Skip To Content
Filter search
Cal Poly Pomona
  • LIBRARY
  • ONLINE SERVICES
  • DIRECTORY
  • MAPS
  • CALENDAR
  • About Cal Poly Pomona
  • Cal Poly Pomona Overview
  • Visitor Information
  • Campus Maps & Tours
  • News
  • Events
  • Administration
  • Annual Security Report
  • Campus Safety Plan
  • Admissions
  • Undergraduate Admissions
  • Graduate Admissions
  • International Admissions
  • Continuing Education Admissions
  • Military & Veterans Admissions
  • Financial Aid & Scholarships
  • Student Accounts & Fees
  • Outreach, Recruitment, & Educational Partnerships
  • Academics
  • Colleges & Departments
  • Majors & Degrees
  • University Catalog & Academic Schedules
  • University Library
  • Research
  • Academic Resources
  • Registrar
  • Campus Life
  • Student Services
  • Student Activities
  • Recreation & Fitness
  • Health & Wellness
  • Housing & Dining
  • Diversity
  • Calendars & Events
  • Campus Safety & Emergency Info
  • Athletics
  • Visit Athletics Website
  • Alumni
  • Visit Alumni Website
  • Giving
  • Why Give
  • Ways to Give
  • Where to Give

PolyCentric University News Center

Main Menu
  • About Our University
  • Admissions
  • Academics
  • Campus Life
  • Athletics
  • Giving
  • Expand/Collapse Menu
Browse: Home / 2020 / November / Future Forward Event Opens Career Opportunities for Student Veteran

PolyCentric

University News Center

Menu

Skip to content
  • About
    • Submissions
    • Contact
    • Department of Strategic Communications
    • PolyCentric
  • News
    • Browse by Topic
    • View All Stories
    • In Memoriam
    • Archives
  • Achievements
  • Announcements
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Photos
  • Social Media Directory
  • Events
  • For the Media

Future Forward Event Opens Career Opportunities for Student Veteran

Posted on November 13, 2020

Jamie Orozco poses with a Horse at the W.K. Kellogg Arabian Center.
Orozco was one of 10 student veterans who worked in pairs to groom and care for a horse at the W.K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Center through the Horses for Heroes program, piloted in Fall 2019.

An annual career event hosted by the Veterans Resource Center helped Jamie Orozco secure a summer internship with Northrop Grumman, but not before he received three rejections.

Orozco first met a representative from the aerospace and defense technology at Future Forward in 2018, the year he initially applied and was rejected for an internship. The event allows veterans and students to explore and prepare for their careers. Being the first in his family to go to college and the first to enlist in the U.S. military, he sought resources and programs provided by the VRC to help him navigate his career options. After serving four years in the Marines as a diesel mechanic, he knew he wanted to continue hands-on work as an engineer.

“I was already hands-on with everything that I do, and my major challenges me mentally and physically,” said Orozco, now a junior electronic systems engineering technology student. “For example, you have to see the circuit in your mind and be able to put it together, and I wanted to further my skills in that.”

After each application rejection, he would refine his resumes by taking workshops at the VRC and joined engineering clubs on campus to specialize his skills. Through networking with professionals and collaborating with more students, he realized he wanted to be in the aerospace industry, further fueling his goal of working at Northrop Grumman.

After the third rejection, he gave up. At another 2019 Future Forward event, the same recruiter from Northrop Grumman saw him and asked him to print out his resume so he could see it. A week later he was contacted by a recruiter and was hired for an internship as a mission assurance engineer, tasked with analyzing all aspects of a specific engineering process to ensure a mission’s success. He created an inspections handbook for a manufacturing department and reduced the number of steps in half for the process, which saved time and money for the company.

“The internship was the biggest step to advance myself,” Orozco said. “Communication was key to collaborate with various employees in different departments to ensure I provided a system that was streamlined.”

