Army Corps of Engineers helps build a student’s dream in South Korea
By B.R. Sargent, Seoul
bureau
Andy Dunaway / Stars and Stripes
Summer intern Denard Burden, 21, left, and Ken King, Army Corps of Engineers quality
assurance representative, discuss the inspection of U.S. Army barracks being built on K-16
Army Airfield, South Korea. |
SEOUL — Instead of heading to the beach or home for the summer,
Denard Burden, a senior at Morgan State University in Baltimore, chose to study
engineering in the Yongsan area.
Burden is in a program offered through the Army Corps of
Engineers-Far East District’s partnership with American Minorities in Engineering.
The program teams the Army Corps with historically black colleges to
bring students overseas as summer interns.
The program’s goals are two-fold according to FED’s human
resources manager Monte Howard.
“We want to give them (the students) the opportunity to work in
the field to see a project from beginning to end. The internship also gives them the
experience of working in an overseas arena. Most of these kids have never been out of the
city where they live,” said Howard.
Burden was accepted from more than 40 candidates to work on
construction projects throughout the Yongsan area of responsibility.
Burden is from Virginia Beach, and is interested in geo-technical
civil engineering.
“Geo-technical deals with soils and the structural foundation of
the ground,” said Burden.
Burden could have applied for internships in Alaska, Honolulu, Japan,
Puerto Rico or Germany.
“I just wanted to come here,” he said. “I wanted to
see what it was like. The field experience is so important.”
Burden, 21, and the younger of two children, traveled a long way to
get some work experience.
“At first my parents were skeptical,” he said.
“They’re always protective of the baby. After a while, they calmed down.
They’re really excited for me now. They know I have to grow up.”
Burden has been building things since childhood.
“I think it started with the Legos my parents bought me when I
was little,” he said.
“We tried to see what they (Burden and his sister) were
interested in when they were little,” said Burden’s dad, Earnest Burden. Earnest
is a retired electrical engineer. Burden’s mother is a computer technician for the
Christian Broadcasting Network. “We’re very proud of him,” said Earnest
Burden. “We just hope he achieves what he wants.”
Howard said the program can be very beneficial to aspiring engineers.
“You have to be marketable today,” said Howard.
“It’s good for FED to help engineering students reach their personal goals and
visions.”
Burden hasn’t decided what he’ll do after graduation. In
addition to private industry, there are opportunities in the Navy and the Army Corps of
Engineers.
“Private industry pays more, but I know I want to get my
graduate degree — with that I can make my own decisions,” Burden said.
Burden doesn’t seem worried.
“I just put it in the hands of the Lord. We’ll see. I know
that God has good things for me,” he said.
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