By MIDN 1/C Whitney Morey
President of the USNA National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)
On October 18th my chapter and I had the opportunity to
host the Terror Zone Summit, a mini-conference open to all members from
chapters in Maryland and the District of Columbia.
The summit provided members with a variety of
workshops, a lunch-and-learn session, community service, and networking
opportunities to the local membership. Though our collegiate chapter has been
active since the early 2000s, this was the first chance that our Naval Academy
chapter has had the opportunity to truly showcase our school, Navy careers, and
most importantly, our community outreach.
Members arrived at the conference from the University
of Pittsburgh, University of Maryland-College Park, and University of
Maryland-Baltimore County, as well as the Potomac, Southern, and Baltimore professional
chapters. The summit commenced with an opening session, detailing allowing
members to introduce themselves.
The first sessions began separating the junior members
from the collegiate and professionals.
The junior members were engaged and very interested in their College 101
session where collegiate members paired with junior members to provide advice
on what to expect in college, the college application process, the pursuit of
STEM majors, and participation in NSBE while in college in order to receive the
support and mentorship to succeed and excel in their majors.
Meanwhile, the collegiate students received
information from the professional members on chapter empowerment. They
discussed how to motivate and energize their respective chapters in order to
decrease membership attrition and increase volunteer outreach, conference and
convention attendance, and collaboration with other chapters in order to lend
support.
Following the morning sessions, we took a break for
lunch where I spoke about the community efforts of the Naval Academy, educated
attendees on the Naval Academy lifestyle, and provided application information
to the NSBE junior members to generate interest in applying.
The afternoon sessions consisted of collegiate and
professional panels, as well as a professionals mixer and tours of the
Yard. The middle school-aged students
and ninth graders were ecstatic to see the school and learn more about the academy
and the opportunities afforded to its students.
While they toured, the high school and collegiate members separated into
breakout groups in different classrooms where they were able to learn from the
professionals about leadership skills, pursuit of STEM careers, graduate school
application and selection, and transition from military to civilian sector jobs.
We ended with a closing session where much positive
feedback was shared regarding the summit, including the professionalism of the
midshipmen, the well-spoken public speakers who held panels and sessions, the
informative tours provided by the midshipman escorts, the close proximity of
breakout groups to the main Mahan Hall, and the beauty and organization of the
buildings and classrooms.
The summit was an opportunity for the USNA chapter to
establish itself to many of the regional chapters. Additionally, we made great
networking connections with the professional chapters of Potomac and Southern
who work with Naval Sea Systems Command and Naval Air Systems Command as
civilian contractors. Overall the event was a great success.
