At Integrity’s 25th Anniversary Celebration, we honored Kemazee Cooper as 2020’s Student of the Year. Here is his story:
Kemazee Cooper, a recent Integrity graduate, was honored as this year’s Student of the Year. Kemazee said that he was surprised and grateful to be recognized. “It was kind of empowering, just being able to put in hard work and actually see your goals kind of come to fruition over time. It was a great thing.“
Kemazee begun his training journey with Integrity in 2019. He was looking for a new opportunity after finishing a job and heard about Integrity through word-of-mouth. Integrity is a big part of the neighborhood, so Kemazee often saw fliers or heard people talking about it, which is how he got involved.
Because he expressed an interest in working in the technology field as the next step in his career, Integrity connected him with Per Scholas, a technical school in Atlanta. Kemazee actually had to finish his training remotely because of the pandemic, but once he graduated from the program, Per Scholas and Integrity helped with his job search, and everything from creating his resume to preparing for his job interviews.
Kemazee now works at Capgemini, a global software company that partners with companies like Google, Amazon, and Microsoft. He is providing site support right now and, with support and training provided by Capgemini, hopes to get into DevOps or cybersecurity.
Kemazee’s advice for people who are considering joining Integrity or who have just started an Integrity program is to take advantage of all the resources provided, and to remember that the staff at Integrity just wants to see you succeed. “Make sure that you use [the resources]. Make sure you have an open mind. And just make sure you work hard. Integrity has great opportunities, and I’m living proof of that. I really appreciate them for stepping out and going out of their way to help me and help the community.”