Fatima Nava, a senior graduating in May 2024, recently completed a summer internship with the Information Technology and Telecommunications (ITT) Department at the San Francisco Airport.
“I have always loved San Francisco, and the airport is like its own city,” she says.
Nava’s main job was to support airport staff and passengers by troubleshooting hardware and software issues. She also got to work with a cybersecurity team to address security incidents, conduct investigations into potential threats, and learn how to take preventative security measures so, for example, computers didn’t get hacked.
“I was part of a meeting with someone from the FBI who came in to talk to us about how the city is handling cybersecurity,” she says. “It involved past cases and how they were handled. They showed us how to manage security incidents.”
The internship lasted nine weeks and came on the heels of the Concordia choir’s tour of Europe. Nava is an avid singer as well.
“I absolutely love to sing,” she says. “It’s an immense gift from God and I really want to use it. I was given that opportunity at Concordia through the choir which I did for four years, and which is such a beautiful experience. I’ve learned so much— not just about music but about God and my relationship with him. Even through the tour, I got to see people witness the beauty I see in music.”
Her summer airport internship also involved touring many interesting, and often-unseen, areas of the sprawling airport, including the air tower. Nava calls those tours “my absolute favorite part.”
She also enjoyed the diversity among the 1,700 airport employees. “It was great to be with everyone of different cultures,” she says. “It really felt like a community there.”
Nava took BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to work every day. Workshops for interns helped her grow in her communication and interviewing skills. “I took notes and asked as many questions as I could,” she says. “They were willing to help us for the future. I very much appreciated that.”
Computer science professor Joshua Tallman calls Nava “one of the most well-liked and well-respected students in our program. She was the first woman to come through our computer science program,” he says. “We’re excited that she’s blazing the trail for those behind her.”
He says Nava excels in creating pleasing online designs and interactivity, “always making sure everything has a certain grace about it. That artistic side comes through visually.”
Nava also has family responsibilities as she helps to care for her five younger siblings. One of her driving motivations is to make the best of the opportunities given to her by her parents, who immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico.
“Because of how much hard work my mom and dad have brought into this country, I want to do the same,” she says. “I have so many goals. One is to continue to build skills in computer science. I love web development, and Professor Tallman is such an incredible professor. His passion towards teaching gave me the motivation to learn.”
The internship now over, Nava is grateful for the chance to have worked in such a fast-paced environment, to develop a variety of career skills—and to experience a favorite city first-hand.
“I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to work alongside remarkable mentors and teams who generously dedicate their time to provide me with valuable work exposure and career guidance,” she told an internal SFO newsletter before leaving for Southern California. “It has allowed me to expand my work knowledge and forge meaningful connections while also exploring a life in San Francisco.”