NSBE - January/February 2008 - (Page 42)

nsbe Love by Rasheim T Freeman . H Greg Harrington and Teana Walker of NSBE’s Region V Surprise of a Lifetime e was a young, brash engineer in IBM Corporation’s OS/2 technical support group and a self-described “player.” She was a quiet, demure church girl from the Bible Belt who worked side-by-side with him for a year in Austin, Texas, without giving him so much as a furtive glance. Their story of love, retreat and falling madly in love again is timeless if not inevitable. Bad boy meets church girl. But this love story had a twist this past October at NSBE’s Region V Fall Regional Conference/Professional Development Conference in Baton Rouge, La. Greg Harrington, a member of NSBE’s Austin Alumni Chapter, was set to receive a Platinum Sponsorship Award at the event, on behalf of Dell Inc., his current employer, which had donated more than $50,000 worth of equipment for NSBE’s use during the conference. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was there at the Holiday Inn Executive Center to speak, and about 450 NSBE members were in attendance. Harrington had additional plans for his time onstage, that is, to share the spotlight with his longtime sweetheart, Teana Walker — another Austin Alumni member — who had reluctantly driven six hours with him from Austin on her birthday. “I wasn’t even supposed to speak, but I told Jamere Clark (NSBE Region V finance chair) that I had to get up there. So, the first thing I did was make everybody, including Ray Nagin, sing happy birthday to Teana,” says Harrington. “Then, when it got quiet again, I said, ‘Year to year, you’re always wondering what to give somebody. I’ve given you cruises, romantic dinners, jewelry from Tiffany’s. But tonight, I want to give you something else. Tonight, I give you me,’ ” Harrington relates. “ ‘Teana, will you marry me?’ ” “I was still crying from the birthday song,” says Walker, “so I couldn’t even say, ‘Yes.’ But, then everybody told me to meet him onstage, and he kneeled down and asked me again. I could barely get ‘Yes’ out. That’s how completely shocked I was,” says the gushing bride-to-be. So Greg Harrington, 32, of Tickfaw, La., a technical sales representative for Dell, will wed Teana Walker, 32, of Bearden, Ark., an information developer for IBM, on May 3, 2008 in Austin, Texas. For their honeymoon, the couple plans to cruise to Alaska. The groom-to-be earned his bachelor’s in computer science from Jackson State University in 1997, and the future Mrs. Harrington is a graduate of Arkansas State University, where she received her bachelor’s in management information systems in 1998. Harrington joined NSBE after college, and Walker has been an active member since she was an undergraduate. Looking back, neither is surprised they pledged to marry at a NSBE event. “NSBE is like a family, and within any family you have love,” says Walker, who stresses NSBE’s core values of cultural responsibility, personal excellence and civic awareness. She says these characteristics are present in many NSBE members who discover personal relationships in their NSBE affiliation. Walker also credits NSBE with helping her land a great job at IBM while she pursues her current passion, which is to become a licensed marriage and family therapist. “So far, I got a job and a husband through NSBE, so it’s pretty alright by me!” Walker says. ■ www.nsbe.org “I said…‘But tonight, I want to give you something else. Tonight, I give you me.’ ” 42 • january/february 2008 • http://www.nsbe.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NSBE - January/February 2008

NSBE - January/February 2008
Contents
The Pursuit of Excellence
Using Our Power
The Power of Belief
Saying It Well
Premier Profile: Owen Weston of U.S. Steel
NSBE Protégés Receive White House Honor
Regional News
International News
Fostering Competitiveness Through Innovation and Diversity
'Netting a Job
Why Graduate School?
NSBE Love
NSBE Calendar
"Igniting the Torch: Engineering in Action"
NSBE Golden Torch Awards
The AE Niche
Thinking Green
AE Members On the Move
CE Cover: Rough Road, Fun Ride
Join NSBE's Journey to Mars!
Advertisers Index

NSBE - January/February 2008