By Tucker Wilson
May 11 – It’s a rare honor when departments get the opportunity to grow their future employees. If one Prairie View A&M University senior has her way, the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences may one day be the recipient of a home-grown colleague in Brittany Carter.
The PVAMU Office of Student Employment recently selected Carter as PVAMU’s Student Employee of the Year. It’s an honor Carter was stunned to receive. “I’m still shocked, I wasn’t expecting to win, but it shows that people who put in hard work are appreciated and recognized,” she said.
Family and Community Health Program Specialist Ms. Joyce Osborne served as Carter’s supervisor, but that working relationship blossomed into Osborne being more of a mentor. “Brittany is an exceptionally mature young lady. She possesses many of the attributes that employers seek when considering someone for employment. She is proactive, intelligent, self-motivated, confident, reliable, and open and willing to learning new things,” Osborne said.
The Human Science major, whose concentration in Nutrition and Wellness, is set to graduate in May 2020. But she’s spent the past year working in the Cooperative Extension Program’s Family and Community Health unit. Carter said the department and her supervisor Ms. Osborne had a tremendous influence on her life, and she hopes her future as well. “I plan to stay close to PVAMU, I’m interested in the working in the area of extension,” Carter said.
She credits the tutelage under Ms. Osborne as feeding her interest in extension. Osborne insisted the office of student employment made the right choice. “Brittany is deserving of such an honor. She became a genuine member of the entire cooperative extension family. I received many positive compliments about her professional demeanor. Staff members would miss her when she was not at work, Osborne added.
It’s no surprise that Carter wants to remain close to PVAMU, the university has been a fixture in the life of her family. She comes from a family of PVAMU Alums. “My grandparents met here on campus,” Carter said. “I have a long list of aunts and uncles, two sisters, and one brother who all graduated from PVAMU.” She added, “My grandfather (Airforce Veteran Willie Brown) used to always tell us, you have three choices after high school PV, PVAMU, or the military,” she joked.
While Mr. Brown may have been joking, the PVAMU Student Employee of the Year now believes he was on to something. She’s looking forward to using her education to help those in the community.