First-Gen Student Ayisha Barrie Follows Her Flame – and Finds a Career

JENNIFER SCHU

For Ayisha Barrie of Secane, finding the right college fit has meant following her flame. Born in Sierra Leone, she moved to Guinea and then the U.S., graduating from Academy Park High School. After several attempts at college, she turned to DCCC. Barrie had a rocky start—she was juggling a full-time graveyard-shift job and single-parenting two young children simultaneously with her studies. “But,” she said, “I decided to change my strategy. I started communicating, reaching out and connecting with people.”

A first-generation college student, Barrie began meeting regularly with Susan Curtis of DCCC’s Office for First Generation Student Success. She also sought guidance from her DCCC professors, who recognized her aptitude for Computer Science and encouraged her to learn more about opportunities in the field. Additionally, she connected with the College’s Office of Student Employment and Co-op Services.

Now a dual major in Cloud Computing and Cyber Security, in Fall 2024 Barrie received a $5,000 Lockheed Martin Scholarship and a full-time job offer through Lockheed Martin Space’s Software Associate Degree Program. Additionally, Barrie has been accepted into the company’s Software Associate Degree Program (SWAP), a three-year development program designed to attract, develop, and retain early-career technical professionals in software and cyber-related careers. 

Students are accepted into the SWAP program before they graduate with their associate degree to receive on-the-job training, accelerate the clearance process and be ready to join Lockheed Martin full time after graduation.

DCCC’s Student Employment Office also helped her land an IT internship at Independence Mission schools in preparation for her work at Lockheed Martin. She is vice president of DCCC’s Multicultural Club, a member of the Muslim Student Association, and the founder of the DCCC Women’s Soccer Club. 

Barrie is fluent in several languages and her goal is to become a software engineering programmer and pursue a Ph.D.

DCCC’s Cloud Computing associate degree program prepares students for employment in Cloud Computing fields such as Cloud Administration, Cloud Development, Security, Architecture, Cloud Data Management, DevOps, and Machine Learning. Students can tailor part of the curricula to match one of two professional pathways: Cloud Engineer/Architect and Cloud Software Developer. The College also offers a Certificate of Proficiency in Cloud Computing.  DCCC’s Cybersecurity associate degree program prepares students for employment as Cyber, Network, or Computer information security specialists. The Cyber Security Certificate of Competency prepares students to identify security threats to networked computers, devices, and their data.

For Barrie, finding a community that embraced and encouraged her at DCCC has meant finding her flame. She offers the following advice for new college students who are also juggling work and family responsibilities with their studies: “No matter how hard it is, never give up. Failure is part of success. One day you are going to succeed.”