MARTIN, Tenn. – Dedication in the classroom has its rewards for college students as they prepare for careers, but making real-world connections before graduation can create important opportunities. Annabelle Cormia of Martin worked hard to earn a computer science degree, which she received May 5 during commencement exercises at the University of Tennessee at Martin. However, reaching out to a university alum is what paved the way for the internship that earned Cormia a full-time position with Cigna Insurance. She will begin her new career in July at the company’s headquarters in Connecticut.
“I’m very excited. I’m a little nervous about starting the next chapter of my life, but overall, I’m very, very excited,” said Cormia, whose college experience began in fall 2014 following her graduation from Westview High School in Martin. However, her interest in computer science began in 2012 when she attended the five-week Governor’s School for Emerging Technologies at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville. This experience introduced her to computer programming, and she began to consider college majors that would lead to opportunities in the programming field. Her search led her to computer science and UT Martin.
“I liked that (computer science) was a developing field with a lot of opportunity and the fact that there are opportunities in every industry, whether it’s health care or security,” she said. “You can work anywhere you want to.” The university’s bachelor’s degree program in computer science prepares graduates for various technical positions or graduate studies in computer science. The program achieved a significant milestone in fall 2017 by earning independent accreditation for the first time from the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET.
A life-changing break came for Cormia when she sought a computer science internship during her junior year. Students are responsible for arranging internships, and the search can be intense. “I probably ended up applying to 30 or so (internships), but I also started reaching out to alumni who I knew had graduated from the computer science program,” she said. “And I kind of found out where they were working, if their company offered any internships, where I could apply, if they could offer me a reference or referral, and so this led me to contact Chauntrell Clay.”
Clay is employed by Cigna Insurance in Nashville and completed the company’s internship program during her time at UT Martin. She was Cormia’s peer counselor in the university’s Peer Enabling Program, which groups freshmen with similar academic interests under the guidance of a faculty mentor and a PEP leader. Clay graduated in 2015 with a computer science degree and, although Clay and Cormia eventually became friends, she had another reason to remember Cormia, who was one of only two females in the PEP group of approximately 25 computer science students. Clay encouraged Cormia to apply for the Cigna internship program, and she was accepted. Cormia spent the summer of 2017 working at Cigna’s headquarters in Bloomfield, Connecticut, near the state capital of Hartford.
Cormia’s family will remain in Tennessee when she leaves for her new home in Connecticut, but they will make big changes as well. Cormia’s family will leave Martin and return to the Knoxville area where they are originally from. Her mother, Susan, has worked at UT Martin for the past six years, but she has recently accepted a position in the Min H. Kao Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at UT Knoxville. Her father, Ross, is currently a manufacturing engineer at Nortek in Dyersburg; and her brother, Riley, is a recent graduate of Westview High School and will attend UT Knoxville starting this fall. “They seem genuinely excited for me to have this opportunity to live and work somewhere new, and to have a new adventure.”
Photo – Annabelle Cormia (center) is pictured May 5 before UT Martin commencement with her father, Ross, and her mother, Susan.
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