When De’Von Jennings applied for the Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP), he never dreamed it would take him all the way to South Korea, but that’s exactly where the environmental engineer landed for a 14-week internship in 2021.
De’Von was pursuing his PhD in civil and environmental engineering at the University of California Irvine when he learned about the WRP from another student and applied. Once accepted and included in the WRP database, he received a call from a hiring manager with the Army Corps of Engineers offering an internship at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, on the western coast of South Korea.
The internship allowed De’Von to rotate through a number of hands-on engineering roles, from contamination remediation, to soil sampling, to contract management. “The position taught me a lot about how to work with different agencies and understand government processes such as budgeting and administration,” he said. “I learned how engineering helps us set standards for our infrastructure and expanded my network of contacts in the engineering field.”
Since his internship took place during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, De’Von did not get to explore Korea as much as he would have liked; however, he still learned a great deal about the culture and got to sample authentic local cuisine. An avid traveler who’s been to 27 countries and five continents, De’Von enjoyed this aspect of his WRP experience immensely.
South Korea is a long way from his native Ohio, where De’Von grew up in the foster care system. “As an African-American male in an unstable housing situation, there were a lot of obstacles I had to overcome,” he says. “But all of those experiences shaped who I am and made me better at navigating the world.”
Indeed, De’Von was able to continue steering his studies and career while halfway across the globe. He defended his dissertation remotely during his time at Fort Humphreys and is currently interviewing for teaching positions at several universities, hoping to secure a position to feed his ongoing passion for research, knowledge and learning.