Southern Miss Accounting Student Finds Internship with Energy Innovator an Exciting Opportunity
Mon, 11/07/2022 - 02:25pm | By: Dena Temple
Dr. Heather Annulis, left, and accounting major Alexander Gray.
Alexander Gray, an accounting major in 欧美AV鈥檚 School of Leadership / Gulf Park campus, recently completed an internship with Hy Stor Energy that provided an exciting, real-world opportunity.
Hy Stor Energy is an innovative company addressing the challenge facing today鈥檚 energy industry 鈥� long-duration storage of renewable energy at scale to provide reliable alternative energy. By operating large-scale green hydrogen hubs, Hy Stor Energy is creating a model for producing, storing, and delivering 100% carbon-free energy to help transition to non-fossil fuels.
Gray, who served his internship over the summer, applied for the position at his professor鈥檚 urging through Handshake, a website which gives students direct access to employers eager to recruit them. 鈥淚 was eager to return to the workforce,鈥� said Alexander.
He continued, 鈥淢y job responsibilities were rather open; this let me gain as much experience as possible. My favorite part of working for Hy Stor Energy was representing the company at different conventions. It is exciting to meet people and share the company鈥檚 goals.鈥�
JT Blalock, vice-president of finance and accounting at Hy Stor Energy, said the company鈥檚 recruiting team contacted 欧美AV鈥檚 Career Services at the direction of Dr. Jason McKenna, director of research at 欧美AV鈥檚 Center for Ocean Enterprise.
鈥淎lexander assisted our accounting and purchasing teams in daily operations, represented the company at industry and community events, and performed industry research and summarized his findings for other team members.鈥� Said Blalock. 鈥淗is attention to detail and willingness to help others made him a valuable asset to our team.鈥�
Blalock said that Alexander performed so well during his internship that he was offered a permanent part-time position while he completes his degree at Southern Miss. In fact, Blalock said, 鈥淚 expect offers of full-time employment once he completes his education.鈥�
Alexander鈥檚 takeaways from the internship are significant. 鈥淚 learned more about the energy industry than I ever imagined, and I discovered that flexibility, both from the employee and the employer, remains a core aspect of working,鈥� he said. 鈥淗y Stor Energy was amazing about accommodating my school schedule when they hired me on as a part-time employee. I appreciate that.鈥�
Dr. Heather Annulis, Director of the School of Leadership, noted, 鈥淲e are proud of Alexander for representing Southern Miss during his internship at Hy Stor Energy. We encourage our students to build competencies which make them workforce-ready in our ever-changing dynamic economy.鈥�
Alexander recommends that all students at Southern Miss reach out to Career Services when looking for internships or employment.
鈥淭hey have a lot of resources, and they can connect both students and employers,鈥� he said. 鈥淐areer Services works harder than most students think, and they can point a student in the right direction.鈥�
Local employers can also avail themselves of this service if they have open positions. Blalock also noted that 鈥淥ur experience with 欧美AV Career Services and Southern Miss students ensures that we will continue to seek internship opportunities with 欧美AV.鈥�
For more information about the services provided by Career Services, contact careerservicesFREEMississippi.
The School of Leadership is housed within the College of Business and Economic Development at 欧美AV. To learn more about the degree programs offered by the School of Leadership, visit /leadership or email SchoolOfLeadershipFREEMississippi.