PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (May 9, 2022) – It can often seem like college is about three things: parties, papers, and a chance for students to chase their dreams. For Jeremy Daniels, a native of Port Arthur, Texas, it was. He made the friends, completed the projects, and was offered his dream job as a Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) – a position he’ll start soon after graduating from Prairie View A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science this week.
But those things barely scratch the surface of what college has to offer, especially at PVAMU. Beneath the pomp and circumstance lies the potential for deep personal transformation – and Daniels found that too. Though he arrived on campus with self-imposed limitations, he’s leaving with self-granted permission to live a limitless life.
The first step is the hardest.
Upon reaching the spring semester of his sophomore year, Daniels was still finding it difficult to navigate the terrain of his major. Unsure of what path to take or how to get there, he found himself full of questions. Where did his passion for empowering people fit into tech? How does one gain access to the field? And where were all the people who looked like him? Though valid questions, they were daunting at the time and threatened to keep Daniels from exploring the answers.
Consider that self-imposed limitation number one.
But the training and support he got from PVAMU’s Roy G. Perry College of Engineering (COE) gave him the confidence and encouragement to venture past the doubts. In the spring of 2019, he got the courage to attend an information session the COE was hosting with HPE – a small step that ended up taking him far.
“PVAMU brings out the potential in its students and faculty,” Daniels said, reflecting on how things came together. “All universities may offer opportunities to people, but PVAMU has a way of pushing them to the people who need it most for their own development.”
The information session led to three summer internships with the tech giant, along with co-op extensions that gave him the opportunity to work part-time while in school. Oh, and he made a little history while he was at it, too. Not only was Daniels part of HPE Houston’s first cohort of HBCU Cyber Security students, but he also won 2nd place in the Best in Class: Technical Division competition, outpacing all 50 of the summer interns who competed at the Houston site. It was a first for both the HBCU Initiative team and the entire Global Security organization.
The world is your oyster – and so is your campus.
While the experience at HPE was a chance to see that his limitations were more perception than reality, it was also an example of how freeing yourself can be rewarding for those around you, which brings us to self-imposed limitation two.
Like many new students away from home for the first time, Daniels spent his first year at PVAMU clinging to the circle of friends he came with. “I was very introverted,” he said of his early days at PVAMU, most of which were spent in the four walls of his dorm. But according to an old proverb, “it’s weight that makes the donkey move.”
That weight landed on Daniels at the start of his sophomore year when he realized he was one of the only ones from his friend group returning to campus. “I was forced to get involved if I wanted to achieve anything,” he said. Doing so was one of the best moves he could have made, as it transformed his relationship to both his peers and the university.
“I truly grew as an individual and had the opportunity to help so many people,” he said. “I soon realized, after joining B.L.A.C.K. [Brothers Leading and Cultivating Knowledge], you develop a love for your surroundings through involvement.”
The experience gave him the opportunity to build more than just friendships, but a network of professional and communal connections that would take him through PVAMU and beyond. “With B.L.A.C.K., I was able to serve the Golden Classes of 1970 and 1971 during Homecoming,” he said. “Seeing so many successful alumni with the purpose of supporting the HBCU that supported them was really rewarding and inspired me to join an alumni association after graduation.”
Daniels was also inducted into the re-chartered Alpha Pi Mu Chapter of the Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society. According to Quincy Moore, Ph.D., director of the PVAMU Honors Program, Daniels “has encompassed what Prairie View means.”
What’s next? Whatever you want.
Leaving that comfort zone put Daniels on a path of self-discovery. The journey led him to the Student Counseling Center, which he credits for helping him understand himself as a person. One of the biggest lessons he learned there is that he is, after all, just a person, and he should grant himself the grace that all humans deserve.
That led to him unlocking limitation number three.
“Please do not let time dictate your success,” Daniels said – something he learned after realizing he would be graduating in five years instead of four. “While it seemed like a huge issue at the time, this fifth year has been the most rewarding year of my college career. I have grown tremendously from where I started once I realized the only person I should be keeping up with is myself.”
Such wisdom is part of the root-level transformation that PVAMU offers, which makes all the accolades – and a life without limits – possible.
“Prairie View has a sense of potential in every forefront,” Daniels said. “There is so much that is under development on campus that will truly keep PVAMU in the headlines. All of the programs and coalitions underway will help grow enrollment and resources to keep PVAMU as a first-class institution.”
Click here to view a complete listing of this semester’s notable graduates.
By Jada F. Smith
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