By Stefan Yablonski
Two Oswego County P-TECH students will do paid internships at Micron this summer.
Vincent Hubbard and Will Appleton are two of the 40 students nationwide who were selected.
Appleton will spend his summer working at Micron in Manassas, Virginia.
Hubbard will be working at Micron in Boise, Idaho.
“It’s like Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket,” Appleton said of learning he had been selected for the internship at Micron.
“It does feel like getting a golden ticket,” Hubbard agreed.
Appleton is a senior at Central Square High School and an electrical technology major at Onondaga Community College through the Pathways in Technology Early College High School program.
The P-TECH program provides high school students the opportunity to work toward their high school diploma and associate degree simultaneously and ultimately a pathway to an in-demand job.
Hubbard, also a P-TECH student, is a senior at Fulton High School and is majoring in mechanical technology.
Students from across the country were able to apply.
“They were only accepting 40 community college students,” said Hailey Warren OCC’s assistant director of early college pathways.
In eighth grade, students go through an application process and if selected to attend P-TECH they actually attend their classes at CiTi BOCES in Mexico, Warren explained. In their junior year they start coming up to OCC a couple days a week and start on-campus course work.
“We are so proud of Vincent and Will. They’ve done outstanding work in the P-TECH program which Micron has recognized and rewarded them with an amazing opportunity this summer,” said Onondaga Community College President Warren Hilton. “We look forward to hearing about their experiences working in the semiconductor industry which will inspire P-TECH students in future years.”
It was like applying for any job, Appleton said.
“The two of us got accepted into these Micron positions. It’s a pretty big thing with Micron coming here some time in the next few years,” he added. “I’ve had people I didn’t even know coming up to me and say, ‘hey you’re the guy who got the internship.’ That’s cool.”
He said his internship will run from May 20 to Aug. 9.
“After that, we come back here and finish up our degrees. Then if they liked us, they’ll offer a full-time position,” he said. “It will be like once you finish college here is a full-time position you can accept it now. It’s like a short contract to test out whether they want to employ you.”
“I’m starting June 3 to August some time,” Hubbard said.
He said he’d likely be doing some machine work, as he’s majoring in mechanical technology.
“My major is in electrical technology; so I don’t know exactly which position I’d be taking,” Appleton said. “Eventually I want to go on to an engineering position, but that’s down the road.”
During the application process, Micron wanted to know about the students’ work experience, what their work ethic was like, whether they were reliable and were they able to be passionate about the work that they were doing.
And hands-on work outside of school in your field was also important, Appleton added.
Having any type of hands-on experience would give you a leg up; try to acquire hands-on experience in the filed that you’re aiming for, he advised other students.
“They are giving me a fully furnished apartment, $250 a month, $600 for travel as well as fully compensating all travel to Manassas and from Manassas,” Appleton said.
“I think it’s about the same thing in Boise,” Hubbard said. “They are picking up the majority of the housing costs and stipends for travel.”
The two students were recognized by the Oswego County Legislature at its March 14 meeting.
