LaShunda Clay

Student’s Future in Information Technology Goes Beyond the “Basics”

Visual Basic programming language that is.

LaShunda Clay, an Albany State University computer science grad, spent six weeks last summer creating databases using various programming languages, such as Visual Basic, at the Department of Energy’s New Brunswick Laboratory in Argonne, Illinois. Through the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Historically Black Colleges and Universities program, which is administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), Clay gained valuable experience in her chosen field of information technology.

“It was a wonderful opportunity for me to gain more knowledge and receive on-the-job training in my field,” says Clay. “If you are looking for ways to learn more about your major and what it would be like to actually perform in a professional setting, this program is a very good place to start.”

While in the program Clay had the opportunity to solve real-world problems by designing and programming a database that would track information about radiation samples taken in the lab. Previously, after experiments were done, technicians would sample the area for levels of radiation and enter the sample data into an existing laboratory information management system. However, the system was not capable of storing the data in such a way that a history could be pulled. With Clay’s development of a customized database, tracking of radiation levels is now possible. 

Since participating in the program at New Brunswick Lab and graduating from Albany State, Clay has landed a position as the database assistant for the Exceptional Students Program of the Dougherty County School System in Albany, Georgia. “The NRC program gave me the confidence I needed to work with highly intelligent people in a technical setting,” says Clay. “I had been a para-professional in the school system while attending college, and after returning from this program and graduating from school, I was promoted to database administrator. This program really gave me the skills and professionalism I needed to apply to the work world.”

When she’s not running code for a new database program she’s created for the Exceptional Students Program, LaShunda loves running for fitness, spending time with her family, and helping kids in the computer library at the local Boys and Girls Club. “I fell in love with computers when I was young and got my own personal computer when I was a senior in high school,” remembers Clay. Clay also spends her free time volunteering at her alma mater teaching students how to rebuild computers. “It’s important to me that other young people know the value of computers to our lives,” says Clay. “If you’re going to function in today’s society, you’ve got to get beyond the basics in your knowledge and acceptance of computers.”

Her first love will always be programming, but Clay also has considered a career in rebuilding computers or teaching. And her participation in the NRC research participation program at the New Brunswick Lab has helped her visualize and focus on a future in information technology that is anything but basic.