Now, Orozco is set for another summer internship with Northrop Grumman in its military and civil space engineering department, which puts him on the manufacturing floor to learn new skills relevant to aerospace and collaborating with engineering employees. He wants to continue working for Northrop Grumman and obtain his MBA to learn more about business concepts. He learned from his first internship that a key component to manufacturing is minimizing costs while producing high quality products.

Orozco still looks to his life as a Marine as a foundation to his strengths.

Jamie Orozco
Jamie Orozco is a lead advisor at Cal Poly Pomona’s Veterans Resource Center. He obtained an internship with Northrop Grumman through the center’s Future Forward annual event.

“I was looking for growth and to be able to withstand any challenge I would face, and that’s what the Marines gave me,” Orozco said. “Cal Poly Pomona, along with the Veterans Resource Center and the donors that help to provide the resources and programs, help create a clear path on what I want to do with my life.”

Orozco connected with the VRC his first semester at Cal Poly Pomona in Fall 2017, where he found out another student, whose name is also Jamie Orozco, was receiving information about the center instead of him. It was an honest miscommunication, but one that influenced Orozco to work for the VRC as an advisor.

“If I work at the VRC, I can catch someone who hasn’t been contacted,” Orozco said. “I would be a veteran helping other veterans and it reminds me of being in the service.”

Orozco, a lead advisor, helps student veterans and military dependents navigate VA benefits, discover university opportunities and resources, and assists them with transitioning to student life. He also trains ambassadors to provide the same service to their veteran peers.

In managing his transition to student life, Orozco credits Horses for Heroes, a partnership program between the VRC and the Arabian Horse Center, piloted in Fall 2019 in which 10 student veterans worked in pairs with graduate assistants to groom and care for a horse. Orozco became familiar with equines and rodeos when his mom worked with horses, but through the program he noticed that his horse would mirror his anxiety.

Orozco’s unease arose from his uncertainty about leaving the Marines – he enlisted in the reserves as a student to maintain familiarity with his military life. He would temporarily manage his stress through exercise, but during Horses for Heroes, he recognized he needed to commit to a decision and became dedicated to his education and future career.

“That was the step I needed for myself to be happy with my progress and how far I had come,” Orozco said. “I needed to start advancing, and at Cal Poly Pomona, I can set my goals on what I wanted to do, what I’m doing in my free time, and what I want to do for work.”

Connect with the Veterans Resource Center on resources, programs and events at (909) 869-6994 or vetquestions@cpp.edu.

Posted in News | Tags Future Forward, Horses for Heroes, internship, Jamie Orozco, Northrop Grumman, students, veteran students, Veterans Resource Center, VRC

POPULAR

  • CLASS Dean Iris Levine

    CLASS Act: Dean Levine Sets High Bar for Herself and Others

    300 views / Posted January 11, 2021
  • Graphic with illustration of Martin Luther King Jr.

    MLK Day Celebrations Include Student-Centric Volunteer Opportunities

    102 views / Posted January 14, 2021
  • Expanded Early Exit Program Info Session

    30 views / Posted January 5, 2021
  • Travel Health Orders

    22 views / Posted January 5, 2021
  • Mansion Lane Closure Update

    21 views / Posted January 5, 2021

Picture of the Day »

Toy Drive

Toy Drive

Cal Poly Pomona in the News »

College students reflect on their first semester experiences

Mailani Matsuno, who is taking classes from her home in Guam, interviewed about her reasons for studying from home and adjusting to the time differences between home and her classes.…

Honoring California architecture students through scholarship at the 2020 2×8 Virtual Exhibition


NMSU student research outlines problems in private immigration detention facilities


Out of work during the pandemic, Riverside woman starts charcuterie business, Mel’s Boozy Bites


10 rock stars with impressive college degrees


Tags
Future Forward, Horses for Heroes, internship, Jamie Orozco, Northrop Grumman, students, veteran students, Veterans Resource Center, VRC
About Cal Poly Pomona Feedback Privacy Accessibility Document Readers

3801 West Temple Avenue,Pomona, CA 91768

©2018 California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

All Rights Reserved