{"id":10374,"date":"2023-03-16T09:22:04","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T13:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/?p=10374"},"modified":"2023-03-16T09:22:06","modified_gmt":"2023-03-16T13:22:06","slug":"honored-to-be-an-eagle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/2023\/03\/16\/honored-to-be-an-eagle\/","title":{"rendered":"Honored to be an Eagle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Alumna Finds Her Way at Georgia Southern<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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It has been two years since Alexa Lopez (\u201920) walked across the graduation stage at Georgia Southern University, but she remains one of the University\u2019s biggest cheerleaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’m doing amazing at my job because of Georgia Southern,\u201d said Lopez, now a software developer for General Motors (GM) in Atlanta. \u201cThis college has shaped me in so many ways that people I know today would not understand. They don\u2019t know how painfully shy I was, how few goals I had for my future, how little I put myself out there before I went to Georgia Southern.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to coming to the Statesboro Campus, Lopez attended college in her native Puerto Rico. But her life was upended when Hurricane Maria, a category 5 storm, battered the island. Recovery from the storm was a daily struggle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBefore applying to Georgia Southern, my family and I had been without water and electricity for weeks,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was difficult keeping up with food because most of us used credit cards to pay; however, stores were only accepting cash.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The college she attended had closed and she didn\u2019t know when it would reopen. Her father, who lives in Georgia, suggested she transfer to Georgia Southern. Lopez considers it one of the best decisions she\u2019s ever made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe people I\u2019ve met at Georgia Southern have been a huge influence in my life,\u201d she noted. \u201cThey taught me how to be the best developer I could be and how to be the best version of myself as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE RIGHT DECISION<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The alumna majored in information technology and she still remembers the class that confirmed she selected the right major.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no doubt that my favorite class was webpage development with Professor Kristen Hawkins,\u201d said Lopez. \u201cI learned how to make a website from scratch using code, something I thought I\u2019d never be able to do. The skills I learned in that class apply today in my career as a developer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a woman pursuing a career in a field dominated by men, Lopez knew how important it was to network with other women forging careers in tech industries. She joined Women in Technology (WIT), an organization that supports the advancement of women and girls in science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was, and I am, still to this day, all about Women in Technology,\u201d said Lopez. \u201cThis organization pushed my growth in so many ways that I can’t thank them\u00a0enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after she graduated in December 2020, Lopez joined GM in Atlanta, where she trained for a software developer lead role. Her main responsibilities include scheduling and setting meetings for the team, breaking down business user stories into tasks, conducting code reviews, guiding and mentoring others on how to implement tasks and helping solve \u2018bugs.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\"Alexa<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But what she enjoys most are the opportunities for growth and networking at the automaker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always a project that needs someone with a certain skill to help volunteer,\u201d Lopez said, \u201cor an event where you can talk one-on-one with big names at GM or showcase your best accomplishment. Anyone can get visibility. All you need to do is put yourself out there to\u00a0get it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was also accepted into JumpStart, an organization for new employees to get involved in different events to socialize, network and grow professionally within the company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been able to interview CIOs during my first year in front of hundreds of employees in the company,\u201d she said. \u201cI definitely have improved my confidence and public speaking skill.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PROUD TO BE <\/strong>AN EAGLE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lopez uses her spare time to meet with friends and colleagues, try out fancy restaurants or play with Eve, her little Yorkie. And she continues to praise Georgia Southern for the way it transformed her life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI came to Georgia with little to nothing because of a bad hurricane in Puerto Rico in 2017 and was looking for better opportunities.,\u201d she said. \u201cI was able to achieve tons of scholarships at Georgia Southern, have awesome job opportunities and be able to own my first home at 22. I\u2019m grateful for this every day. It\u2019s been a pleasure being an Eagle at Georgia Southern University.\u201d \u2014 Sandra Bennett<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Georgia Southern alumna Alexa Lopez says attending the University was one of the best decisions she’s ever made.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":10377,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[75],"class_list":["post-10374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","tag-spring-2023"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}