Aspiring Entrepreneur Reflects on Lenovo in the Classroom
Jumar Martin is no stranger to technology. Prior to attending Phillip O. Berry Academy of Technology in North Carolina, he attended Morehead STEM Academy for his K-8 education. “I always wanted to do something with computers, so the academy was an obvious fit,” says Jumar.
Jumar has accomplished a lot so far, and he’s eager to learn more, and through his academy, he’s getting a lot of opportunities to do so. Jumar most recently participated in Lenovo in the Classroom – Lenovo’s largest volunteer STEM event ever which featured more than 500 Lenovo employees providing mentoring and mock interviews to nearly 200 high school students in North Carolina. “They were giving us all this information that is so valuable to most high school students. It was amazing to see so many people focused on us,” says Jumar of the experience.
Jumar goes on to describe the event as an “awesome networking experience”, one of which provided him with the opportunity to meet real professionals working in the field he wants to go into. Jumar came away with two book recommendations and greater confidence in his interviewing skills. In addition, the experience helped him make important connections between the business world and the technology industry. Guest speaker NC State University Chancellor Randy Woodson emphasized integrating two disciplines to disrupt the status quo. “I want to be an entrepreneur. I want to use computer science to help people,” says Jumar.
Jumar previously attended a coding boot camp and participates in the Future Business Leaders of America. In addition, his NAF academy is one of 50 involved in the Lenovo Scholar Network. Jumar is currently leading his team project for the mobile app development competition as they look to create an app designed to report the air quality in the user’s relative location. To do so, they’re using a centralized system provided by the government. His academy was one of the winners of the competition last year and Jumar is hoping to retain the title with his team’s creation.
Jumar aims to return to the Infragard CyberCamp with the knowledge gained from his experiences with Lenovo as a Junior Counselor Team Lead.