When Chelsea Boling ’15 was accepted to the McNair Scholars Program during her final two years at LU, going to work for Disney was only in her wildest dreams. The computer science and mathematics graduate said if it weren’t for the resources and funds the program gave her to pursue her studies, she wouldn’t be where she is now, working as a software engineer at Disney.
The program targets college juniors and seniors who are first-generation and low-income students, or who are from a group underrepresented at the doctoral level. It provides access to technological resources and faculty support as well as funds for conferences and research.
“When I received the McNair scholarship during my junior year at LU, it was a great time to get into research,” Boling said. “Instead of going for a traditional internship, I went into research for a year studying data mining.”
“Students use those funds in various ways, and I ended up going to several conferences. I used my resources by going to different places to learn how to do better research.”
Boling describes the year she spent data mining as worth it, since she taught herself skills she still uses today. The 2015 graduate also attributes much of her success to her training as a math tutor at LU.
“Everything I learned at Lamar University definitely helps when talking to internal Disney employees or vendors,” she explained. “I have to present what went wrong and how I fixed it. I train people who don’t always have programming skills, and being patient while teaching people new skills is such a good feeling.”
Boling said her first job out of LU was in Baton Rouge developing applications for information technology giant IBM. After realizing she wanted to get her career path back on track towards software development, Boling headed for California—and Disney.
The last two years have been spent gearing up for the release of streaming service Disney+, production engineering and acquiring more skills in software development. “It’s been pretty busy,” she said, adding that she’s excited to be part of something so big.
Boling said her time spent doing research during her time in the McNair Scholars Program helped her get her foot in the door, now and in the future. “It’s such a nice piece to have on my resume,” Boling said. “It shows I know what I’m talking about during interviews, and then I get to bring my expertise on board.
“Everything I do now at Disney is because of all the skills I have acquired,” she said. “The skills I have because of the research I did at LU are transferable wherever I go.”
Boling said before she got into LU, she always knew she was destined for the technology industry. “A lot of people were there (at LU) to encourage women and minorities to join the industry,” she said. “I believe the opportunities for people to get into technology are just endless. The professors I worked with were so friendly and helpful, and there’s a lot of resources for people like me.”
“That’s the advantage of going to a smaller school like Lamar University. You get to know your professors, your classmates, your community, and the resources and opportunities, like I had, never end.”
