Latest / Black Box Theory Podcast / From A&T to Apple and Microsoft: Malcolm's Blueprint
Transcript
- Malcolm: think like people had like that taught me everything about like just taking it, man. Like Ant is positioning me to like, like they they Auntie, like my first internship ever, I interviewed with a guy that that graduated from Auntie. Our interview, like my first internship at Stanis in in Michigan, was like the foundation, which opened the door for Apple, which led to Microsoft, which led to me getting like so it's I I look at all of it like a butterfly effect, but that first ever interview I had, I was I was scared, bro, because I was like I felt like all my friends was getting interested. I was like kind of like behind. I like, bro, I gotta lock in. And we started talking. I was like, this is this is the bro. Like we wasn't even interviewing, bro. Like we was just literally just having a normal conversation. I was like, bro, that's like that that ANT, like, you know what I'm saying? That. And then I think the other thing was just like, ANT is really kind of like instilled in me, is like, bro, like you are completely in charge of like how you market yourself as a candidate at companies. And what I mean by that is like a lot of people I think fall into I don't want to call that a trap, but like a lot of people kind of like consolidate themselves into their major. Like they If they are an electrical engineering student, they only apply for electrical engineering internships. If you're a mechanical engineering student, they only do mechanical engineering. That's like they kind of like stay in that lane. And that's not to say that like I think depending on the versatility of your major, I knew after my freshman year, I was like, all right, mechanical engineering is cool. I don't want to switch my major per se, but I do want to switch the type of opportunities I apply for to see like, okay, what other rooms can I get myself into? Like that's the kind of like I had to like change my mindset a bit and like start to market myself and brand myself as someone that was more. a mechanical engineer but I I just showed that I was adaptable. I was versatile. I could like get into any room and like like pick up what needed to be done and like still like deliver high quality, high impact work. So that's like what would instill the confidence in me to even apply for someone like Apple because like if I didn't change my mindset, it wouldn't even have crossed my mind to like apply for a company like that or to apply for a company like Microsoft. So it's like once I realized that like I'm in control of like my destiny and like the way I brand myself and market myself like to potential employers, like that's kind of like when stuff started to click for me. Like, all right, like I have that, I I I have the agency and like the ability to like, you know, brand myself as as such. So but yeah, like I said, it's I don't know why, man. But like I said, I always say like ANT is the best decision I've ever made. Like Wesley Grammer: For sure. Malcolm: as far as like we're talking about return on investment, what it's done for me, the community it's provided for me. Like I I got like I said I've met people at Ant that's literally gonna be my friends and my, you know, brothers for like, you know, and sisters for like the literally the rest of my life, bro. Like and it's like that type of community, like I wouldn't trade for anything. I got a, you know, world class education. Like I said, I didn't need to go to like a the the the best school in the world because I still be in the rooms with the same people that go to them them type of school. So it's like, all right, like we both still here, so you know, it's cool, right? Wesley Grammer: Literally. Malcolm: So that that's that's how I look at it, man. I like Ant like positioning me. Actually, I give I give them a ton of credit. I think like One thing I will do, like I said, when when I am like in position too and I I really got like some real bread, I'm gonna definitely try to give back, bro. Cause that that's also one thing that I do think like I said the thing about us being underfunded, but I think another thing too, bro, the reason that like other schools be having like these crazy endowments and they're able to do stuff, bro, it's because their alum give back, bro. Like we do not Wesley Grammer: I'm not getting back. Yeah. Malcolm: get back. I ain't gonna lie, we don't get back. Like, like like people Wesley Grammer: Yeah. Malcolm: graduate from AT and they don't even touch a donor link like ever again, bro. Like, like we gotta, you know what I'm saying? Wesley Grammer: Tell me. Malcolm: Like, but yeah, that's I know my answer is a little long Thomas: Yeah. Malcolm: winded, yeah, that that that's that's how I'm feeling about I think what A think A T gave each all three of us kind of like, you know, something incredible and like a great return on our investment. But like I said, it's still we still young in our careers and we still got a lot more to go to kinda like, you know, keep keep keep sowing the fruits of those of our labor. But yeah, man. Wesley Grammer: Yeah. Thomas: Hey, but before moving on, I pass ANT, I just wanna add, as far as I know, ANT also never had has had a history of denying us based off of our ethnic background. if you went to a university that did that, that that's facts. ANT never denied us just because we're black. So I just wanna throw that out there. Wesley Grammer: Yeah, no, that's real.