Caiya Wiltshireis a Senior Mechanical Engineering student minoring in Applied Mathematics at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University. Caiya is from San Antonio, Texas, and is working with Apple for the summer. Ultimately, Caiya intends to become a mechanical engineer.
1. What’s your biggest motivation right now?
My biggest motivation right now is the goal of being financially stable enough to live however I want to in the future.
2. What do you wish your younger self knew about your current profession? I wish I would've known that my current profession hires people based on two main things: experience and personality.
3. How do you balance life and work? I always have a lot of work to do. Therefore, when it’s time for me to sit down and work, I have to give it my all so that I can enjoy my time without thinking about the tasks I haven’t finished. I also try not to check my email in a social setting because then I’ll stress out about the tasks that are coming instead of enjoying my time out.
4. Brag on yourself! What’s your biggest accomplishment to date? My biggest accomplishment is definitely getting a full ride scholarship to NCAT.
5. What’s one thing that you wish you had known when you began your career? Presentation and communication skills can be the deciding factor for getting a return offer.
6. What is your biggest failure, and what did you learn from it? One of my biggest failures was getting terrible grades during our first virtual semester of school. I learned from this experience by attending my virtual classes outside of my home, and always watching the lecture with a study group.
7. What advice would you give someone wanting to pursue a career similar to yours? I would say in every interview, sell yourself! You might not have any experience with what you want to pursue, but as long as you believe in yourself and make the interviewer believe in you as well, everything will work in your favor.
8. What are the best resources that have helped you along the way? Handshake has helped me the most because that’s how I got my internship with Microsoft last summer.
9. What makes you feel inspired or like your best self? The people closest to me inspire me to be my best self because they all work extremely hard for what they want, so I want to push myself to that same level as well.
10. Who are the three people who have been the most influential to you? My dad, my mom, and my NSBE Jr. advisor because they all work extremely hard for what they want, and they continue to give back to their communities.
11. What’s the biggest challenge you’re facing in your role right now and how are you tackling it? I’m still on my first week of my internship right now, but my biggest challenge would be stepping out of my comfort zone by networking with everyone I see. One of the best things that come from internships are the people you meet, so I don’t want to miss that opportunity because I may feel shy at the moment.
12. If you weren’t pursuing your current occupation, what occupation would you pursue and why? There’s honestly nothing else I’d rather pursue, but if I had to choose, it would probably be a computer engineer.
Comments