亚洲AV

Senior sees public speaking as a key to success in engineering

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student Jazzmin Robinson knows the value public speaking skills hold for a career in engineering.

Jazzmin standing in an office building in front of a window.
Jazzmin Robinson credits her industry and student organization experience for pushing her out of her comfort zone. Photo Provided.

A senior, Robinson鈥檚 wake-up call with stage fright was during a presentation at her first big internship with the Department of Defense. 鈥淚 never knew this about myself, and my friends and supervisors were shocked that I was so terrified,鈥 she says.

This moment was a turning point for Robinson. She knew then that to become a successful engineer she needed to find ways to utilize the many organizations across the Mason community to become a leader on 亚洲AV鈥檚 Fairfax Campus.

鈥淚 always enjoyed being involved, but the day that I realized my fear of public speaking was pretty crippling, that added to my motivation,鈥 says Robinson.

A Richmond, Virginia native, Robinson has now held six leadership positions at Mason. Currently, she is the public relations chair for the region two executive board and the vice president for NSBE鈥檚 collegiate chapter. She is also secretary for the and

鈥淭he organizations I鈥檝e been a part of have given me so much exposure and leadership experience, and it has given me much more confidence in presenting and public speaking,鈥 she says.

Robinson sees the skill as crucial to a successful engineering career because of the collaborative nature of the field. 鈥淚n NSBE, IEEE, and others, we have to work together to reach specific outcomes. But at the end of the day, we need to be able to mentor others and tell outsiders all that we鈥檝e done,鈥 she says. 鈥淚n engineering, you need to similarly communicate with other stakeholders on projects you are working on.鈥

In other internships and even her senior design project, the importance of leadership and speaking skills held constant. Sometimes in our engineering education, we are so busy learning theories or principles, that the communication skills fall behind, says Robinson. But she thinks that all students should find a way to build a communications and leadership toolkit.

As a student leader, she has made it a mission to help other students develop these skills. As NSBE鈥檚 regional public relations chair, she started a new initiative to try and expose collegiate NSBE leaders to how the regional team operates. 鈥淣SBE at the collegiate level has a pretty big structure, with more than 500 chapters, there are regional teams that oversee collegiate chapters, and I felt it could be beneficial for collegiate members to see how the regional team runs,鈥 she says. 鈥淧ast leaders in the student organizations I鈥檝e been in have really inspired me to be a better leader.鈥

After her graduation in May, Robinson plans to take these skills into whatever career she chooses, but she admits she will miss the collaborative nature at Mason. 鈥淚 love it at Mason, and I鈥檝e been able to learn so much. While I am excited to get my career started, I will miss Mason for sure.鈥