Jaecena Howell: From Graduation to Amazon

     Jaecena Howell could not have asked for a better gift to celebrate her 17^th birthday in 2014 when she first began UVI as an early admission student and scholarship recipient. Howell got accepted to UVI at the age of 16 and extrapolated what she now describes as the best four years of her life.

     Howell defined her first encounters with UVI as challenging considering she was so young and many professors already knew who she was as she had just attended a summer semester in China where she learnt mandarin and Chinese history and culture.

     For Howell, she had to live up to the stigma of her early success especially when professors referred to her as a genius.

Danny Glover Giving A Speech

     According to her, UVI was no walk in the park for her, she recalls having to re-do an accounting class after she got a C-.

     Howell will be graduating magna cum laude on the Sheen Campus with a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting and an Associate’s degree in Business Management, she will also be this year’s class speaker at St. Croix’s Commencement Ceremony.

     She is definitely no stranger to business and accounting, she was one of the winners in this year’s annual 13D entrepreneurship competition. Howell’s app-development business, Style-Up, is a phone application for hair stylists and their customers to better manage appointments.

     Howell also completed a 10-week internship with Amazon.com in summer 2017, in Lakeland, Fla. landing her a full-time position as an area manager in Braselton, Ga. beginning in May 2018.
She accredits her success to UVI’s endless opportunities for its students. She believes that attending an HBCU (Historically Black College and University) gives you more opportunities than most other universities.

2018 Graduates

     Howell took advantage of every opportunity available to her. “UVI gave me job exposure, through the help of Ms. Lord I was able to complete three internships and subsequently land a position at Amazon,” she said.

     Howell hopes that her success story will inspire UVI students to accomplish great things and to be proud of the school they attend.

     “This accomplishment positively impacts UVI because… people will know which university I attended and would be driven to find other students at my university who possess the same qualities,” said Howell. “It will also help potential students consider UVI because they will realize that their opportunities are not limited.”