Author Spotlight
Greyson Imm
The interview was a blur. All she could remember were the nervous breaths she took and the sweat dripping from her face as she anxiously answered her buzzing phone.
There was nothing in that moment she wanted more than this internship.
A week earlier, senior Claire Baker learned of the Cerner Scholars program from an email that her mother sent her. The email, taken as an excerpt from East’s daily announcements, stated that ‘Applications for the Spring 2021 Cerner Scholars program are now open.’
Her application was in by the next day.
“My mom saw [the Cerner advertisement] in the daily announcements and just decided to forward it to me not thinking I would be interested in it — just for kicks,” Claire said. “I looked more into it and really thought a lot about it, long and hard.”
Claire’s passion for computer science and programming began during her junior year after she visited the tech corporation Garmin’s Headquarters for a tour hosted by Girls in Tech KC. The purpose of this event is to motivate girls to stay involved in STEM during and after high school.
After the tour, she instantly fell in love with the computer programming world and knew it was an area she wanted to pursue a career in. Claire thrived off of the real-world problem solving and math and science components that the subject provided. She had no clue at the time that the early exposure to the computer programming world would land her the internship of her dreams only a year later.
“She really enjoyed [the tour], so then she got a little bit more involved with it,” computer programming teacher James Kelly said. “There’s not a lot of female coders in the world, so that was really good that she could got interested in it, because it’s very rewarding.”
As a student who’s taken classes in school ranging anywhere from Computer Programming to Intro to Computer Dimensions, Claire was eager for the opportunity to take her passion to the next level by getting to work alongside professionals in the coding and technology fields.
“Since I wanted to pursue data analytics in college as a major, [this internship] seemed too good to be true for me,” Claire said. “I love the idea of getting some hands-on experience with topics that interest me before I head off to college.”
A few days after her interview, Claire received a Dell laptop, keyboard and monitor sitting on her front steps from Cerner — along with a letter welcoming her to the program.
She began her virtual internship at Cerner at the beginning of this year attending trainings, answering help desk requests and making sure all of the employees had the equipment they needed.
At first, Claire was apprehensive about meeting her supervisors. Much to her surprise, however, Claire’s Cerner team — a group of associates to support her throughout the internship — was quick to greet her, even slipping in jokes between computer clicks.
“I came into this internship thinking that everybody would be like, ‘Work, work, work. Business, business, business’ all the time,” Claire said. “[My team] is so laid back, and they’re the funniest, most awesome people that I’ve ever worked with. My team is the reason why I also love this internship so much, because I’m able to joke around with them and have fun with them while still learning.”
The internship is based heavily around talent development for skills like computer programming and corporate management. But Claire’s favorite take-away is feeling like she’s truly contributing to something important and making differences — much like she would if she worked as a full-time employee at Cerner, providing health technology solutions to all around the world.
Claire’s mom, Julie Baker, recognizes that Claire’s knack for memorization has been very beneficial in her classes, and knows they will help her in the future that could potentially involve a career in STEM.
“She’s always excelled at math and science, and her memorization skills are amazing,” Julie said. “She’s able to quickly memorize difficult choreography, which has also helped her [in] dance classes. So it’s that memorization skills that got her interested in math and science. We had talked about different careers in computer science, and she indicated that she had an interest in data analytics.”
Her internship is such a momentous milestone because being a Cerner Scholar gives her a chance to represent others like her — she is one of only three female interns and the only intern from Shawnee Mission East.
“The idea of being a girl in a male-dominated industry makes me feel so important,” said Claire. “I’ve grown up taking classes like Intro to Computer Programming. I’m actually in one right now, and I am the only girl in the class period. So, I would really like to show young girls that being in this stuff is really cool. And if you’re interested in data analytics and technology, you shouldn’t be afraid to enter a man’s world. It just feels like it’s like taking a little step for girls in STEM everywhere.”
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