She landed the job, but she still feels the pressure of an uncertain economy

Growing up, New Jersey-born Floridian Megan Bailey said she always had a sense she wanted to be an engineer, even if it first showed up as building with Legos and concocting potions in the backyard.

“I always just wanted to create something and do something that was, like, very creative and different from what I had done before,” Bailey said. “So as a kid, that was like, you know, making potions, and now it's getting to write programs and design hardware.”

This May, she’ll graduate from the University of Central Florida with a degree in computer engineering, a job lined up at Lockheed Martin, and ambitions that stretch all the way to the edge of space.

“I'm really interested in things like satellites and the communication networks. And, especially with the acceleration of AI, I’m really curious to see how we can expand access to communication technologies,” Bailey said.

But from the rapid emergence of AI to a lagging labor market, Bailey isn’t immune to the stress many students feel as they prepare to enter the workforce.

“I just feel pretty uncertain about, longer term, what the future is because I think we're seeing more and more junior-level positions being eliminated. And the bar seems to keep getting higher and higher for entry-level positions.”

To hear more of Megan’s story, click the play button above.