NSBE - Winter 2010/2011 - 8

From the

ExecutiveDirector

Inspired by Excellence
By Michael Boswell, Guest Writer
NSBE Atlanta University Center Chapter t was just another regular general body meeting on another Thursday evening of September. Or so I thought. Little did I know that I would be witnessing the single greatest call to action I had ever experienced firsthand. Who gave this call? It was none other than our very own “Brother E.D.,” NSBE Executive Director Dr. Carl Bernard Mack. He visited the Atlanta University Center Chapter and spoke to us about being truly involved in the National Society of Black Engineers. Mack’s speech was full of such sincerity and charisma that I set NsBe executive Director carl B. Mack (left) with Michael Boswell of NsBe’s Atlanta University center chapter out to be more involved in NSBE. As a result, I attended all of the meetings and other events that my chapter put on. But to top it all off, I felt obligated to attend NSBE’s 36th Annual Convention in Toronto, Canada.

“I speak today as a man who is achieving with no ceiling in sight.”
This was my very first NSBE convention. I was so excited to be one of the many educated and aspiring young black engineers there. However, the more I talked with other NSBE members and the company representatives who came to recruit us, the more I felt I didn’t fit in with everyone else. I didn’t have a full scholarship to attend college, nor did I graduate in the top 10 percent of my high school class. I didn’t have a full-page resume with tons of research listed and previous internships from summers past. All I had was my status as a sophomore at Morehouse College
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majoring in applied physics and electrical engineering in the Dual Degree Engineering Program. And as I compared myself with all of the other students in Toronto, I felt embarrassed and ashamed that I had not done more with my life. I began to ask myself why I hadn’t achieved more and why I hadn’t taken the initiative to do some of the things the other students had done, things the employers were looking for. I felt apart from everyone else at the convention. So I began texting my mother (to avoid international calling rates) and expressing to her how I felt. I told her I felt like I didn’t measure up, like I wasn’t on the same level as everyone else. Her only response was that it would be OK. “Pray on it, and God will deliver.” So I prayed. And as I prayed, I took it upon myself to e-mail the very man who had inspired me to be more involved in NSBE. I asked to shadow him and learn how to “achieve.” Contrary to my expectations, Brother E.D. responded with open arms and allowed me to stay at his home for a week in August with his family, as I shadowed him at NSBE World Headquarters. He taught me accountability, leadership and the importance of a person’s body of work. At the same time Brother E.D. responded, I received an internship offer from Lockheed Martin and worked my very first internship. I also applied for my chapter’s Executive Board and now serve as the parliamentarian. I speak today as a man who is achieving with no ceiling in sight. ■

2010/11

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NSBE - Winter 2010/2011

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