, Gaelyn Angus-Barker heads north for job with the automobile industry in downtown Detroit. ...
  • Courtney McKeand, whose portfolio is thick with science fiction and fantasy characters, landed a freelance contract after graduating from the University of South Alabama. “I’m thrilled to have found work so quickly and in my field,” she said.

    Artist Lives Dream in Fantasy World
    July 14, 2020

    #MyFirstJob: Courtney McKeand overcame multiple sclerosis to earn art degree at South and land freelance job in science fiction. ...
  • Adam Gautier earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer and information sciences at the University of South Alabama. Before finishing school in May, he was chosen graduate student of the year for the School of Computing.

    Computer Security Career Takes Off
    July 7, 2020

    #MyFirstJob: Adam Gautier's degree took him to Huntsville, where he's found challenges, camaraderie and comical space references. ...
  • Dr. Cameron Chick, who earned a doctorate at the University of South Alabama, is a clinical audiologist at the Georgia Hearing Institute.

    Audiologist Hears Call as Dr. Chick
    June 30, 2020

    #MyFirstJob: Cameron Chick turned a South education and a Macon internship into a job at the Georgia Hearing Institute. ...
  • Martavious Hails, a spring 2020 computer science graduate, works on a NASA team that uses satellite information to improve short-term weather forecasting.

    South, then North and to Space
    June 22, 2020

    #MyFirstJob: Martavious Hails joined a NASA team in Huntsville that uses satellite imagery to improve weather forecasting. ...
  • Amara Baltimore, a spring graduate of the Mitchell College of Business, is just 22 years old, but she’s already conducting audits and interviewing taxpayers in her first job with the Alabama Department of Revenue.

    The Nonconfrontational, Sympathetic Auditor
    June 15, 2020

    #MyFirstJob: With a $10 backdrop, Amara Baltimore looks for thousands in lost revenue for the state of Alabama. ...
  • Caleb Santa Cruz, a communication studies graduate, works as a youth pastor at Summit Church, which is constructing a new church building in Foley.

    A Career, and a Church, Under Construction
    June 9, 2020

    #MyFirstJob: Caleb Santa Cruz, a communication studies graduate, heads back home to begin a job as a youth pastor. ...
  • Jasmein Davis works in the old federal building in downtown Mobile, where she is an accountant for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mobile District.

    #MyFirstJob: Jasmein Davis
    August 13, 2019

    She loves words, but Jasmein Davis chose numbers in pursuing accounting. It's paying off at the Army Corps of Engineers. ...
  • Hong Nguyen majored in finance and accounting to earn her degree in business administration at USA Mitchell College of Business. She completed three internships while at South, one at Austal USA where she now works.

    #MyFirstJob: Hong Nguyen
    August 6, 2019

    With three internships and a degree in business administration, Hong Nguyen brings her skills to shipbuilder Austal USA. ...
  • Two internships, college courses and involvement in USA’s Society of Women Engineers chapter all helped prepare Kelly Welsh for her job as an engineer for Georgia-Pacific.

    #MyFirstJob: Georgia-Pacific's Kelly Welsh
    July 29, 2019

    As a reliability engineer for Georgia-Pacific, Kelly Welsh minimizes production loss by keeping the machines humming along. ...
  • Thomas “Reid” Nelson credits South’s Ph.D. program in marine sciences with having the resources and range of expertise in faculty to support his research interests and education. He works in a National Marine Fisheries Service lab with other scientists from UC Santa Cruz.

    #MyFirstJob: Thomas 'Reid' Nelson
    July 22, 2019

    In a lab along the California coast, Reid Nelson researches ways to improve survival rates of juvenile salmon migrating to sea. ...
  • Russell Standridge, a physical therapist in Decatur, Ala., said he gets satisfaction from seeing his patients improve. His clients arrive having faced a variety of medical challenges: from surgeries to athletic injuries to automobile wrecks to neurological disorders.

    #MyFirstJob: Russell Standridge
    July 15, 2019

    With an interest in sports and medicine, Russell Standridge found the 'perfect mix' in a career as a physical therapist. ...
  • Lacey Bolden

    #MyFirstJob: Lacey Bolden
    July 2, 2019

    Lacey Bolden says you never know what will happen in the ER. But with her degree from South, she feels prepared for every patient. ...
  • Billie McKinney, a graduate of the University of South Alabama, is a structural engineer at Ingalls Shipbuilding, one of Mississippi's largest employers. “As a structural engineer at Ingalls, my job consists of ensuring the safety of the men and women of the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. I take great pride in providing these men and women with the utmost dedication, professionalism and work ethic that they provide our country daily.”

    #MyFirstJob: Billie McKinney
    June 24, 2019

    As an engineer at Ingalls Shipbuilding, Billie McKinney's job helps ensure the safety of U.S. Navy and Coast Guard personnel. ...
  • Zane Patterson's official title at Shipshape Urban Farms is account manager. But working at a start-up means pitching in wherever he's needed, and Patterson said he thrives on that culture. "I enjoy the flexibility of entrepreneurship,” he said.

    #MyFirstJob: Zane Patterson
    June 17, 2019

    An account manager at Shipshape Urban Farms, Zane Patterson thrives on start-up culture. 'I get to help shape this business.' ...
  • When Tara Principe enrolled at South, she thought she would return to Road Island after graduation. “But my parents knew by my sophomore year at South that I was not coming back home to live. There’s no snow here, and I am close to the beaches.” Principe began as the marketing and communication director at Distinguished Young Women just four days after graduation. When Tara Principe enrolled at South, she thought she would return to Road Island after graduation. “But my parents knew by my sophomore year at South that I was not coming back home to live. There’s no snow here, and I am close to the beaches.” Principe began as the marketing and communication director at Distinguished Young Women just four days after graduation.

    #MyFirstJob: Tara Principe
    June 10, 2019

    Distinguished Young Women's new marketing director got a rehearsal performance even before she graduated. ...
  • Caroline Carithers, a 2019 South graduate who is starting at WKRG-TV5, joins Chief Meteorologist Alan Sealls as a member of the WKRG First Alert Storm Team. Sealls taught Carithers while she was at USA.

    #MyFirstJob: Caroline Carithers
    June 4, 2019

    "I was kind of shocked I got my dream job so quickly, so I'm very excited," says South grad and WKRG-TV5's newest meteorologist. ...