Asked how she felt about being a female engineering student, Jayla Seward, of Brunswick County, said she does not think about it much.  Women have come a long way and occupations that were once male dominated are no longer that way.

An honor graduate of the class of 2015 of Brunswick High School, Seward also received a Career Studies Certificate from Southside Virginia Community College in the High Performance Technology (HPT) and Advanced Manufacturing Technology programs through the college’s Dual Enrollment Program.  She maintained a 4.0 GPA in core related HPT courses and in addition to the two certificates, earned certification in CRC, OSHA, NCCER and MT1.

Seward is currently a sophomore in the program at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.   This summer, she completed an internship with the Commonwealth STEM Industry Internship Program (CSIIP). The NASA affiliated program, held at the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center in South Boston, focuses on science, technology, engineering and math.

The SVCC program is taught by Vincent Brown and Scott Edmonds and lays a firm foundation for students who are interested in pursuing engineering degrees. Brown encourages each of his students, both male and female, to live beyond any limitations they may impose on themselves and dare to dream big.

Jayla is the daughter of Willie and Tracie Seward, of Lawrenceville.