On Her Way
As a new Marshall University freshman, Aliyah Quinet is diving straight into the college experience, seeking out every educational opportunity she can find.
The computer science major from South Charleston, West Virginia, attended her first meeting for Women in Tech just a couple weeks into the year, and she has her eye on Geeks and Gadgets, Marshall’s chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and anything robotics related, not to mention that she’s chasing down an internship that she can do between her freshman and sophomore years.
In other words, she’s a keeper. She’s on her way, and exactly the kind of student that Marshall University is thrilled to welcome to the family through the new Marshall for All program, which will help her graduate with a bachelor’s degree debt-free. She is excited about doing work study, taking financial literacy classes and contributing what she can while Marshall helps her take care of the rest.
With her determination, Quinet was going to launch from somewhere. It was just a matter of where. She had gotten at least one other fantastic offer that she turned down to become a member of Herd, and she couldn’t say enough about what Marshall for All means to her and her family.
“I was really excited because I really wanted to go to Marshall. It’s closer to home, easier on transportation, and I liked the campus, and it had the program that I wanted and the things that I liked,” she said. “I jumped on that. I was so scared about school. I didn’t know how I was going to pay for it. … My family, we go paycheck to paycheck. I’m not going to say I’m poor, but growing up, I knew I was worried about things that a lot of kids didn’t necessarily need to.”
Now, this driven 18-year-old is bringing her energy to Marshall and plans to be the first in her family to graduate from college.
She also brings with her a well-rounded background, having participated in everything from theatre, show choir and singing in a vocal ensemble to serving on student council and running cross country at South Charleston High School, as well as robotics. She loves robotics — even getting to compete in the VEX Robotics World Championship 2023 in Dallas earlier this year. She credits her teacher Rachel Standish for igniting her interest.
“I miss her. She was the spark that made me want to push for this,” she said. “Computer science is in such demand, and the pay is really good, so those were things that interested me, and I just like it a lot. I love coding. In the future, when I’ve graduated, honestly, I’d love to work for NASA or one of those three-letter agencies. I want to be able to do awesome things.”
Quinet is really looking forward to representing women in the field and learning from the faculty at Marshall.
“It’s a good community here. I don’t like the bigger campuses. This is more intimate,” she said. “My classes aren’t huge — that’s what I was looking for in a college. It’s the one-on-one interactions that I like. I can’t just email someone – I have to talk to them.”
So far, she gives Marshall an “A,” for an awesome college experience.
“I took a selfie with President Brad D. Smith. He gave me a big hug. It was awesome,” she said. “I’ve had an amazing time so far. My dorm is nice. The campus is very walkable too. I really like being able to just walk around. It’s most definitely been a blessing. Even the food is good.”
Marshall is doing an important, amazing thing with Marshall for All, Quinet said, because accessibility to education is important to bringing different ideas, voices and talents to the table.
“I’m really glad that I’m one of the first people in this program,” she said. “I hope to mentor and really help them get going. It is an awesome program, especially for kids like me who definitely need it.”